Kinsa Group Blog

What do you think will be the biggest challenges facing HR during the next decade?

This is one of the questions posed in a poll by the Society for Human Resource Management titled “Challenges Facing Organizations and HR in the Next 10 Years.” The survey responses, gathered from 449 HR professionals, show that:

Getting and Making the Most of Human Capital is a Key Priority

• Nearly half of the respondents (47 percent) cite obtaining human capital and optimizing human capital investments as the top investment challenge for businesses over the next 10 years.
• 29 percent of the respondents list obtaining financial capital and optimizing financial capital investments as the top challenge.
• Obtaining intellectual capital and optimizing intellectual capital investments comes in third at 12 percent.

To Attract, Retain and Reward the Best Talent, Organizations Should:

• Allow flexible work arrangements. According to 58 percent of HR managers surveyed, providing flexibility for employees to balance their life and work responsibilities is the most effective way to attract, reward and retain top performers.
• Cultivate a culture of trust and fairness. 47 percent of respondents say that creating an organizational culture where trust, open communications and fairness are emphasized and demonstrated by leaders is a key priority.
• Provide meaningful work opportunities. 40 percent of HR managers say that designing jobs to provide employees with meaningful work that has a clear purpose in meeting the organization’s objectives optimizes the organization’s ability to engage and keep top talent.
• Demonstrate a commitment to employee development (29 percent).
• Offer a higher total compensation and benefits package than organizations that compete for the same talent (23 percent).

While these survey results aren’t earth-shaking, they do serve to underscore an important point.  As businesses like your food & beverage organization emerge from the recession, they should get ready to compete for talent.

Kinsa Group can help you prepare.  We’ll develop and execute a proactive strategy to recruit the top professionals and senior-to-executive level management candidates – from warehouse and supply chain managers to C-suite executives – you need to succeed.  Contact Kinsa today to learn more about our recruiting and assessment services for food & beverage organizations.

The use of credit checks has grown over the last several years.  According to a 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 60 percent of employers used credit reports for some or all of their background checks.

Employers use credit reports as a screening tool for a number of reasons:

• They believe it allows them to predict future behavior based on a candidate’s financial history.
• They are trying to prevent employee theft and assess the applicant’s trustworthiness.
• They want to reduce legal liability and negligent hiring.

But checking a job applicant’s credit is not without its potential drawbacks:

• An applicant who has been unemployed for a long period of time may have no choice but to incur inordinate amounts of debt and fall behind in paying bills.  If the candidate has been out of work for months, that doesn’t necessarily mean he should be disqualified for employment.
• Credit reports fail to provide context.  For example, if debt problems are the result of expensive medical procedures, a low credit score may not indicate anything about future job performance.
• Credit reports are not perfect.  Ambiguous, dated, inaccurate and/or redundant data create the potential for credit score errors.  While these errors are generally minor, employers should be aware that they exist.
• Credit reports may not be relevant for the job in question.  Unless the person you’re hiring will have access to sensitive financial information, make financial decisions or handle money, a candidate’s credit report may be of little significance.

Given the potential benefits, as well as the potential drawbacks, are credit checks a legitimate screening tool?  It depends on whom you ask.

According to Christine Walters, a representative for the SHRM during last October’s EEOC public hearing on the practice, effectiveness and impact of credit checks as a screening tool, “SHRM believes there is a compelling public interest in enabling our nation’s employers – whether that employer is in the government or the private sector – to assess the skills, abilities and work habits of potential hires.”

She and other hearing panelists pointed out that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) of 1970 restricts employer use of credit reports to employment purposes.  Under the law, the employer must give a job candidate the right to defend himself against (including refuting, explaining or correcting) any collected credit information that might weigh against him.

Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney with the National Consumer Law Center in Boston, expressed a different opinion.  Given the state of the economy, she said that using credit history as a screening tool is “a practice that we believe is harmful and unfair to American workers.  The use of credit history for job applicants is especially absurd when you are looking at an unemployment rate of 10 percent and have many workers looking for a job.”

As an employer, you are within your rights to check a job candidate’s credit.  Before you do so, you should consider:

• how relevant the information you’re collecting is to the available position;
• the cost involved versus the benefit to be gained;
• whether or not your internal staff is trained in how to interpret the complex information contained in today’s credit reports;
• whether or not there may be potential adverse effects to checking an applicant’s credit.

