The Happiness Project: Great ideas for work-related happiness, too

Posted January 25th, 2011 in For Job Seekers

Because ‘happiness’ isn’t just for your personal life

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already know our philosophy:  The ROI of Happiness.  For us that means that ‘happiness’ and ‘the bottom line’ aren’t mutually exclusive.

One of our inspirations for the ROI of Happiness was The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  A couple of years ago, Gretchen – a writer and journalist by trade – decided she wanted to be happier, and spent a year trying out all the self-help books, workshops, scientific theories and pop-culture remedies to see which one(s) actually worked.

When most of us think about ‘happiness’ and how to be happier in our day-to-day lives, we tend to think about our personal lives, not our work lives.  We all know that our jobs and careers are a huge factor in overall happiness, but when self-help books or life coaches address the subject, they tend to focus on the big picture (i.e. “Don’t be afraid to quit your job, go back to school, and reinvent yourself in a whole new career!”) rather than smaller, day-to-day changes they recommend  for your personal life.

12 happiness tips for your whole life – including work!

After her year of experimenting, Gretchen came up with ‘12 Personal Commandments’.  Like most guidelines to happiness and fulfillment, at first glance they don’t seem to have much to do with work/jobs/career.  But take another look:  these are great tips for being happy at work and in your personal life.
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Is your office lobby costing you A-list candidates?

Posted September 9th, 2010 in blog_news

“You never get a second chance to make  a first impression.”

There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that we all make decisions about people based on appearances and a few short minutes of interaction, and that many hiring managers make hiring decisions within the first 5 minutes of the in-person interview.

Your office lobby is the first place candidates ‘meet’ your company in person.  What kind of first impression is it making?

The minute they walk in the door, they’re imagining themselves in the job

Interviews go both ways:  The employer is thinking, “I wonder what it would be like to have this person working here every day…”, while the candidate is thinking, “I wonder what it would be like to come to work here every day…”

So the minute a candidate walks through your door, they’re looking around thinking, “Would I like to come here to work every day?  Is the prospect of spending 40+ hours a week in this environment appealing?  Would I ‘fit in’ here?  Do I really want to pursue this opportunity, or does the thought of walking into this lobby every day fill me with despair?”

What message is your lobby sending to potential employees?

Here’s the lobby of Google Zurich:

This lobby says:  ”We’re creative, non-traditional, and interesting – and we’re successful enough to be able to spend money in our surroundings.  Sure, you’ll probably end up spending a lot of time here – we work a lot – but you won’t mind, because it’s so much fun and we’re all so invested in our work!”

Now let’s look at random clinic office:

This lobby says:  ”We’re serious.  We’re so serious that we don’t believe in having a personality of any kind between 9am and 5pm.  We think that spending a lot of money,time or energy on our surroundings is frivolous.  Hey – this is a workplace, not a funhouse!  We believe competency is more important than innovation.”

If you were an A-list candidate with 2 job offers, which one would you choose?

We’ve picked 2 extreme examples here, of course:  Hardly any lobbies or offices are as consistently appealing as Google’s, and it’s entirely possible that the photo of the ‘boring’ office was taken just after they’d repainted, and they hadn’t yet had time to replace the signage and decor.

But it’s worth thinking about.  Go take a look at your lobby, and try to imagine it through the eyes of someone who’s never seen it before.  Is it an accurate reflection of your organizational culture?  Your brand?  Is it likely to be appealing to your ideal new employee?

Welcome to the ROI of HappinessTM

Posted July 11th, 2010 in blog_news

When we started Poly Placements in 2006, we had a simple goal:  To make recruiting more enjoyable for everyone, clients, candidates and recruiters alike.

Why do we think this is so important?

Hiring the right person can be a game-changer for organizations; landing the right job can be a life-changer for individuals; and connecting the right candidate to the right employer can make you feel, just a little, like you’ve changed the world for the better.

In other words, we want people to stop thinking of recruiting (and job-hunting) as a stressful chore and start thinking of it as a terrific opportunity for their organization, for themselves, and for the recruiting partner they work with.

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