Why you do what you do?

Why do we do what we do?

How often do you ever stop and look at why you do what you do?

What drives you?  What role would satisfy those preferences? What drives and motivates those around you at work?

We may be good at something but unless truly motivated by it we are never 100% fulfilled.

If you knew how to further understand your motivation at a deeper level, imagine how powerful your relationships and results in your chosen role could be?

Over the last 5 years my colleagues and I have been utilizing a fantastic profiling tool, called iWAM.

An unusual acronym I know, but it simply stands for Inventory of Work Attitudes and Motivations.  It measures the key drivers and motivators within you that drive you at work.

In a nutshell, iWAM measures the 48 things that motivate you at work.

These patterns determine the way you think, feel and behave.  These processes are usually taking place without you even knowing it but imagine if you could be aware of what they are and be able to see what other people are.

Every iWAM is a unique fingerprint, there is no right or wrong. By being aware of where you operate in each pattern this can assist you in understanding yourself and others better. It can assist you in targeting the right career to suit your motivators and even ways to apply this in interviews.

So what are some of the things that iWAM measures?

It looks at how much initiative you have at work?

How motivated are you to solve problems?

How often will you need a change in your work to remain motivated?

Are you difficult to convince-what strategy convinces you?

What are your primary drivers at work?

Learn from the past/vision for the future?

How do you make decisions?

How much attention do you have for detail?

Do you have a big picture focus?

Do you generate alternatives or prefer to follow procedure?

And much more………

iWAM measures YOUR % of each of the 48 patterns against the Australian average, you can also be measured against a partner.

I will give you an example of one pair of patterns, which one are you?

Goal Oriented Vs Problem Solving

Goal Oriented

Do you always talk about achieving and talk about your actual goal?

Do you look at pleasure and possibility? Look at what you will have and gain?

This may be you or someone you know, these people are usually in roles like sales/Marketing and so on. They strive for success and like a carrot dangling in front of them to keep them motivated. For those who know me this is me!

Job ads that are big picture (with visuals) without a lot of detail may appeal to highly goal oriented jobseekers.

Problem Solving

Do you look for and tend to focus on the risks?

Do you focus on what could go wrong and therefore move away from possible pain?

You may tend to focus on solving problems or avoiding what could go wrong as opposed to focusing on the overall outcome.

These people usually sort for potential risk and pitfalls and sometimes need to be reminded to keep focusing on achieving their outcomes, as they can be more motivated by putting out fires.  This sort of person would normally suit a service support area and can be a great addition to a brain storming session to point out the feasibility of the goal.

iWAM does not put you in a box as do  a lot of other profiling tools in the market.

iWAM looks not only at what you can do but what you WILL do at work. It does not measure personality types but instead your key drivers and motivators in the work context.

Until the 29^th June 2012 we have a special offer for all Adage members:

To find out more click here.

Or for further details please contact:

E: info@mcoaching.com.au

W: www.mcoaching.com.au

PH: 0408 381 641

Kind regards

 Renee Giarrusso

Metamorphose Coaching & Consulting

The Lost Age

Don’t underestimate corporate knowledge of older workforce

Tony Featherstone is a specialist writer on small companies and entrepreneurs. This article originally appeared in SMH.

I interviewed a 60-year-old recently who bemoaned his redundancy. He complained not about losing the job or having less status or money; what bugged him was the great waste of his corporate knowledge.

Like many who work decades at a company, he had incredible “corporate memory”. His skills, knowledge, contacts, experience and instincts built over years of loyal service were valuable assets. Yet the company did not think twice about letting him or other older workers go.

I wonder how many other companies overlook the value of corporate memory when they show appalling ageism towards older workers. All too often they forget the immense value of staff who deeply understand the organisation and what worked 10 years ago.

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They forget that many older workers have great goodwill towards their company, even if it’s not immediately obvious and is sometimes tested by corporate politics. For all the negativity at times, the company was part of their life for decades and great friendships were made. They helped shape the organisation’s culture and it shaped part of them.