Ensure Successful Placements with Kinsa – Food & Beverage Recruiters

Finding the perfect candidates for your organization requires experience, in-depth industry knowledge and state-of-the-art recruiting and assessment technology.  Kinsa Group combines all of these, including a comprehensive 8-Step Recruiting Process to ensure the success of your next hire.  Partner with Kinsa today and connect with the industry’s top food & beverage executives and professionals.

“If the Great Recession has taught us anything, it is that uncertainty is certain.”

So say executives at Tompkins Associates, business strategy and supply chain specialists, in reference to their Top 11 Priorities for 2011.  The list identifies the following priorities food & beverage organizations should focus on on to ensure profitable growth throughout the year.  Here is a summary of the list:

1. Push for fresh and organic. Consumers are driving demand, but sourcing and quality remain challenges.  Place more emphasis on high volume growth while increasing margins.
2. Demand growth in emerging markets. Growth-oriented companies should enter the new markets that are driving international convergence through strategic acquisitions or partnerships.
3. Sustainability. Sustainable practices and waste elimination (e.g., reducing energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission, packaging, etc.) will help companies reduce costs and improve their reputations as stewards of the environment.
4. Operating cost reductions. Companies should strive to lower overall landed costs by improving methods and practices for managing suppliers through production, distribution and delivery to customers.
5. More reductions in working capital. Improving Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP) – as opposed to simply slashing inventory – will greatly help food & beverage organizations reduce working capital.  Brand extensions and packaging innovations will continue to increase SKU account, making reductions even more difficult.
6. Food safety. Trends toward global food safety certifications are gaining steam, which will drive new technologies to improve visibility from the field to the store shelf.
7. Lean management. Companies need to focus on reducing costly process activities that do not add value to their products or enhance the customer experience.
8. Procurement contribution through sourcing availability. As commodity prices rise and emerging markets’ demands for higher value and better quality food increase, identifying and securing reliable, cost-competitive sources will become more difficult.  Food & beverage organizations should focus on accessing suppliers in diverse markets, as well as pushing purchasing departments to obtain competitive prices and ensure a reliable supply channel.
9. Distribution network rationalization. Ensure that your distribution and supply chain strategy is fully aligned with your organization’s business growth strategy and that it has the structure and facilities needed to support anticipated growth.
10. Integrating commodity purchasing and logistics strategies. Food & beverage companies should mitigate commodity price increases by taking control over inbound flows.  This will enable them to maintain a competitive cost advantage, but will require new thinking on the part of purchasing and logistics managers.
11. Growing government regulation. Food and beverage leaders should be proactive in understanding and addressing the effects (on both costs and processes) that changes in regulations, especially the Food Safety and Modernization Act, will have on their organizations.

Priorities Update

Tompkins Associates recently added the following emerging themes/updated priorities as the middle of the year approaches:

• Uncertainty is the new norm. Although each industry has its own individual priorities, there are similar trends throughout each that reveal much about general expectations for 2011. For example, many company leaders are facing a great deal of uncertainty about what 2011’s ‘new norms’ will be – it seems the only clear new norm is uncertainty itself.
• The emphasis on global supply chains is a major theme. With global operations come new priorities: risks that need managing; ever-changing regulations and taxes that must be understood and complied with across global borders; and the need for sustainable, environmentally-friendly operations.
• Innovation is also a key priority for 2011. Already, there are major market upheavals happening in the automotive and high-technology sectors due to new developments in product offerings that allow customers access to cutting-edge technology.

Ensure Profitable Growth – Hire the Best Food & Beverage Executives and Professionals with Kinsa

No matter what priorities your organization chooses to address this year, you need top-level talent to effectively create and execute your strategies.  For over 25 years, Kinsa has helped food & beverage organizations thrive in rapidly changing markets by consistently delivering “A-level” executives and professionals.  Contact us today to learn how our Unique 8-Step Recruiting Process can help ensure your profitable growth throughout 2011 and beyond.

What’s the number one health crisis confronting our country?

Despite what you may think, it’s not cancer, heart disease or high blood pressure.  It’s obesity.  According to an announcement accompanying the official 2010 Dietary Guidelines:

“More than one-third of children
and more than two-thirds of adults in the U.S.
are overweight or obese.”

These sobering statistics have made the obesity epidemic a prime target of the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.  This year’s guidelines, presented as a six chapter document released January 31, tackles obesity head-on with the following recommendations:

• Enjoying food, but eating less (i.e., avoiding over-sized portions);
• Balancing calories to manage weight;
• Balancing calorie intake with exercise;
• Eating more and a wider variety of fruits and vegetables, especially beans, peas and dark green, red and orange vegetables;
• Consuming more whole grains and low-fat or fat-free milk;
• Drinking water instead of sugary drinks;
• Eating a wider variety of seafood and other lean proteins;
• Substituting liquid oil for solid fats, when possible;
• Building healthy eating patterns to stay within calorie limits, meet nutrient needs and reduce chronic disease risk;
• Reducing daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg for most healthy people, and to 1,500 mg for those in higher risk categories.

