Startup Central

3 Questions To Ask Before Hiring A Potential Employee

Published

2 months ago

June 11, 2019

The job of evaluating potential employees can be hard. It can be hard to find out if the person is a good fit just by looking at their resume or an interview. Human resources usually have a set of questions they ask in order to find out if the individual is a good fit for the company. Here are questions you need to ask before hiring a potential employee.

Can They Do An Extremely Good Job?

Companies hire people for various reasons. However, the primary reason is always so that they can do work. Many people can do a specific kind of job. They go to school to get training and have knowledge in how to do a specific type of job. Many of them also get experience through their exposure of different kinds of job throughout their lifetime. But how do you know that they can do a good job for your company.Look at their resume. What is their background and what are their reasons for leaving their last job. Past employment is important because the reason they left can impact your organization. Think about it, if they left because of incompetence or negligence, they could commit the same mistakes again and cost your company its reputation or money.Ask them how they can do a good job. What characteristics do they have to that will benefit the company the most? Remember, many people can do the same job. This person should be able to do the same job but to another level.

Can They Do An Extremely Good Job, long term?

Now that you know the person can do a good job, will they be able to sustain it long term? Performance is important but long term performance is even better. In order for an organization to have a long lifespan and its blood needs to perform constantly at a high level. The best employees can sustain a high quality of work over time. Slip ups are common because it is natural to do so. However, a consistently high quality of work that can be sustained long term is even more important.It's easy to stay enthusiastic and motivated the first couple of months, but what about years from now? Will this person be able to stay motivated and enthusiastic? How will he or she face challenges and drawbacks?This can be answered by asking two questions: 1. What are the person's goals, 2. How are their goals aligned to the organization.

Are they a Good Team Fit?

Remember, it doesn't matter how good a person is if they're not a good fit for the team or if they cannot work with a team. You need people that are driven to contribute and grow. If their goals are not aligned with yours it does not matter, they will not fit in the team and the organization.Imagine hiring a team that is the cream of the crop. The team needs a new member so you decide to hire a top performer. However, this performer is not a team player. He or she undermines your team and is unwilling to work with them. Furthermore, his goals are not compatible with the organization's. How do you think his behavior will impact the team or your company?Team work is important not only for individual success but for the team and company too. A good employee does not only think of his job but also the welfare of the company. He understands that it is a symbiotic relationship where one cannot exist without the other.Hiring goals are very important. They define the future of the company and affect its performance both short term and long term. If you are interested in growing your company, think about your company culture and embed it in your hiring process. Finding a way to keep hiring standards high should be a priority among managers as this will affect the overall health of the company.

Business

5 Ways To Break A Bad Habit

Published

3 hours ago

August 19, 2019

Yvonette Sanchez

We all have bad habits whether it is biting finger nails when nervous, smoking, or gambling. The bad news about bad habits is its ability to impact relationships, happiness, and health. Many people want to kick their bad habits, however not many of them succeed in doing so. In order to successfully overcome bad habits, the first step is to develop insight in their origin. Once you know what is causing these bad habits, it will be easier for you to control these triggers, and you will be one step closer to kicking these bad habits forever.

Decide That You Can

If you have a bad habit like being chronically late you need to acknowledge that you have this bad habit and decide that you can kick it. Being totally committed to changing yourself is the first step to success.

Learn What Is Causing This Bad Habit

Learning what causes a bad habit is one of the ways to kick it and know how to avoid it. Take a good look into what is causing the habit. Take being late for example. Is it because you forget to set the alarm or maybe you stay in bed even if you’re already awake? By figuring out what is causing your bad habit, you can work out how to manipulate the situation so that your behavior is different. Take a look at the "reward" for your bad behavior. Do you like the excitement or attention when you are late? If this is the case, maybe you can figure out ways to get noticed or to become excited over something else.

Set Reasonable Goals

For those who are chronically late, being on time the first time after deciding you want to change can be very hard. It is better to set reasonable goals so that you can slowly work towards achieving bigger goals. If you want to start arriving on time, it would be unrealistic for you to set being on time the first day after setting the goal. For those who are chronically 20-30 minutes late all the time, set a more realistic goal of being "only" 10-15 minutes late for the first few weeks and then gradually lessening the minutes until you get into the habit of being on time.

Measure Progress

One of the ways to keep motivated is by seeing how far you have come to reach your goal. Seeing your progress will keep you inspired and work harder to achieve the ultimate objective. For those who are chronically late you can keep tabs of your lateness by taking note of it in a journal or calendar. You might not experience progress immediately so it is important not to get discouraged but to keep on moving forward.

Additional Support

Lastly, find somebody who will support you and help you kick your bad habit for good. For those who are always tardy perhaps you can get a co-worker to cheer you on or remind you to get going if you're slacking off on a project again. Ask family and friends to help you by telling you it's time to get ready for an appointment right away lest you be late. Support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Weight Watchers are testament to the fact that it can be hard to do it alone and that you don’t have to.Aside from negative impact on relationships and work, bad habits can also shorten your lifespan. Eating junk food and not exercising can cause various diseases that can affect health and longevity. Smoking, drugs and alcohol can cause a myriad of health problems and gambling can jeopardize family land financial security. Some bad habits need professional help to totally eliminate however, following the above stated examples can give you a head start in getting rid of them.

Lifestyle

Bellabeat Time Review

Published

4 hours ago

August 19, 2019

OM Contributor

Bellabeat Time box and someone wearing it on their wrist

Setting healthy habits is a primary focus for many of us for the New Year. From working out to practicing meditation to drinking more water throughout the day (because we all need to drink more water), many look for accessible tools and resources to help us stay on track and reach our goals. With the surge of wearable devices on the market, how does one choose which to spend our hard earned money on and watch one are simply gimmicks?