That is not to suggest corporate memory is a precious asset in all older workers. Some are overpaid, lazy, bitter and unwilling to change. Their corporate memories are too negative and they deserve to be shunted as soon as possible.

I know many older workers who have so much to offer and I can’t understand why more businesses don’t make more use of employees who have left corporate life and want part-time work.

This column has written on ageism before, and recounted my experience of working with older employees, for whom I wouldn’t swap any group of twenty-somethings. I have found older workers to be loyal, hardworking, experienced, highly flexible in their hours, and fun to be around.

I also think too many companies pay lip-service to this notion of corporate memory. Some banks, for example, have programs where senior staff map out their careers, and for a time the concept of a “third act” in your life (a different work-life balance as you age) was trendy in companies that worried about skill shortages during the boom’s peak in 2007.

But with more cost cutting on the way, expect greater redundancies and older workers with higher salaries among the first to be axed. I doubt the value of corporate memory will get a second thought.

Companies need to be much more innovative about how they retain corporate memory when older workers leave, and find ways to meet the company’s needs of lowering headcounts and costs, and the employee’s needs of feeling useful and using their corporate knowledge.

For example, some companies with foresight keep older workers as “brand ambassadors” when they step down from full-time work. They are kept on a small retainer and attend functions, liaise with certain clients they know well, and introduce new people to the business.

More companies can use older workers to mentor Gen Y and Gen X staff, bring staff together around certain projects and provide more shape to ideas, using their experience and instinct. Imagine the benefit of having an experienced former executive mentoring your company’s brightest graduates around innovation, in a part-time role.

A simpler idea is having alumni for older workers who leave the company. Some companies excel in this area, but in my experience too many barely keep contact with staff when they leave. Knowledge and goodwill that could be tapped through alumni networks is lost.

How many companies use social media to tap the corporate memory of older workers who leave, and use them as focus groups to test ideas? One older worker told me recently that a group of young managers presented an idea to him and he said: “We tried something similar 10 years ago and it didn’t work.” They looked bemused, but he was right of course. Surely there is a way to draw these opinions from certain older workers, using technology.

How many companies encourage older workers who leave to get involved with company-supported charities and work with other like-minded people in the not-for-profit sector? Surely they could play a role in the company’s corporate social responsibility programs.

Of course, the best idea is documenting as much corporate knowledge as possible before people leave. For example, having a central database for corporate contacts and recording processes that others may need to replicate, rather than letting intellectual property leave when people do.

None of this need cost huge sums. I know some older workers who would gladly work one or two months a year for their former employer on projects or at client events, to stay involved and help the business grow. They want to be paid, but it’s hardly about money.

It seems a small price for companies to keep all that corporate memory and goodwill, and use it to make more money. Instead, too many short-sighted companies let workers go, rehire them as consultants and inevitably pay much more. Little wonder some get corporate amnesia.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/managing/blogs/the-venture/the-lost-age-20120521-1z0do.html#ixzz1vYSM8kTL

The changing face of Graduates

Much is often made of challenges face by mature age workers, but what about mature age students? Heidi Holmes, MD of Adage.com.au, a leading job board for mature workers explores this emerging, neglected audience.

Allan Stewart. Worlds oldest university graduate aged 97 years. Southern Cross University graduation photo 4th May 2012

Over the past 12 months, mature age workers have regularly featured in media, research and Government policy. The recent announcement of the Government’s $1000 cash bonus for employers of jobseekers over 50 as part of their Jobs Bonus Scheme, has brought further attention to this issue. While the merits of this initiative are yet to be determined, there is no denying it has roused interest from some employers.

Through my work with Adage, I have become well aware of the challenges facing mature jobseekers and also some of the barriers they may face in obtaining employment.

However in recent weeks I have had an increase in enquiries from outside my usual ‘jobseeker’ – the mature age worker – to now include mature age students.

In this context a mature age student could be someone completing an under graduate degree at 32 or even post graduate at 62. Basically, anyone completing studies outside what is seen as the typical ‘graduate’ years – 20 to 30.

