Tips for Handling Employees Resignations

Tips for Handling Employees ResignationsTips for Handling Employees ResignationsEven the best employer has employees resign. No matter your work environment or your positive employee relationships, employees resign for reasons that are beyond your control. Sometimes they resign for reasons that are out of their immediate control, too. They resign for new jobs and better opportunities for advancement. They resign to return to school or move across the country. They resign when their spouse takes a job in another state in a hard-to-find employment field. Theyleave because they want more money than you can afford to pay. They also leave if they have children so they can move to an area with better schools or where their family can support them as the children need care and growth. The reasons why an employee might leave your employment are endless and challenging to you as an employer. Whatever the reasons why employees resign, these are the recommended procedures for employers to follo w to handle an employee resignation.? When Employees Resign Employees will often tell their boss firstwhen they resign from their job. The boss needs to inform the employee that the first step in the resignation process is to send a letter of resignation to the Human Resources office. This triggers all of the end-of-employment events necessary in an employment termination. The boss needs to contact HR immediately to plan for a replacement employee. How to Act When Employees Resign Your job, no matterwhat the reason is for the employees resignation, is to act with grace, dignity, and professionalism. Congratulate the employee if the opportunity sounds like a promotion or another career-enhancingstep. Work with the employees manager and co-workers to make sure that an appropriate ending party is scheduled or theres a chance to share memories and a drink at a local tavern or a cup of coffee at a coffee shop. You want every employees last memory of your firm to be positive and p rofessional. You want the employee to feel as if he had a special opportunity while working with your organization. During this time, heres how to handle the details when an employee resigns. Employment Ending Checklist After you receive the employees official resignation letter, work with the employees supervisor to make certain that the employees last two weeks remain positive and contributing. If the employee has provided the standard and expected two weeks notice, you have ample time to wrap up the employees job. If the employee is viewed as a threat to the ongoing work and environment for your other employees, you can escort the employee from the workplace and terminate the employment relationship immediately. This is, fortunately, a rare situation, so you normally have the opportunity to wrap up the employees job and pass the work to other employees while you begin the recruitment for the employees replacement. Or you may rethink the organization of the work and the depart ment as a whole. An employee resignation is also an opportunity for restructuring. You will also want to work on Plannning the recruitment for the replacement employeeHolding an exit interview with the terminating employee andFinishing each item on the employment ending checklist. You can manage employment resignation so you minimize the impact of the loss of the employee on your workflow and work environment. If you handle the process effectively, the exiting employee leaves knowing that she has contributed and added value during her time in your employment. Follow your standard procedures in your employment ending checklist for the employees last day. More About Resignation Top 10 Reasons to Quit Your JobHow to Resign From Your JobAll About ResignationIntroduction to Resignation Letters

Heres how to stop worrying so much

Heres how to stop worrying so muchHeres how to stop worrying so muchEver feel like youcant turn yurbrain off?Worried about how to stop worrying? We all deal with this when life gets challenging.There is a way to overcome worrythat doesnt involve alcohol or a straitjacket.The answer is thousands of years old - but now science is validating those ancientideas. Youve probably even heard of it Mindfulness.Yeah, its all the rage now. But nobody ever seems to really explain what it is or how to do it.Lets fix that.You are leid yur thoughtsWhat is mindfulness? In his book,The Mindfulness Solution,Ronald Siegel, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, givesa pretty good answer.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsThe working definition of mindfulness that my colleagues and I find most helpful isawareness of present experience with acceptance.You might sayBut Im aware. Im present. Im accepting.And Id sayNo, youre bedrngnis.Youre leidlage aware youre staring at yur iPhone.Youre bedrngnis present youre worrying aboutthe future.Youre not accepting youre shaking your fist at traffic because the world doesnt match the vision in your brainof how it should be.Very often, were all stuck in our heads.Were not taking the world in were just listening to the stories we tell ourselvesaboutthe world, trusting theendless parade of thoughts flitting through our heads instead of actually paying attention to lifearound us.One of the fundamental tenetsof mindfulness is that we all take our thoughts wayyyyyy too seriously. We thinkour thoughts alwaysmeansomething. In fact, we think weareour thoughts and our thoughtsareus.And thats one of the reasons we worry so much and experience so many negative emotions - because we take our thoughts about the world more seriously than the world itself.