Anyone who’s spent time searching for a job knows how stressful it can be. Submitting applications, waiting to hear back from companies, and interviewing can really take their toll on a person. After all, one’s livelihood is at stake. Finding a job and keeping is one of the most important undertakings in life.
We recognize that gainful employment is the surest predictor of a person’s ability to lead a healthy life with positive momentum– we’ve seen many success stories pass through our managed labor teams. That’s why we invest in our employees to create a career mindset, striving to impart values and an understanding of good work practices that we hope follow our team members throughout their lives.
Here are some of the items we cover with new hires to encourage approaching work with a career mindset.
Positivity
Many know the old adage “happiness is a choice.” This applies to all aspects of life, including work. When people choose to look on the bright side and consider the good aspects of a workday versus the bad, they’re more likely to feel satisfied and look forward to challenges ahead.
A philosophy of positivity is not with pragmatism—it’s important not to be idealistic, but to understand and appreciate the difficulties of life while approaching them with an optimistic mentality.
Another common expression: “One bad apple spoils the bunch.” In family, social, and work environments, both positive and negative attitudes are contagious. Showing up to work with a negative mindset each day tends to create a self-fulfilling prophecy as a bad mood spreads to coworkers. Successful people know that measured and genuine positivity is infectious and lifts up the entire team.
Understand Strengths and Weaknesses
Everyone has a unique set of abilities, whether innate or developed over time. We encourage our team members to find ways to put their strengths to work for the betterment of their teams, and to seek improvement in areas where they may fall short.
Whether through guided study, independent learning, or good old-fashioned practice, we can hone our abilities. As long as someone feels better at something than they did the day before, that is progress, and an achievement—no one has to be superman. It all starts with knowing and being true to ones’ self—and that understanding is also the first step on the path to growth and personal development
Develop a Growth Mentality
Many people feel that they are born with a set of abilities they are “stuck” with. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Having a strong self-awareness and the ability to learn from mistakes and failures is the cornerstone of a growth mentality in one’s life.
Employees who want to improve thrive on constructive feedback, rather than feeling stepped on or rejecting guidance as micromanagement (there is a difference—giving constructive feedback is a managerial skill which, in turn, must also be developed).
It’s never too late to decide on a growth mentality. It’s like quitting smoking or deciding to lose weight and exercise—often, these life choices can accompany a commitment to professional growth.
Goal-Setting
Setting measurable and achievable goals is a practice that even top executives train on, so no one should feel intimidated by the process. It’s difficult to turn a vision into a goal and exercise the discipline required to achieve it.
However, we believe that setting goals is the ONLY way to achieve the life one desires. We encourage staff members to think about what they want to achieve in life and plot out a path to get there. Often, it helps to break major goals like “buying a house” into specific milestones: reaching a certain monthly income, saving enough for a down payment, etc. Setting smaller goals in pursuit of larger ones and giving them specific timeframes is the way to go.
That procedure can only work if one writes down their goals. Whether on a whiteboard, notebook, spreadsheet, whatever… as long as one’s record of goals and plans is within reach and visible every day, one can stay motivated and accountable toward their achievement.
The Benefits of a Career Mindset
The gains to be made when one focuses on their career, rather than their job, should be obvious. Individuals create and seize opportunities for advancement and promotion. Teams benefit from a collective positive mentality and work more efficiently and happily. Managers have more time to focus on strategy and decision-making, rather than supervision, and a businesses customers enjoy better service when employees are invested in the quality of their work.
Developing these traits in our team members certainly reaps benefits, and that’s why it’s our policy at Costa Solutions to set all of our employees up for success in this way.