You have a wonderful position with a great company, but are already thinking about the next position you will hold. What? You are not?! Well, according to Richard Templar and his 2005 book The Rules of Work: The Unspoken Truth About Getting Ahead in Business (Pearson publishing), you should be! In his book, Richard examines his successful climb to the top of his career path. He provides a set of work rules to live by, in hopes to help you succeed towards your dream position. For example, according to Richard, you should always find a good thing to say about co-workers and never speak negatively. Richard provides you his guidance in avoiding business pitfalls, and feels you should be acting and dressing for the next position you wish to hold with the company. Now, you are thinking, “I already knew these rules!” Well bare with Richard, I mean “me,” as I examine the book and the rules provided. I will point out that Richard’s rules have validity, but we can’t all be managers at our companies, there are not enough management positions for all of us! In Richard’s book, rule number 30 is to “Look for Opportunities”, but Richard’s opportunities are about finding a moment with Senior Management and providing insight about the company. Yes, I agree, if you get a moment with the Senior Managers, you should take the opportunity to share your business story. However, within every department or business unit, there are concrete opportunities to help the business. This is a great way to have upper management take notice of your efforts. The first step is to know what an opportunity looks like. Last month, my company laid off employees in an adjacent department. One of the people laid off was a report writer, like me. When his position became vacant, the work he was completing no longer was being worked upon. Realizing the bind the department was placed in with the layoff, I informed the Director of that department, that I would be willing to help with reporting needs. Unfortunately, the work was not available for me to complete, however, the Director thanked me for my offer. The good thing is that Director will remember me for volunteering to help. It may lead to future work opportunities or even better, she may need to hire that position and my name may be remembered for the position! Not to say that this would always work in your favor, but to realize that the department may need a help to get through a tough time, is the opportunity you should be looking for. A word of caution, make sure you are not going to step upon another person’s skill-set! When you put your volunteer notification out there, be sure to avoid conflicts from both your immediate manager and team members. Always act in a positive light towards the goal of helping others. An opportunity may look like this: a way to improve a process or write about a procedure to complete the process better. When you do move on, the next associate will have your technical documentation for review. Once you see an opportunity, pounce upon it and do a great job, but don’t allow your assigned work to deteriorate in quality or delivery times! A second way to stand out is to build a cheer team. I want you to realize who you are interacting with on the job. When you are assigned a project with another department, don’t assume that the members of this project are only working on that deadline. They may be working on that project, but have other very important work to be accomplished sooner. I am on a testing team for a product. Our deadline is Friday! However, when speaking with the Team Test Lead, she indicated that another project is of higher priority. I simply informed her that I am ready when she is and if she should need a hand, I will provide the assistance to keep our testing moving forward. This conversation accomplishes two work goals with the Test Lead, 1. It provides the lead a chance to work on her higher prioritized project without worrying about the upcoming deadline on the less prioritized project. Secondly, now the Test Lead remembers that I can be flexible in assisting her to meet both goals. She will remember that Mark was a very patient and helpful asset to the project team. She will want to work with me again. Having cheerleaders in your organization is the way people will remember you when it is time for your promotion or next position! Building your cheer team will increase your exposure to the hiring managers! I do recommend this book. The guidance, Richard provides, help you develop a plan to reach your future position. Mark Dubay is a a seasoned Business Analyst/T-SQL Report Writer for a large communications company, in San Antonio, Texas. In his own words, "I have a fantastic wife, of nearly 10 years, and two wonderful kids. I have a well-rounded life balancing family, play, and work!" Mark can be reached on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/mdubay and Twitter http://twitter.com/mdubay.

July 12, 2022: J.T. O’Donnell’s CAREER AMA (Ask Me Anything)
Come get your career and job search questions answered by our founder & CEO J.T. O'Donnell.
Hosted by: J.T. O'Donnell
Cost of Event: FREE
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July 13, 2022: How To Navigate LinkedIn Effectively
LinkedIn is not the easiest social media platform to navigate. If you wish you could make better use of this essential career tool, sign up for this event today!
What You'll Learn:
- The background and importance of LinkedIn
- How to get started with LinkedIn
- How to navigate the different areas of the platform
- Tips on how to get noticed on LinkedIn
Hosted by: J.T. O'Donnell & Christina Burgio
Cost of Event: $5.00/ticket
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July 15, 2022: Networking Masters
Join us for Networking Masters (think Toastmasters but for networking)! During this interactive group session, you'll exercise your networking and presenting skills so you can be a more confident connector!
Hosted by: J.T. O'Donnell or Christina Burgio
Cost of Event: FREE
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July 19, 2022: CAREER AMA (Ask Me Anything)
Come get your career and job search questions answered by our team.