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsMindfulness practice brings all sorts of insights into the workings of the mind. Perhaps the hardest to grasp is the idea that thoughts are not reality. Were so accustomed to providing a narrative track to our lives and believing in our story that to see things otherwise is a real challenge.You know as well as I do that all kinds of ridiculous thoughts go through our heads. Andsometimesyou know not to trustthem. When youre tired, drunk, angry or sick you dont take your thoughts as seriously.Mindfulness says you should go a step further. Because youhave lots of crazy or silly thoughtsall the time. And they can make you anxious or bring you down.(For more on how to never be frustrated again, clickhere.)The great psychologist Albert Ellis saidwe should dispute our irrational thoughts. Great advice - but it can be difficult. You have to be exceedinglyrational for it to work.And sometimes disputing those thoughts can be like a Chinese finger trap - the more you resist, the more they ensnare you.So what can you do?Observe. Dont judgeSometimes you cant eas ily dispute those worrying thoughts.So mindfulness simply sayslet them go.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsMindfulness practice helps us avoid the trap of counterproductive thoughts by learning to let them go.You cant turn your brain off. And even if you meditate for years you can never fully clear your mind.But you can see those troublesome thoughts, recognize them, but not get tangled in believing them.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsRemember, this practice is not about emptying the mind, getting rid of difficult emotions, escaping lifes problems, being free of pain, or experiencing never-ending bliss. Mindfulness practice is about embracing our experience as it is- and sometimes what is can be unpleasant at the momentWe usually try to feel better by decreasing the intensity of painful experiences in mindfulness practice, we work instead to increase our capacity to bear them.And scientific research shows this r eally works. People feel better and are more engaged with their work after 8 weeks of mindfulness practice.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsDr. Davidson and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn recruited a group of pressured workers in a biotechnology firm and taught half of them mindfulness meditation for three hours per week over an eight-week period. They compared this group to a similar group of coworkers who were not taught meditation. On average, all of the workers tipped to the right in their prefrontal cortical activity before taking up meditation. However, after taking the eight-week course, the meditating group now had more left-sided activation than the nonmeditators. The meditators also reported that their moods improved and they felt more engaged in their activities.I know, I knowEasier said than done, Eric.Ignore your thoughts? Let them just float by? Sounds great but how the heck do you do that? Especially when theyre emotionally powerful feelings lik e worry.(For more on how to deal with anxiety, tragedy or heartache, clickhere.)The key is attention. Yeah, that thing none of us seems to have anymore.But theres a way to get it back.Dont distract. Immerse.Ive posted before abouthow important attention is to happiness.And one of the key practices of mindfulness ismeditation, which has been shown inscientific studiesto improve attention.While Im a huge believer inmeditation, yes, it can be hard and takes time. Is there another way? Yup.Next time youre worrying, remember that your thoughts arent real.Lifeis real.Soturn your attention to your senses. To the world around you. (No, not to your smartphone.)How does that cup of coffee smell? Did you even notice the people nearby?Dont distract yourself. Immerse yourself in the world around you.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsThe approach teaches people mindfulness practices with a particular emphasis on not taking any thoughts too seriously but rather st aying grounded in sensual reality here and nowInstead of fantasizing about the next moment of entertainment, you can turn your attention to the sights and sounds of standing in line, buying a cup of coffee, and walking down the street. Instead of getting frustrated because the train is late, you can study the other passengers (discreetly), notice the architecture of the station, and attend to the sensations in your body as you sit and wait. There is always something interesting to do- just pay attention to what is occurring right now.(For more on how to meditate and be happier, clickhere.)I know what some of you are thinkingThe worries keep coming back, Eric. Smelling the coffee didnt make them go away.No sweat.We havetools for this.Noting and labelingRather than dodging, disputing, or distracting (which can all lead to you just wrestling with those ideasfurther) acknowledge the thoughts. Note them.Youre not avoiding yourthoughts. You acknowledge them and thenturn your attention bac k to your senses. To your breath. To the feel of the chair beneath your butt. To theperson next to you.For thoughts that keep playing like a broken record, trylabeling them. Siegel suggests giving the thought a funny name that trivializes itOh, that its not going to work out tape is playing in my head again.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsWhen the thoughts arise, label them silently before letting them go. You dont need very many categories. You might choose labels such as planning, doubting, judging, fantasizing, obsessing, or criticizing. The particular labels arent crucial what matters is using them to avoid being captured by stories or repetitive tapes. Once you label a thought, gently bring your attention back to the breath. If you find that your attention is repeatedly carried away by particular stories, try making up a humorous label for them. Give these greatest hits their own names, such as your I blew it again tape, I cant get no respect tape, I never get what I want tape, and so on.Sound like silly, hippie nonsense? Well, you know those worries that bring you down and make you sad?A study found mindfulness therapies were just as effective as antidepressants. In fact, many who practiced them regularly were subsequently able to ditch their medication.