Graduate recruiting season for 2013 is coming to a close, with many organisations closing applications in mid April. The nature of these programs are particularly competitive as it is seen as one of the best ways to start your career and employers are keen to find the best and brightest new talent.

Obviously not everyone can be successful, but for mature age students, the task appears to be even more challenging, with employers having a fairly strong preconceived idea of the traditional ‘graduate’ they desire.

This is evident in the youth focused campaign accounting firm Ernst & Young ran this year for their graduate program. Playing on the ‘Young’ reference in their name, their campaign spruiks youthful looking graduates holding placards saying “Energetic and Young” and “Adventurous and Young”.

I’m not inferring this is a deliberate attempt at being cleverly ageist, I more so form the opinion it is just misguided and out of touch with how the graduate landscape now appears.

Helen Farrell, a mature age student herself, is President of the Mature Age Student Network in Australia. A group which has grown from a grass roots level, to gain significant momentum in a small amount of time. From her experience as both a graduate jobseeker and champion for this group, she believes this attitude to youth is engrained in the graduate recruitment landscape.

‘It is time to start deconstructing the ageist mindset of Australian society, especially in regards to employment. With more and more people entering higher education as “mature age”, these gradates must be seen to be valuable future employees. The misconceptions of employers that mature age graduates either won’t fit in or adjust to a younger work place, are set in their ways, or are inflexible are fallacies. These future employees have just spent a number of years at institutions where they have worked and socialized with younger peers and have had had to adapt, with many juggling work and/or family commitments. Life experience cannot be undervalued and Age should not be a barrier.’

When so much emphasis is placed on investing in your education, it is hard to recommend to people they should re-train or consider a new degree if in fact it will not improve their chances of finding employment.

A letter I received recently touched on this point:

What I wanted to ask is that I am 37 and just graduated from Deakin University with a bac. of management ( Human Resource Management). At my age I feel like no one wants to give me a go, it’s getting me down; I’ve applied for over 50 jobs and no luck. Any advice would be appreciated. I have 15 years experience in retail, but no experience in hr. Regards, Hayden Walker

Just as mature age qualified jobseekers bring many benefits to organisations through their work and life experience, mature age students can to. All they need is an opportunity to be considered. The rest from there should be based on merit.

Job Search Tips for Mature Age Students and Graduates

Anticipate questions that you may be asked at an interview that target your age, think about how you will respond to:

• How will you fit in with younger colleagues?
• How would you cope with having a younger boss?
• How you would juggle the competing demands of a job and family commitments,
• Would you be satisfied with an entry level salary?
• Are you prepared to relocate, travel? etc,

Mature Workers feeling the love in Swan’s Budget for Battlers

Mature workers were signalled out in Swan’s 2013 budget. While the amount of dollars being spent in this area does not make it one of the ‘big’ ticket items, it has been a program the Government has been more than willing to promote and talk about. It also has bi-partisan support so we can be confident that this issue will remain on the political agenda for the foreseeable future.

Setting the scene as to why the ‘mature’ worker is getting so much attention?

Well, the ageing of the Australia population and the impact this is going to have on us socially and economically is well documented. Basically we need people working longer as we can’t afford to pay for everyone in retirement, especially with people living longer than ever before.

Baby boomers are the largest generational segment in Australia making up 26% of the population and the over 60s are growing in number at approximately four times the rate of other demographic groups (FSC, Attitudes to Older Workers).

At current trends, by 2050 there will only be 2.7 working Australians for every person over 65. To put this into perspective and to reiterate the impact this will have on our nation, in the 1970s the ratio was 7.5 workers for each older Australian. While 2050 might seem light years away, this analysis shows the unfavourable trending of Australia’s age dependency ratio.

So now you can appreciate why the Government is keen to promote and increase workforce participation among older workers!

What’s on offer for mature age workers 

Firstly, what’s changing?

The Government is phasing out the mature age worker tax offset (MAWTO), which was designed to encourage participation, however may not have been utilised effectively due to no one really knowing about it!

The mature age worker tax offset (MAWTO) will be phased out for taxpayers born on or after 1 July 1957, effective 1 July 2012.

