Contributed Post | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Changing Your Career After a Divorce

September 29, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Divorce can be a complicated process. The relationship did not work out, and now you and your former partner need to move on to heal.

Divorce can also be an opportunity for a fresh start. Some people may find divorce as a time to try to transition to a new career.

This move can be a tricky one for some. When going through a divorce, all aspects of your life are affected. For some people, the adverse effects of their personal life and negatively affect their work life.

On the other hand, a new career can be just the thing some people need to move on.

While the prospect of two life-changing events can be daunting for some, others see the potential positive outcomes. The benefits of a better life can outweigh any potential challenges.

The divorce mediation process in California can be lengthy and changing careers can draw the process out. A drastic change in income can mean more time in court before the divorce gets finalized.

There are several pros and cons to changing your career after a divorce. Let’s explore a few of them. We will also provide some helpful advice if you think about moving to a new job following your divorce.

The Benefits of Changing Your Career

If you start a new career with some flexibility, it can make you available for your children for school-related functions and medical needs. Also, showing you are working hard to provide for your family is always a positive.

A new career allows you to begin to live for yourself and your children. Perhaps you were a stay-at-home parent, and now you can do something you always wanted to do.

If you don’t have any experience in the field you plan to enter, focus on the required or related skills. Also, showing a willingness to learn and improve can go a long way as well.

The court will want to see that you are making a positive change for yourself and your children. Taking on a new position that will help you better provide for your family will usually be seen positively, even if it is a struggle at first.

The Disadvantages of a Career Change

While a career transition after a divorce is the right move for some, it can be damaging for others. The extra stress and pressure can sometimes do more harm than good in the end.

Divorce proceedings and mediation in California can be a lengthy and drawn-out process. As such, it can take a lot of your energy, time, and focus. That can cause issues with starting a new career if your attention is divided. You want to make an excellent first impression with your boss and colleagues. If you seem distracted or not working at your best, it can harm your career prospects.

It would help if you also considered any changes in income. While taking on a new career that pays a higher salary may reflect well on you regarding alimony or child support payments, taking a pay cut can have the opposite effect. Even if you are taking a job for less pay because you feel it will be more rewarding, the judge may see it as a way of reducing your financial responsibilities.

A career change also means more due diligence by both parties’ attorneys when assessing finances. This is particularly important when deciding child support and division of assets. This examination of finances will likely draw out the divorce proceedings, so if you are looking for a quick resolution, now may not be the time to pursue your dream career.

Do What is Best for You

In the end, no one can decide to transition to a new career but you. Just know that the court will scrutinize any career change, and they will consider it.

If you are working towards providing a better life for your children and your financial responsibilities, it will likely be looked upon favorably. Make sure that a new career change will still allow you a good work/life balance.

Before making any decisions, you need to ask yourself a few questions:

What will make me happy?
Can I still provide for or improve the life of my children?
Do I have the potential to be in a better position than I am now?

Take these things into consideration, and then make the best decision you can for yourself. While a career change can be just the thing for some people after a divorce, it makes too much of a life change for others.

Don’t Leave Your Business Exposed To A Disaster’

September 28, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Are you worried about exposing your business to a potential disaster? If so, then you need to make sure that you are taking the right steps to protect your company. Here are some of the key solutions that you must keep in mind to ensure the longevity of your business.

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Think About Insurance

First, you should think about insurance options in your business model. There are various insurance solutions that could be suitable for your company. For instance, you will always need general liability insurance. This will cover you if the actions of you or a member of your team impact another employee, a customer or anyone on your premises. Workers comp is also a cover worth exploring. This will provide compensation if an employee is injured in your business.

Set Up A Disaster Recovery Plan

You do need to set up a disaster recovery plan in your business. The right disaster recovery plan will mean that you don’t have to worry about a tech failure killing your company. If your tech fails or if there is malicious activity involved, then you will struggle to keep the doors of your business open. One of the ways that you can handle this is with a complete disaster recovery plan in place. A solution like this will mean that you can get your company up and running within minutes after a massive disaster. Remember, the longer your systems are down, the more money it will ultimately end up costing you.

Complete The Right Checks

Next, you need to make sure that you are completing the right checks in your business model. For instance, you should think about hiring a health and safety office. A health and safety officer will ensure that there are no hazards in your business that you could cause headaches. This could be as simple as loose wires on the floor or even a flickering light in a stairwell. If there is a problem like this and an employee trips they could claim that the area was poorly lit. Of course, checks can be more significant than this. For instance, a standpipe inspection can be used to guarantee that your fire safety systems will work as they should.

Keep Your Costs Under Control

Finally, you need to make sure that you are keeping your costs under control. If you fail to do this, then you could end up with a significant level of debt in your business. This debt is only going to grow and eventually it could eat your business alive. The easiest way to avoid debt is to make sure that your costs are manageable. You should save money where possible without directly changing or impacting the quality of the service that you deliver to your customers.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key ways that you can protect your business from a potential disaster and ensure that it continues to fire on all cylinders. If you take this advice, then you can help ensure that longevity of your company.

Here’s How To Handle A Poorly Performing Employee’

September 28, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

One bad employee can do a lot of damage to your business and your brand as a whole. A poorly performing employee will likely earn your business bad reviews which is ultimately going to translate into lost sales for your company. However, is it as simple as just letting an employee go and replacing them with a better one? Not usually no and the reason for this is employee churn.

High levels of employee churn can cost your business a fortune. Refreshing your team can seem like a great idea but not if it’s going to add to the costs that you are already struggling to sustain in your business model. So, how should you handle a team member that is not performing to the right standard? Here are some key pieces of advice that you must keep in mind.