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsIn another, more recent study, MBCT was shown to be as effective as antidepressants in preventing relapses of depression and allowed many subjects to discontinue their medication.(For more on how to be happy and successful, clickhere.)Okay, lets round this up into a simple system youcan use.Sum upHeres how to stop worrying and departure being mindfulYou are not your thoughts.Sometimes theyre downright ridiculous. Just because you think it, doesnt make it true.Observe, dont judge.Acknowledge the thoughts, but let them float by. Dont wrestle with them.Dont distract, immerse.Do not check your emaille for t he 400th time. Take in the world around you. Turn to your senses. Thats real. Your thoughts and the stories you tell yourself about the worldarent.Note orlabel intrusive thoughts.Yeah, the thoughts fight back. Acknowledge them. Give the intrusive ones a funny name.Return to the senses.Really pay attention to the world around you.And when I say to pay more attention to the world around you, that doesnt just mean things. Its also people.What ends a lot of relationships?You dont pay enough attention to me.When we endeavor to let the thoughts in our head go and embrace the world around us, we canfocus moreattention on the ones we love.As mindfulness expertJon Kabat-Zinnpoints out, in a number of Asian languages mind and heartare the saatkorn word.So mindfulness isnt a cold or clinical process. Itmight as well be translated asheartfulness.Let the thoughts float by and turn your attention to the people you love.Join over 185,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related posts How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done 5 Expert Tips6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every DayNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulThis article originally appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.Heres how to stop worrying so muchEver feel like youcant turn yourbrain off?Worried about how to stop worrying? We all deal with this when life gets challenging.There is a way to overcome worrythat doesnt involve alcohol or a straitjacket.The answer is thousands of years old - but now science is validating those ancientideas. Youve probably even heard of it Mindfulness.Yeah, its all the rage now. But nobody ever seems to really explain what it is or how to do it.Lets fix that.You are not your thoughtsWhat is mindfulness? In his book,The Mindfulness Solution,Ronald Siegel, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, givesa pretty good answer.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsThe working definition of mindfulness that my colleagues and I find most helpful isawareness of present experience with acceptance.You might sayBut Im aware. Im present. Im accepting.And Id sayNo, youre not.Youre not aware youre staring at your iPhone.Youre not present youre worrying aboutthe future.Youre not accepting youre shaking your fist at traffic because the world doesnt match the vision in your brainof how it should be.Very often, were all stuck in our heads.Were not taking the world in were just listening to the stories we tell ourselvesaboutthe world, trusting theendless parade of thoughts flitting through our heads instead of actually paying attention to lifearound us.One of the fundamental tenetsof mindfulness is that we all take our thoughts wayyyyyy too seriously. We thinkour thoughts alwaysmeansomething. In fact, we think weareour thoughts and our thoughtsareus.And thats one of the reasons we worry so much and experience so many negative emotions - because we take our thoughts about the worl d more seriously than the world itself.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsMindfulness practice brings all sorts of insights into the workings of the mind. Perhaps the hardest to grasp is the idea that thoughts are not reality. Were so accustomed to providing a narrative track to our lives and believing in our story that to see things otherwise is a real challenge.You know as well as I do that all kinds of ridiculous thoughts go through our heads. Andsometimesyou know not to trustthem. When youre tired, drunk, angry or sick you dont take your thoughts as seriously.Mindfulness says you should go a step further. Because youhave lots of crazy or silly thoughtsall the time. And they can make you anxious or bring you down.(For more on how to never be frustrated again, clickhere.)The great psychologist Albert Ellis saidwe should dispute our irrational thoughts. Great advice - but it can be difficult. You have to be exceedinglyrational for it to work.And so metimes disputing those thoughts can be like a Chinese finger trap - the more you resist, the more they ensnare you.So what can you do?Observe. Dont judgeSometimes you cant easily dispute those worrying thoughts.So mindfulness simply sayslet them go.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsMindfulness practice helps us avoid the trap of counterproductive thoughts by learning to let them go.You cant turn your brain off. And even if you meditate for years you can never fully clear your mind.But you can see those troublesome thoughts, recognize them, but not get tangled in believing them.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsRemember, this practice is not about emptying the mind, getting rid of difficult emotions, escaping lifes problems, being free of pain, or experiencing never-ending bliss. Mindfulness practice is about embracing our experience as it is- and sometimes what is can be unpleasant at the momentWe usually try to f eel better by decreasing the intensity of painful experiences in mindfulness practice, we work instead to increase our capacity to bear them.And scientific research shows this really works. People feel better and are more engaged with their work after 8 weeks of mindfulness practice.