To view or download the full 2010 Dietary Guidelines Policy Document, follow this link.

According to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, “The 2010 Dietary Guidelines are being released at a time when the majority of adults and one in three children is overweight or obese, and this is a crisis that we can no longer ignore.”  Many food & beverage processors agree and have already begun reformulation projects in response to the Report.

The Food & Beverage Processing Industry – Part of the Obesity Solution

Moving forward, the USDA and HHS Dietary Guidelines will challenge food and beverage processors to improve the “overall food environment,” by supporting Americans’ efforts to meet the key recommendations of the Report.  To help solve the obesity epidemic, food and beverage organizations can work with federal, state and local governments to ensure that all Americans have access to the recommended nutrient-dense diet by:

• Increasing nutrition education programs;
• Improving access to affordable fresh produce and food;
• Developing safe, effective and sustainable practices to expand aquaculture to increase the availability of seafood;
• Offering health-promoting foods that are low in sodium, solid fat, added sugars and refined grains;
• Adopting sound policies and responsible practices to prevent foodborne illnesses.

Kinsa Group – Your Food & Beverage Industry Recruiter

For over 25 years, The Kinsa Group has delivered the high performing food & beverage industry professionals your company needs to compete in today’s rapidly changing marketplace.  Simply put, food and beverage recruiting and assessment is all we do.  Contact us today to learn more.

Technology vs. the human touch.

When it comes to your food & beverage job search, which is better?  Job board technology is certainly efficient.  With a few clicks you easily can apply for several jobs in under an hour – all from the comfort of your own home.

But that same efficiency can work against you.  Jobs that are available to you are also available to literally anyone else with an internet connection.  When you submit your résumé, you may be one of dozens, hundreds or even thousands of applicants.  As the number of job posting applicants increases, so does the chance of your résumé being completely ignored.  How efficient is that?

Job boards do serve a purpose in connecting job seekers to employers.  But if you’re serious about your food & beverage career, here are several reasons why experienced, professional recruiters beat job boards – hands down:

Reach the hiring authority – 100% of the time. A good recruiter has the ear of prospective employers and will proactively market you directly to key hiring decision makers.  Recruiters keep your best career interests in mind and ensure your skills, experience and personal brand are presented in the best light possible to potential employers.

Access the “hidden” job market. Many food & beverage employers know that they have greater hiring success when working with a recruiter.  These companies rely on search professionals to handle the time-consuming legwork associated with finding the best candidates and skip the job board route altogether.

Get inside information on employers and their hiring practices. If you are interested in a particular employer, a recruiter can use his knowledge of an employer’s hiring processes (including interviewers’ personalities and interviewing styles) to help you successfully navigate obstacles.  Likewise, he can provide valuable insight on a company’s corporate culture, helping you more accurately evaluate career opportunities.

Maintain job search control. A top performer who plasters his résumé all over every job board may suffer unintended (and unwanted) consequences.  Unethical staffing services may find your résumé on a job board and submit it without your approval or begin hounding you with phone calls.  With a good recruiter on your side, you can maintain control over your résumé and work with a single point of contact.

Manage job search anxiety. For many, finding a new position is extremely stressful.  Recruiters are experts at the process and can help guide you through the nerve-wracking process of interviewing.  By working with a recruiter you also enjoy peace of mind, knowing that you have someone else on your job search team.

Get a personal advocate and partner in your job search. In most cases (retained searches being an exception), recruiters aren’t compensated unless they actually place candidates.  Unlike a job board, we have a vested interest in ensuring the success of your job search.

Protect your privacy. If you think your current employer won’t find out you’re actively seeking another job, think again.  Many employers set up automatic search agents on major job boards which notify them if their employees are preparing to make a move.  When you work with a recruiter, you can rest assured that you will be represented anonymously, and that your job search will remain confidential.

Access contract opportunities. If you are out of work and open to contract work, recruiters can place you in project-based opportunities that get your foot in the door and may even lead to direct employment.

The Kinsa Group – The Human Touch in Food & Beverage Recruiting

Technology is an important component in your job search, but nothing replaces the human touch.  To us, you’re more than just a résumé or an application.  You’re a critical component of our success.

