Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 7, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 21 By Ruth Winett Ruth Winett is owner of Winett Associates (www.winettassociates. com), a Framingham firm providing market insights to business-to- business companies. Success on the job is not just a function of technical competence. Social skills and good judgment are critical. Here are some things I have learned as a business owner and as an officer of nonprofits. 10) Keep on learning. Welcome new challenges and new responsibilities to make you stretch a little. Acquire new skills. 9) Develop friends and allies in your department and in other departments. Don't alienate or antagonize anyone. People from the past may show up in new roles, perhaps as your manager. 8) Know your rights. If your supervisor makes unreasonable demands or asks overly personal questions, speak up. 7) Publicize accomplishments, and apologize if you screw up. No one is perfect. 6) Do not use your professional email address for personal communications. Your email messages could be used against you. 5) Be careful about how much personal information you share with colleagues. Whatever you reveal could become public. Don't form romantic relationships at work. 4) If you are looking for new opportunities, keep it to yourself. 3) Work hard, but don't let work dominate your personal life. Develop other interests and activities. 2) Keep up with former colleagues. You never know when you will need job leads or references or want to share memories. 1) Above all, be diligent. As Abraham Lincoln advised professionals, "Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today." K N O W H O W How to counter the Shecession S caling a business means to set the stage for your company's growth. Scaling is a framework that requires planning, funds, partnerships, and capacity. Growth without scaling can result in miscommunication, too little manufacturing, scarce staff and ul- timately, unhappy customers. Here are ways to scale, or build room to grow. Find effective technology. It should decrease your team's workload, says Ryan Robinson at Forbes, who calls technology a growth driver. He uses examples such as customer relation- ship management tools, social media platforms, product information feeds, and supply chain management soware. He uses the company Omniture as an example. "Omniture was able to grow its revenue so much faster than its ex- penses that they eventually sold for $1.8 billion to Adobe in 2009 – it's partly because they embraced technology to scale their business without subjecting senior management to overworking themselves," he says. Bulk up your staff. is can mean hiring or outsourcing, according to SCORE, but even with technology, is something still necessary. Recruiting, hiring, benefits, and payroll services all speed up and streamline the process. e nonprofit suggests looking at industry benchmarks to calculate how many customer-service representatives should be hired based on the number of customers. Industry standards can be guidelines for delivery of product or services in manufacturing, inven- tory and delivery of products. SCORE reminds business owners management needs to grow, too. ough growth is a positive, "You won't be able to oversee everything," says SCORE.org. Know when to scale – at launch. Businessbusinessbusiness.com's Mihir aker says if you are scaling your business when large amounts of growth are underway, you have waited too long. "Wouldn't it best if your business was designed to scale? So that when you start to succeed all the processes and procedures are in place to make you succeed?" he asks. 1 0 T H I NG S I know about... ...Success on the job BY CHELSIE VOKES Special to the Worcester Business Journal T ransformational leadership requires optimism, resilience, and determination. Employers will need to demonstrate the same traits to remedy the COVID-19 Shecession, according to a WBJ webcast from April 20 entitled "How To Reverse the Shecession." e program on the pandemic's effects on working women surfaced exciting solutions for a widespread challenge. Just 57% of women participated in the workforce in 2020, the lowest number since 1988, according to the National Women's Law Center. Moreover, one in four working women have been thinking about either downshiing or exiting, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co. Yet, the WBJ panelists have found ways to stem the tide and redefine what a workplace can be, including: • Shelley Costantino, vice president of field human resources at BJ's Wholesale Club in Westborough • Desiree Murphy, senior labor & employee relations specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester • Kati O'Brien, vice president of HR corporate functions and total rewards at Staples, Inc. in Framingham • AiVi Nguyen, partner with Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey Determine what employees need Whether through town halls or field meetings and surveys, it takes a mindset shi to surface employees' pain points in this new environment. HR executives are conditioned not to cross professional/personal boundaries, but they need to throw that playbook out the window. Create a feeling of safety so employees will open up on any issue – from ill parents to the inconveniences of mask wearing. Be empathetic and flexible; an empty nester must put herself in the shoes of a single mother with three children. In a unionized workforce, use collective bargaining to identify issues, and collaborate to solve them. Remember, though, listening is only half the solution; taking appropriate action is the other. From a legal standpoint, leaders must be prepared for what falls out when employees really unload. If, for example, a complaint of harassment or discrimination surfaces, supervisors must be trained to investigate and address the complaint. Deliver the Right Solutions Offerings will vary by organization and individual employees' needs. Staples supported its warehouse workers facing pandemic-related childcare dilemmas by offering flexible scheduling options and free access to Sittercity.com. BJ's has met its remote employees' needs for wellness, balance and collegiality by adjusting absentee policies, placing moratoriums on emails outside regular work hours, and creating virtual hallways for those who miss spontaneous conversations. UMass Memorial, too, is meeting people where they are: from leveraging childcare partnerships to adjusting employees' hours. Delivering the right solutions isn't limited to employers with deep pockets. Eligible employers may provide employees with COVID-19- related sick and family leave benefits while taking advantage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act tax credits program, which has been extended through Sept. 30. Time for a Reset e panelists are optimistic about the workplace reset ahead: • Parenthood is celebrated, and not seen as a work intrusion. • Employee Assistance Programs are more accessible. • Employees are trusted to create a work schedule fitting their lives. Work will change for the better, they agreed, for all employees. Editor's note: Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey, where attorneys AiVi Nguyen and Chelsie Vokes are employed, sponsored the WBJ Shecession webinar. Chelsie Vokes is a labor and employment lawyer at Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey. BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal 101: S C A L I N G U P W W W

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