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsDr. Davidson and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn recruited a group of pressured workers in a biotechnology firm and taught half of them mindfulness meditation for three hours per week over an eight-week period. They compared this group to a similar group of coworkers who were not taught meditation. On average, all of the workers tipped to the right in their prefrontal cortical activity before taking up meditation. However, after taking the eight-week course, the meditating group now had more left-sided activation than the nonmeditators. The meditators also reported that their moods improved and they felt more engaged in their activities.I know, I kno wEasier said than done, Eric.Ignore your thoughts? Let them just float by? Sounds great but how the heck do you do that? Especially when theyre emotionally powerful feelings like worry.(For more on how to deal with anxiety, tragedy or heartache, clickhere.)The key is attention. Yeah, that thing none of us seems to have anymore.But theres a way to get it back.Dont distract. Immerse.Ive posted before abouthow important attention is to happiness.And one of the key practices of mindfulness ismeditation, which has been shown inscientific studiesto improve attention.While Im a huge believer inmeditation, yes, it can be hard and takes time. Is there another way? Yup.Next time youre worrying, remember that your thoughts arent real.Lifeis real.Soturn your attention to your senses. To the world around you. (No, not to your smartphone.)How does that cup of coffee smell? Did you even notice the people nearby?Dont distract yourself. Immerse yourself in the world around you.ViaThe Mindfulness Sol ution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsThe approach teaches people mindfulness practices with a particular emphasis on not taking any thoughts too seriously but rather staying grounded in sensual reality here and nowInstead of fantasizing about the next moment of entertainment, you can turn your attention to the sights and sounds of standing in line, buying a cup of coffee, and walking down the street. Instead of getting frustrated because the train is late, you can study the other passengers (discreetly), notice the architecture of the station, and attend to the sensations in your body as you sit and wait. There is always something interesting to do- just pay attention to what is occurring right now.(For more on how to meditate and be happier, clickhere.)I know what some of you are thinkingThe worries keep coming back, Eric. Smelling the coffee didnt make them go away.No sweat.We havetools for this.Noting and labelingRather than dodging, disputing, or distracting (which can all lead to you just wrestling with those ideasfurther) acknowledge the thoughts. Note them.Youre not avoiding yourthoughts. You acknowledge them and thenturn your attention back to your senses. To your breath. To the feel of the chair beneath your butt. To theperson next to you.For thoughts that keep playing like a broken record, trylabeling them. Siegel suggests giving the thought a funny name that trivializes itOh, that its not going to work out tape is playing in my head again.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsWhen the thoughts arise, label them silently before letting them go. You dont need very many categories. You might choose labels such as planning, doubting, judging, fantasizing, obsessing, or criticizing. The particular labels arent crucial what matters is using them to avoid being captured by stories or repetitive tapes. Once you label a thought, gently bring your attention back to the breath. If you find that your attention is repeatedl y carried away by particular stories, try making up a humorous label for them. Give these greatest hits their own names, such as your I blew it again tape, I cant get no respect tape, I never get what I want tape, and so on.Sound like silly, hippie nonsense? Well, you know those worries that bring you down and make you sad?A study found mindfulness therapies were just as effective as antidepressants. In fact, many who practiced them regularly were subsequently able to ditch their medication.ViaThe Mindfulness Solution Everyday Practices for Everyday ProblemsIn another, more recent study, MBCT was shown to be as effective as antidepressants in preventing relapses of depression and allowed many subjects to discontinue their medication.(For more on how to be happy and successful, clickhere.)Okay, lets round this up into a simple system youcan use.Sum upHeres how to stop worrying and start being mindfulYou are not your thoughts.Sometimes theyre downright ridiculous. Just because you thi nk it, doesnt make it true.Observe, dont judge.Acknowledge the thoughts, but let them float by. Dont wrestle with them.Dont distract, immerse.Do not check your email for the 400th time. Take in the world around you. Turn to your senses. Thats real. Your thoughts and the stories you tell yourself about the worldarent.Note orlabel intrusive thoughts.Yeah, the thoughts fight back. Acknowledge them. Give the intrusive ones a funny name.Return to the senses.Really pay attention to the world around you.And when I say to pay more attention to the world around you, that doesnt just mean things. Its also people.What ends a lot of relationships?You dont pay enough attention to me.When we endeavor to let the thoughts in our head go and embrace the world around us, we canfocus moreattention on the ones we love.As mindfulness expertJon Kabat-Zinnpoints out, in a number of Asian languages mind and heartare the same word.So mindfulness isnt a cold or clinical process. Itmight as well be translated asheartfulness.Let the thoughts float by and turn your attention to the people you love.Join over 185,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related postsHow To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done 5 Expert Tips6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every DayNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulThis article originally appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