We listen and take a real interest in matching you with an opportunity that suits your unique skills, needs and interests.  Contact a Kinsa recruiter today to learn more about executive and management career opportunities in the food & beverage industry.

Here are a few interesting statistics for you, from a February 2011 press release issued by small-business social network MerchantCircle:

• Facebook is becoming an increasingly popular way for merchants to market their business, with 70 percent using the social network for marketing, up from 50 percent one year ago.
• Facebook has now surpassed Google (66 percent) as the most widely used marketing method amongst local merchants, and is almost tied with Google search (40 percent) as one of their top three most effective marketing methods, with 37 percent rating Facebook as one of their most effective tools.

Whether you’re one of the millions of today’s social media junkies, or you consider them to be the world’s biggest waste of time, social media are having a huge impact – on individuals, and of course, on organizations.

Regardless of your personal preferences, your business needs a proactive social media strategy.  Why?  Doing nothing is akin to management by abdication.  It’s a guaranteed recipe for gossip, disinformation, lack of innovation, loss of talent and even loss of competitive advantage.

If you’re still new to the world of social media, or struggle to use it effectively, here are some ways to use resources like LinkedIn and Facebook to keep your company strong and healthy:

Focus your efforts. Create a system to make sure your social media activities align with your business objectives (e.g., If you use LinkedIn for client prospecting, develop and formalize a company-wide strategy and list of accepted practices.)  Likewise, resist the urge to join every available network.  Do your homework up-front to determine which sites are likely to be the most beneficial for your business.  Otherwise, these sites can wind up being a tremendous waste of time and effort.

Position yourself (and your company) as an expert. Whatever your area of specialization, you can use online networking to showcase your talent and expertise:

• Be a leader, not a follower. Develop thought leadership in the food & beverage industry by posting articles that identify trends, cite the latest research and are generally ahead of the curve.  Timely, relevant information is extremely valuable to your clients, prospects and other contacts.
• Attract top talent. True professionals stay on top of their fields by constantly seeking out new information.  Become a trusted source they turn to.  Write and post articles about the topics most important to these individuals, and you’ll attract the top performers you need.
• Answer a question in your field to attain expert status within your network. If you’re selected as providing the best answer to a particular problem, it will show up on your LinkedIn profile.  Providing answers is also a great way to strike up an online conversation with a new contact and begin building a relationship.

Draw traffic to your website and blog. Link these to your LinkedIn and Facebook profiles and reference them in your tweets to get more people reading about you and your company.  If you adjust your LinkedIn settings, it will automatically send a notice reminding your contacts to come see what’s new.

Expand your networks. Networking is the number one way small businesses find employees, suppliers and strategic partners.  Make it easy for others to connect with you.  If you haven’t already, place links to all your social media accounts prominently on your website and blog to encourage more people to friend you, follow you or join your network.

Get active and stay active. You may get some minimal value from passive participation, but you have to be at least moderately involved on a site to derive any real business value.  So don’t be a social media couch potato.  Focus on growing your network.  Post.  Blog.  Refer.  Recommend.  Follow-up.  The more effort you put into your social media activities, the greater the results you’ll see.

Kinsa uses a number of social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, to strengthen our business relationships and recruit the nation’s top food & beverage professionals and executives.  How are you using social media to drive your business?  We’d love to know.  Please leave your comments below.

Still on the fence about using social media?  Consider these statistics from the recent Cone Business in Social Media Study:

• 93 percent of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites.
• 85 percent believe that these companies should use social media to interact with consumers.
• 60 percent of Americans regularly interact with companies on social media sites.

The truth is, social media can help expand your business network, enhance your career, recruit employees and more.

According to HR expert Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide, HR professionals need to participate in social media for career success – and she should know.  She is a management and organization development consultant who specializes in human resources issues and in management development to create forward-thinking workplaces.  Susan is also a professional facilitator, speaker, trainer and writer.

Heathfield’s About.com article “10 Reasons Social Media Should Rock Your World” details the rationale behind making social media time investment mandatory for every HR professional:

1. Stay in touch with colleagues and friends. Social media makes it easier than ever to re-connect with former colleagues, classmates, teachers and other professional contacts.
2. Make it easy for others to find you. Maintain both individual and company profiles to make it simple and convenient for customers, employees and candidates to reach you.
   