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How Can You Keep A Poor Employee?

If an employee isn’t performing well and you want to avoid increasing your churn, then you need to help them improve. There are a few ways that you can do this. For instance, you might want to think about investing in training for your team member. Training will pay off in the long term and usually help you avoid needing to micromanage certain employees. It can also empower them to perform at the level that you need and deliver a fantastic service to customers and clients.

If training doesn’t work then you have to consider that there might be something else going on that is impacting their level of service. For instance, it’s possible that they are dealing with emotional issues that are affecting their quality of work. Be aware that as an employer you are responsible for offering the right support here. You need to make sure that your team members are happy at work.

It’s possible that they are overly stressed in their position. If so, rather than letting them go, you should think about looking at how you can help them manage their stress more effectively. This might include reducing their duties until the situation improves.

What If You Do Need To Let Them Go?

If you still need to let them go and you’re down to your last resort because they are not improving, it’s important to handle this the right way. The danger here is that an employee could accuse you of wrongful termination. This can lead to a long and expensive lawsuit that could also damage your business reputation. If you are worried about the issue of wrongful termination, then make sure that you consult with HR first. If you are accused of this, then you will need the support of an employer defense attorney.

We hope this helps you understand some of the right steps that you should take if an employee in your business is not performing at the right level. If you explore the key options here, then you should be able to take this as an opportunity to strengthen your business while also avoiding the heavy costs of replacing a team member.

How Businesses Can Visibly Improve Their Standards

September 27, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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Improving the standards that your firm operates within could be considered a worthwhile investment and enterprise thanks to how it can improve your productivity. This much is obvious. But sometimes, there’s value in making those investments public, too. They can have marketing worth in ways that can potentially even fuel a new promotional campaign.

For instance, when McDonald’s decided to go forward with their ‘100% beef’ promotion, everyone cheered them on, as if selling burgers that weren’t entirely beef was no longer important, now they were ‘doing it right.’ In the late 2000s, Dominoes basically performed a full retrofit of their marketing campaign, admitting they had been fumbling, and now they were committed to the freshest of ingredients and the best possible service.

Of course, fixing an issue is not necessarily the best marketing approach to take, but reinvesting in your standards, visibly, can be healthy and worthwhile to do so. Here are a few considerations to apply if you’re looking to reinvest your profit, and why it can have a positive effect on your brand image. Without further ado, please consider:

Packaging

Your product packaging, or packaging goods used to aid and abet your services, defines how your firm is perceived. Investing in better packaging, as well as its aesthetic, its durability, its convenience to open, its security, and of course, how eco-friendly it is (you may not be able to achieve all of these at once, so choosing your options wisely is key), can make a massive difference going forward. It not only helps you provide a sort of reward for someone investing in your services, but it gives you the extra point of pride you can use when delivering your goods.

Mail Standards

Your mail standards matter. This is why using services like Postal Center International can be so important. Mail standards that work in line with your promotional material, even if that’s giving out lead generation through a range of brochures and deliverables, can make a huge difference. Furthermore, making sure that mail of this sort is reliably handled in a first-class capacity could help you define your service and how much it pays attention to details. A reliable service like this can also give you peace of mind, knowing vital procedures are being carried out properly.

Transparency

Businesses that become more transparent about their process, especially when focusing on pursuits like environmental action or sourcing materials from sustainable sources, tend to use that as a marketing tactic too. There’s no real issue with this, because if you’re promoting the fact you’re doing good, then you have to back that up, and this can keep you promoting good causes on top of that. A public dedication to transparency can showcase that the heard of your company is in the right place, and your vision is properly calibrated. This can sometimes even give you the competitive edge over others in your industry, especially they’re struggling to keep up with the times.

With this advice, you’ll see how improved standards can also be visible and work twice in your favor.

4 Tips For Screening Potential Employees

September 26, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

The hiring process in a company can be a hassle, especially when you have many applications to go through. If you are not careful, you might disregard the good employees and hire people who are not well qualified for the job. The type of employees you get will greatly influence the production levels at the office. Here are some of the tips that will come in handy when screening the employees before hiring them.

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Have a clear job description

One of the first things you need to do before starting the hiring process is to have a clear job description. It will guide you in determining the qualifications required for the job posts and what areas are the most vital for you. If you do not do that, you will keep getting applications from people who do not qualify for the job. It will make you spend more time going through the applications to get potential candidates for the posts.

Have a checklist

Once you have a clear job description, create a checklist. Ensure the list has what you believe your employees need to possess. It is what will guide you when you are interviewing the candidate. The checklist will also come in handy when you are formulating the questions to ask the potential candidates. Without the list, you will find yourself at a crossroads when it comes to the actual interviews.

Get the help of a hiring company

While the hiring process is something you can do in-house, it does not hurt to get outside help. A professional hiring company will go a long way to ensure that the employees you get have the right skillset. Many times you might need to go through various applications, which take forever. The hiring contractors can do this in record time and let you concentrate on the running of your company. You will only come in when they have a list of candidates that you need to make the final decision on.

Keep it legal

When screening employees, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to use illegal methods. Do not hire anyone based on their race, sex, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Your personal preferences should in no way come to play when hiring. If you are not careful, you might end up with a lawsuit in hand because of your hiring methods. Another thing you should never do is ask your potential employees whether they have family or plan to start one and whether they plan to go back to school in the future. Doing so means you will employ them based on how many work hours they can put in. Everyone deserves to have a life outside their career.

Bottom Line

The right hiring methods will ensure that you not only get the best employees but that you do not get on the wrong side of the law. When hiring a freelance employee, you need to ensure that you do your research well. It will help you get the best employees for your company.