Why the 8-hour workday doesnt work

Why the 8-hour workday doesnt workWhy the 8-hour workday doesnt workThe 8-hour workday is an outdated and ineffective approach to work. If you want to be as productive as possible, you need to let go of this relic and find a new approach.The 8-hour workday welches created during the industrial revolution as an effort to cut down on the number of hours of manual labor that workers were forced to endure on the factory floor. This breakthrough was a more humane approach to work two hundred years ago, yet it possesses little relevance for us today.Like our ancestors, were expected to put in 8-hour days, working in long, continuous blocks of time, with few or no breaks. Heck, most people even work right through their lunch hourThis antiquated approach to work isnt helping us its holding us back.The best way to structure your dayA study recently conducted by the Draugiem Group used a computer application to track employees work habits. Specifically, the application measured how much time p eople spent on various tasks and compared this to their productivity levels.In the process of measuring peoples activity, they stumbled upon a fascinating finding the length of the workday didnt matter much what mattered was how people structured their day. In particular, people who were religious about taking short breaks were far more productive than those who worked longer hours.The ideal work-to-break ratio was 52 minutes of work, followed by 17 minutes of rest. People who maintained this schedule had a unique level of focus in their work. For roughly an hour at a time, they were 100% dedicated to the task they needed to accomplish. They didnt check Facebook real quick or get distracted by e-mail-nachrichts.When they felt fatigue (again, after about an hour), they took short breaks, during which they completely separated themselves from their work. This helped them to dive back in refreshed for another productive hour of work.Your brain wants an hour on, 15 minutes offPeople who have discovered this magic productivity ratio crush their competition because they tap into a fundamental need of the human mind the brain naturally functions in spurts of high energy (roughly an hour) followed by spurts of low energy (1520 minutes).For most of us, this natural ebb and flow of energy leaves us wavering between focused periods of high energy followed by far less productive periods, when we tire and succumb to distractions.The best way to beat exhaustion and frustrating distractions is to get intentional about your workday. Instead of working for an hour or more and then trying to battle through distractions and fatigue, when your productivity begins to dip, take this as a sign that its time for a break.Real breaks are easier to take when you know theyre going to make your day more productive. We often let fatigue win because we continue working through it (long after weve lost energy and focus), and the breaks we take arent real breaks (checking your e-mail and watc hing YouTube doesnt recharge you the same way as taking a walk does).Take charge of your workdayThe 8-hour workday can work for you if you break your time into strategic intervals. Once you align your natural energy with your effort, things begin to run much more smoothly. Here are four tips that will get you into that perfect rhythm.1. Break your day into hourly intervalsWe naturally plan what we need to accomplish by the end of the day, the week, or the month, but were far more effective when we focus on what we can accomplish right now.Beyond getting you into the right rhythm, planning your day around hour-long intervals simplifies daunting tasks by breaking them into manageable pieces. If you want to be a literalist, you can plan your day around 52-minute intervals if you like, but an hour works just as well.2. Respect your hourThe interval strategy only works because we use our peak energy levels to reach an extremely high level of focus for a relatively short amount of time.Wh en you disrespect your hour by texting, checking e-mails, or doing a quick Facebook check, you defeat the entire purpose of the approach.3. Take real restIn the study at Draugiem, they found that employees who took more frequent rests than the hourly optimum were more productive than those who didnt rest at all. Likewise, those who took deliberately relaxing breaks were better off than those who, when resting, had trouble separating themselves from their work. Getting away from your computer, your phone, and your to-do list is essential to boosting your productivity.Breaks such as walking, reading, and chatting are the most effective forms of recharging because they take you away from your work. On a busy day, it might be tempting to think of dealing with e-mails or making phone calls as breaks, but they arent, so dont give in to this line of thought.4. Dont wait until your body tells you to take a break. If you wait until you feel tired to take a break, its too late- youve already missed the window of peak productivity. Keeping to your schedule ensures that you work when youre the most productive and that you rest during times that would otherwise be unproductive.Remember, its far more productive to rest for short periods than it is to keep on working when youre tired and distracted.Bringing it all togetherBreaking your day down into chunks of work and rest that match your natural energy levels feels good, makes your workday go faster, and boosts your productivity.Travis Bradberry is the co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and the co-founder of TalentSmart.This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.