3. Find potential job candidates. For example, you can e-mail social media contacts with job requirements and ask them for referrals.
4. Investigate potential career opportunities. If you’re interested in finding a new job, social media sites like LinkedIn can be invaluable in your search.  You can use the site to network, garner recommendations and learn about new job openings.
5. Establish your online brand. You can use social media to promote your career progress by establishing an online presence that defines who you are professionally and what you want to be known for accomplishing.
6. Join groups that share your professional interests. As a group member you can give and get information about recommended reading, industry trade shows or other professional meetings/events.
7. Develop social connections. Sites like Facebook are rapidly gaining mature professional members.  Unlike LinkedIn, Facebook is ideally suited to having fun and developing social contacts over time.  A word of caution:  carefully manage your Privacy Settings and critically examine content – before you post or upload – to make sure it’s compatible with your professional image.
8. Provide a space in which users of your products/services can interact with you. Use social media to expand your customers’ opportunities to discuss their wants and needs – with you or with other customers.
9. Build community around your products or services. The people who are the “face” of your company should leverage social media opportunities to build relationships with consumers.  Forums and blogs on your company website (and within your HR Intranet), as well as fan pages, can help you build this sense of community.
10. Finally your company, in addition to individual employees, should establish a company presence on major social media sites to stay in step with the changing interests and needs of consumers.  The Internet has opened up worldwide communication.  Why not use its social media components to make you and your company more successful?

With a presence on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well as a food & beverage industry-specific blog, Kinsa Group leverages social media to locate talented, experienced food & beverage professionals and C-level executives – especially those with hard-to-find skill sets.  Contact Kinsa today.

One of the biggest challenges facing HR and other food & beverage hiring managers is finding candidates who are the “right fit” for their respective organizations.

But just what, exactly, is the “right fit”?

For many employers, it means finding a candidate who shares the same belief systems and values as the company’s, and who meshes with the corporate culture.  To identify this type of individual, these employers often turn to values-based recruiting.

Values-based recruiting goes beyond examining competencies and experience.  It’s about creating a values match by building a model that outlines behaviors associated with corporate values, and then assessing candidates for those behaviors.  The process typically yields hires whose thinking, values and ways of doing business closely match those of the employer.

But what if your company needs a proverbial “shot in the arm” to fuel its success – a new direction, fresh business perspective or innovative ideas to re-energize your organization?

In a case like this, the right fit for your food & beverage organization will be an individual who, by definition, is not a perfect values-based match.  Rather, this candidate should be selected based on a model that outlines behaviors associated with leading your company in new direction.  To begin this process, your company must first determine new goals, create a list of competencies and values for the available position that will support those goals, and then recruit and select accordingly.

Which type of recruiting is right for your business needs?

Kinsa’s recruiting experts will work with you to determine how to find the right fit for your company’s needs.  Whether you require an individual whose values closely match your company’s, or someone who will bring fresh ideas and perspective to your business, Kinsa’s exclusive recruiting process will deliver only A-level candidates.

During the Position Specification phase of recruiting, Kinsa Group will precisely define who we are searching for and what this person needs to accomplish.  This guarantees that our recruiting is strategic, accurate, and highly expeditious.  A discipline-specific Consultant will work with you to create the Position Profile (performance goals, qualifications, candidate profile, compensation package) and the Marketing Platform (an overall promotional summary of your company’s story, career track and location attractions).

Contact us today to find out how Kinsa’s 8-Step Recruiting Process for food & beverage executives and professionals can deliver the right fit for your organization.

Can nice guys (or gals) finish first?

That is the question that John Hausknecht, assistant professor of Human Resource Studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, wanted to know.  In conjunction with Green Peak Partners, a Denver-based organizational consulting firm, Hausknecht and his research team conducted a unique longitudinal study of 72 senior executives to define the qualities that lead an executive to excel in his or her position.

The study consisted of two phases:

• Phase 1: Between 2005 and 2008, Green Peak Partners conducted four-hour background interviews (covering family, education, early-career and recent professional experiences) with executives to identify individuals’ qualities, leadership styles and technical competence.
• Phase 2: Between April and October 2009, researchers then interviewed those executives’ supervisors, to determine how well the execs performed on the job.

What made this study special is that it examined both short- and long-term indicators of executive performance for a relatively large sample of individuals.  Some of the study’s findings were surprising:

- Interpersonal skills mattered. Executives with weak interpersonal skills rated poorly:

• on their ability to deliver bottom-line results;
• on every performance dimension, including managing talent, inspiring followership, business/technical acumen and strategic intellect;
• as people managers.

- Self-awareness was a primary driver of an executive’s effectiveness. A high self-awareness score was the strongest predictor of overall success.