The category of wearable technology, more specifically smart devices, has grown drastically in the past five years. The industry shifted to help us better staying connected, on trend, and collect helpful data. Whether it’s call/text notifications, heartbeat monitoring or counting your steps to hatch eggs on Pokemon Go, both large brands and new startups are doubling down on wearer’s interest to new technology.With a market saturated with heavy hitters, like Apple, Fitbit, and Fossil, and weekly product launches on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, all competing for buyers’ attention, it’s important to know what kind of features and functionality your lifestyle needs to choose the right product for you. Even for independent brands, expectations are extremely high for product design and technological advances to compete with the Watches, Bands, and Qs of the world. Startups, like Bellabeats, a piece of smart jewelry, and wellness startup, must build an exceptional product, in addition, to carefully target the right demographic and build a community thriving community just to stay in business.Bellabeat aims to improve the lifestyle of their customers: smart women with an inspiring healthy and on-the-go lifestyle. Their products promote healthy living through your wellness tracker, collecting data on activity, meditation, water consumption, sleep patterns, and even where the wearer is in her reproductive cycle, all to determine their stress sensitivity.

Their latest product release, Time, a smart-wear with a luxury and minimal design, fits into the customer’s smart chic lifestyle and compliments their other products, Leaf Urban Tracker, which is shaped like a left, Left Switch, includes a centerpiece of rose quartz or onyx crystal, and a smart water bottle, called Spring. With Time, wearers can track her habits throughout the day, including a number of steps, types of activities, how much water she drank, and even her quality of sleep. In addition to these features, users can use their beautifully designed and colorful app to access guided meditation and track her period.

The device is optimal for wearers who are interested in tracking these habits for personal acknowledge as there are inaccuracies to Bellabeats data tracking. When used, in comparison to other tracking apps, such as Apple’s Health and Sleep Cycle, Bellabeats falls behind data tracking and usability. Competed to Health, Bellabeats’s Time (which is worn on reviewer’s wrist throughout the day) collects 100-1,000 steps less, even with phoneless trips to the bathroom and grabbing prints from the printers.Time also calculates time spent laying down while watching late night Youtube videos as sleep hours, while Sleep Cycle can determine when users have fall asleep and catch more late night bathroom breaks than Time (which again, is worn on the wrist and goes with the user to the bathroom compared to staying plug and on the bed). Another downside to Bellabeats Time is the user experience. From difficulties and delays to stepping up the device upon arrival to non-intuitive design and usage, Time does not build confidence in users who believe they’re buying convenience for $179 USD.

It is undeniable the beauty and luxurious watch design and packaging. What is less luxurious is the delay in usage upon receiving Time. Forwarning, you will need someone else to help insert the watch batteries and may struggle to adjust the wrist size (which is still too big for my tiny wrist). Furthermore, their colorful and minimal app could use more instructions and features to improve wearer’s experience with their technology, such as reminder notifications to sync their device (so users do not lose their data if they forget at the end of the day), better data tracking to reduce inaccuracies, and possibly, integration capabilities to sync with other apps, in case users prefer other apps, to improve their data collection.

Both with the design and technology, the team at Bellabeats offers both benefits and setbacks when it comes to their products. They have done an amazing job building their social and online community and promotion healthy and smart living. Their goal for supporting healthy habits is highly appreciated and we look forward to seeing where the company grows to (and how they can improve their tech, no shade).

Startup Central

Best Ways To Handle Criticism At Work

Published

4 hours ago

August 19, 2019

Nilay Mahanty

Everyone should be prepared to receive negative feedback occasionally as it is impossible that you will remain flawless all the time. It is normal to feel de-motivated when you are criticized at a workplace, but it is an important “life-skill” to accept criticism constructively. Few people have the courage to take criticism in a positive way. In most workplaces, people are not trained to give or receive negative feedback and this leads to misunderstandings.

Here are some useful ways to handle criticism at work.

Feedback is necessary

Any feedback, positive or negative is important. The positive ones highlight your strengths and the negative ones guide you to do better in the future.

Listen carefully

When you are being criticized, try to listen carefully and ask questions to understand the feedback properly. If criticism comes from your boss, do not be defensive. Try to understand the real intention of the criticism and try to improve accordingly.

Take it professionally and not personally

Everyone makes mistakes at work. It is quite common to forget or miss out on something. So, do not take criticism to heart and remember that your manager is criticizing your work, not you as a person. It can hurt you but taking criticism impersonally can help you improve your performance at the workplace.

Do not be too tough on yourself

It is natural to feel sad after receiving negative feedback at work. However, you do not need to be harsh on yourself for minor issues. Remember that no one is perfect, and there are many things to learn each day. Making a mistake is not a crime, but repeating it over and over is. So, try to accept it and move on.

Do not play defensive

When you are being criticized, do not be defensive. It is best to listen to everything and control your emotions. Do not try to find excuses. Finding excuses for mistakes lead nowhere. Playing defensive is not very healthy for your professional growth.

Do not respond in the heat of the moment

It is okay not to accept each and every word being said. However, do not put your perspective into words immediately. If you say anything wrong in the heat of the moment, you may regret it later and may harm your career prospects. If you do not agree, wait for the right time to respond.

Be formal and say thank you

When you receive feedback from your manager or senior, don’t forget to say thank you. The gesture will show that you respect them and expresses how you react to criticism.

Ignore False Criticism

You can be a victim of false criticism, which can hurt you much more. There are two ways to handle false criticism. You can remain silent and ignore it completely. If it is a grave matter and may impact your career growth, you need to fight against it. However, dignified silence is always a better option to fight against false allegations.Try to learn from well-intended criticism. Be careful with unfair criticism and personal attacks. Personal attacks and unfair criticism should be defended in a proper way.