Hosted by: Christina Burgio
Cost of Event: FREE
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July 20, 2022: How To Get A Promotion (And A Raise)
It can be tough getting that promotion at work, especially when you're not sure how to show you deserve one. If you want to get a promotion (and a raise!), attend this live event and learn how to make the case for a higher job title and salary.
What You'll Learn:
- Indicate that you’re ready to take your career to the next level
- Tips on how to position yourself for a promotion or raise
- Demonstrate your unique value and advice on how to have this conversation with your manager
Hosted by: J.T. O'Donnell & Christina Burgio
Cost of Event: $5.00/ticket
Buy your ticket for this live event today!
July 22, 2022: Networking Masters
Join us for Networking Masters (think Toastmasters but for networking)! During this interactive group session, you'll exercise your networking and presenting skills so you can be a more confident connector!
Hosted by: J.T. O'Donnell or Christina Burgio
Cost of Event: FREE
Sign up for this live event today!
July 26, 2022: J.T. O’Donnell’s CAREER AMA (Ask Me Anything)
Come get your career and job search questions answered by our founder & CEO J.T. O'Donnell.
Hosted by: J.T. O'Donnell
Cost of Event: FREE
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July 27, 2022: How To Make A Career Change When You've Been Laid Off
Not sure if it's time to change careers, or how to make a career change when you ARE ready? Sign up for this live event to learn exactly how to make a career change when you've been laid off.
What You'll Learn:
- Determine if a career change is the right move for you
- Identify a career path that aligns with your passions
- Develop an effective job search strategy that serves you
Hosted by: J.T. O'Donnell & Christina Burgio
Cost of Event: $5.00/ticket
Buy your ticket for this live event today!
July 29, 2022: Networking Masters
Join us for Networking Masters (think Toastmasters but for networking)! During this interactive group session, you'll exercise your networking and presenting skills so you can be a more confident connector!
Hosted by: J.T. O'Donnell or Christina Burgio
Cost of Event: FREE
Sign up for this live event today!
Besides payroll, one of your organization’s largest spends is probably on technology. You spent thousands of dollars to implement your new ERP system. Years later you’re still using the same version with manual compliance-related workarounds. The ERP system needs to be kept current. What do you do?
As the business continued to grow, you struggled to make the ERP system work for you. There was no written documentation for the end-users, and you created manual workarounds. Training was done verbally so end-users weren’t trained consistently, and they ended up having a lot of dirty data. In the end, the business was expending extraordinary time and effort muscling to use the ERP system, and only getting a small fraction of value.
How did this situation happen? Individuals thought the small IT group should be responsible for all technology including the ERP system. So, the business wasn’t involved as much as it should have been.
ERP stands for enterprise resource planning—the entire enterprise should be involved including finance, information security, internal audit, regulatory compliance, and legal.
ERP System Responsibilities For Each Department
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Although the ERP is a system (with a significant investment), the sole responsibility cannot be put on IT. Instead, the business needs to take the lead and own the system. The ERP consists of multiple modules and those “owner” departments have a vested interest to keep the system current and to maximize using the features and functionality.
IT is responsible for understanding how the system is intended to be used.
The business is responsible for deciding what to use.
One way to break out the responsibilities is as follows:
Dept | Sample Responsibilities |
IT |
|
Business | Departments “own” their respective modules (e.g. finance, human resources, operations), which includes the internal control system
|
Training |
If there isn’t a separate training department, then this responsibility reverts to the business. |
Summary
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In the end, the business has the most to gain (or lose) by utilizing the ERP to align with the business needs and growth. Similar to the idiom it takes a village, the entire enterprise should be involved to keep the ERP and other major systems current and maximize their use.
For more information on system ownership, follow me on LinkedIn!
Did your PTO request get denied? Due to restructurings, layoffs, and crunches, companies are now buckling down on employees and their PTO. Here's my concern...
Quitting isn't going to help your situation.
If you quit because your PTO request was denied, that will, in fact, hurt your chances of getting hired. And if the economy tanks, there will be fewer jobs, and then it's going to be a lot harder to get a reference or explain why you quit.
What You Should Do If Your PTO Request Is Denied
@j.t.odonnell when your PTO request gets denied... @workitdaily @j.t.odonnell #joblife#worklife#pto#careeradvice#careerhacks#careertiktok#edutok#learnontiktok♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell
When your PTO request is denied, you want to ask why.
- Why is this happening?
- What can I do to make this timeslot work?
- What would I have to do before or after?
- How can I get to the point where this could be approved?
Maybe your employer can't approve the entire time off that you're requesting, but they could approve part of it. Or maybe your boss is just worried about some coverage, but you could assist in getting that coverage. The goal is to try to work with them on that.
But if you don't get your requested PTO, I'd be really careful about taking that time off anyways or quitting, because it could hurt you and your career.
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