- While gender and birth order did not correlate with performance, executives with more siblings were better at driving results.

- “Bully” traits were typically signs of incompetence and lack of strategic intellect. While traits such as being “arrogant,” “impatient,” and “stubborn” are often viewed as part of a business-building culture, they correlated to low ratings for delivering financial results, business and technical acumen, (and not surprisingly) managing talent and being a team player.

- Experience at multiple companies did not predict executive success. In fact, the study found that candidates who changed jobs frequently were often trying to outrun problems.

Can nice guys (or gals) finish first?

According to J. P. Flaum, Managing Partner, and Dr. Becky Winkler, Principal, at Green Peak Partners, soft values drive hard results.  Strong bottom-line executive performance is most likely to come from those who are both emotionally intelligent and self-aware.  According to Winkler, “Our findings directly challenge the conventional view that ‘drive for results at all costs’ is the right approach.  The executives most likely to deliver good bottom-line results are actually self-aware leaders who are especially good at working with individuals and in teams.”

Kinsa Group – Delivering Successful Food & Beverage Executives

Using our unique food & beverage recruiting and assessment processes, The Kinsa Group specializes in placing qualified professionals and senior-to-executive level management candidates who will drive bottom-line results in your organization.  Contact Kinsa today.

Smart work/life balance tips to reduce stress and give you more time

Meetings.  Soccer practice.  Long hours.  Project deadlines.  Yard work.

Given all the responsibilities you have both on the job and at home, you may feel that a healthy work/life balance is unrealistic right now:  spending more time at work may cause you to miss out on a rewarding personal life; but effectively managing the challenges of your personal life (such as coping with an aging parent or marital stress) may make concentrating on your job difficult.

So how do you strike a balance?  Implement just three or four of these ideas to make a measurable difference in your life.  They will help you lower your stress level, free-up more time, and put you on the path to a healthier work/life balance.

Drop unnecessary activities. Make a list of what really matters to you.  You may find out that you’re devoting too much time to activities that aren’t a real priority.  If at all possible, drop commitments and pursuits that don’t make the top five on your list of priorities.  Doing so will greatly focus your efforts and simplify your life.

Realize that time is often more valuable than money. The time you spend away from meaningful relationships in your life is time you can never get back.  With this in mind, consider hiring a lawn maintenance service, a handyman, or a babysitter (but always have a contingency plan in place).

Get enough sleep. Few things are as stressful and potentially dangerous as working when you’re sleep deprived.  Aside from feeling awful, you’re also more likely to make costly mistakes and be less productive.  So while you may be tempted to burn the midnight oil, it makes more sense to hit the sack and tackle your work with a fresh pair of eyes in the morning.

Plan fun and relaxation. Given the frenetic pace of our lives, nurturing ourselves just doesn’t happen by accident – but it’s still an essential part of maintaining a balanced life.  So set aside space in your weekly calendar for activities that are fun and relaxing to you.  Plan what you’re going to do and make necessary arrangements – reservations, childcare, etc. – to ensure you’ll be able to keep your commitment.

Use e-mail effectively. Use e-mail, as opposed to voicemail, to send detailed messages.  Try to respond to your incoming messages in groups – just a few times a day.  This way, you will interrupt your train of thought less frequently and stay more focused.

Learn to say “No.” Whether it’s a co-worker asking you to spearhead an extra project, or your child’s teacher asking you to be the head room parent, remember that’s okay to respectfully say “No.”  Once you quit doing things out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you’ll make more room in your life for activities that are meaningful and important to you.

Exercise your options. Find out if your employer offers flex hours, a compressed workweek, job-sharing or telecommuting for your role.  These options may afford you greater flexibility to alleviate stress and free-up more of your time.

Master software packages. Learn the tips associated with the software packages you use most frequently.  They can increase your productivity.

Organize. If your insides are churning, create order outside.  Some people find that cleaning, organizing and reducing clutter actually reduce stress – both at home and at work.

Get a system. Develop a routine for tackling recurring tasks both at home and work.  If you drive by the dry cleaners and grocery store on your way to and from work, make a habit of bringing your shopping list and dry cleaning with you to take care of those stops en route.

Ask for help. Are you overwhelmed because you don’t have the support or tools you need to get your work done?  If so, don’t be a hero.  Approach your boss or loved ones and ask for the help you need to be more productive at work or at home.

Lighten up. Don’t take everything so seriously.  Nobody and nothing is ever perfect, so drop your shoulders and learn to laugh!