This will not affect any person who currently receives MAWTO and will be maintained for taxpayers who are aged 55 years or older in 2011/12.

If you have a spouse dependent, the dependency offsets have also been reformed into one primary dependency offset.

The offsets to be consolidated are the invalid spouse, carer spouse, housekeeper, housekeeper (with child), child-housekeeper, child-housekeeper (with child), invalid relative and parent/parent-in-law tax offsets.

The new consolidated offset will be based on the highest rate of the existing offsets it replaces, resulting in an increased entitlement for many of those eligible for this measure. Taxpayers who are currently eligible to claim more than one offset amount in respect of multiple dependents who are genuinely unable to work will still be able to do so. Effective 1 July, 2012 (CCH).

And, if you’re planning to retire in a few years you should consider the changes to the Age Pension age for men and women which will be increased by six months every two years, commencing from 1 July 2017 and reaching 67 on 1 July 2023.

The Age Pension will remain the same at 65 for anyone born before July 1952.

Now, what’s been added to help the mature age jobseeker?

Beginning on 1 January 2013, the Mature Age Participation – Job Seeker Assistance Program will provide eligible job seekers aged 55 years and over with intensive job preparation assistance, including refresher or basic training in information technology, skills reviews and peer support.

The program will also provide up to $500 per participant to purchase items or services they need to get work ready, such as a home internet connection or necessary computer software or hardware which can be critical for job searching.

I’m not sure how this has been quantified, but apparently at least 7260 mature age workers are set to benefit. Also are yet to see jobseeker eligibility guidelines. I’m looking forward to this as really not sure of the rationale applied for what constitutes a “mature age worker” as age profiling seems to change with each initiative for some strange reason?

And finally, the Experience+ Career Advice service provides professional career counselling and a resume appraisal service to mature age Australians aged 45 years and over. This service has been extended beyond its original end date of 30 June 2014 to 30 June 2016.

Incentives for Employers of Mature Age Workers

The Government is keen to engage the private sector as a strategic partner in increasing workforce participation among older Australian’s. And what better way than to give them cash!

Initiatives are being launched as a result of Everald Crompton’s review Realising the Economic Potential of Senior Australian’s. I hate the reference to “Senior’s” here, but that’s a story for another day!

Some highlights relating to Employer assistance:

• $29.6mn over four years for initiatives designed to increase the recruitment and retention of mature age workers
• Jobs Bonuses – $1,000 to each employer who employs an eligible mature age jobseeker, aged 50 and over, payable upon 13 weeks of employment, effective 1 July 2012.
• Expansion of ‘corporate champions’ initiative – include adding another 250 employers receiving tailored assistance to help with recruitment and retention of mature age employees, including information sharing and national seminars.
• The Government will broaden the eligibility of the More Help for Mature Age Workers (MHMAW) renamed Investing in Experience. The current MHMAW program supports the recognition of qualifications for mature age workers (aged 50 years and above) at the Certificate III level or above who have trade relevant skills but no formal qualification. It does this by reimbursing employers up to $2,000 for a skills assessment and $2,000 for training costs. This measure expands the MHMAW program to include mature age workers from non‑trade occupations across all sectors of the economy, such as child care and business. Reimbursements to employers will also be restructured.

We are still awaiting on official ‘Eligibility Guidelines’ from relevant Government departments and as soon as they are available will provide another update.

If you have any questions in relation to these initiatives or opinions, we’d love to hear from you. You can also email me directly at Heidi@adage.com.au

And finally, just a quick superannuation review for anyone interested!

Superannuation• The start date of the 2010/11 Budget measure increasing concessional contribution caps for individuals over 50 with low superannuation balances will be deferred by two years, from 1 July 2012 to 1 July 2014. • From 1 July 2012, individuals with income greater than $300,000 will have the tax concession on their contributions reduced from 30% to 15% (excluding the Medicare levy). • From 1 July 2012, the employment termination payment (ETP) tax offset will be limited so that only that part of an affected ETP, such as a golden handshake, that takes a person’s total annual taxable income (including the ETP) to no more than $180,000 will receive the ETP tax offset.