TahliaHutchisonTini

In today’s tight labour market, people matter.

According to the latest employment survey from Instructure and The Harris Poll, lack of career growth is one of the biggest reasons workers leave their jobs, second only to low pay. Amongst respondents, 77% of employees said that they feel they’re ‘on their own’ to develop their careers at their company.

As great employees are more prepared than ever to ‘shop’ around to ensure that their professional development goals are met, losing staff could cause challenges for employers that don’t give workers the development that they want and need.

Conversely, helping to plan for and develop the careers of your employees has the following benefits:

Opportunities for promotion and/or lateral moves contribute to the employee’s career satisfaction
A greater sense of responsibility for managing one’s own career contributes to self-confidence
Career planning and development clarifies the match between organizational and individual employee goals
It’s cost-effective to use your own staff talent to provide career development opportunities
Career development increases employee motivation and productivity
Attention to career development helps you attract top staff and retain valued employees
(Source: UC Berkely University)

What does this mean?

From a bottom line perspective it means saving money as you don’t lose, and than have to retrain staff, and it means making money as your employees are more likely to go above and beyond for you. From a quadruple bottom line perspective it means an investment in your people, a happier and more productive workplace and an investment in families and community.

Should you do it?

The answer is Yes. Career development puts capacity and succession planning at the front of mind, which is good for your business. It also clearly demonstrates to your people that they matter, which in general, is a big win for everyone.

Not sure where to start?

Feel free to email us! Let’s start a conversation and see if TīMī Consulting can help.

‘Smoking Me Out’ might have been a great song by Warren G from the 90s, but a good email address it does not make!

In my time at Student Job Search, and as a long-time employer of young people, I have seen hundreds of applications from people who are entering work for the first time. One of my biggest ‘grrrr’ moments is when I see an email address that clearly shows that the applicant hasn’t thought about the impression they are making when they send an application from that address. ‘Smoking Me Out’ might have been a great song by Warren G from the 90s, but a good email address it does not make!

Your email address is the first thing to land in someones inbox. It is your first ‘handshake’ and introduction. Your email address should be correctly spelled, easy to remember, and something that is not offensive. It should also be positive, as opposed to something that might call your professionalism into question.

Best Practice for Email Addresses

This one is actually easy. Best practice is to use your name. Yep, that simple. Your email address should read: firstnamelastname@mailprovider.co.nz (or com). So my email address would be tahliahutchisontini@everymail.com.

Why?

Because it is professional, easy to remember and to spell, and it tells the recruiter or employer that I am taking my application seriously. If a job listing has 50 applicants, don’t give the hiring manager a reason to pass on your application without even opening it.

What should I do if my name is already taken?

Given the popularity of email, there is a possibility that your name might already be in use as an email address. You can make simple modification to the address so that you can still have a unique email address. This includes the following:

Add a full stop – tahlia.hutchisontini@everymail.com
Add your middle initial – tahliamtini@everymail.com
Add the year to the end – tahliahutchisontini2020@everymail.com
Add a hyphen – tahlia-hutchisontini@everymail.com
Use your initials with your last name – tmhutchisontini@everymail.com

There are multiple ways to use your name, without losing the professional element of the address. A quick note on email (and internet addresses) these are NOT case sensitive. This means that TahliaHutchisonTini@everymail.com is the EXACT SAME ADDRESS as tahliahutchisontini@everymail.com. It also means you can’t use it as an option to differentiate your email address if it already exists.

A Note on Email Signatures

When Jake sent Captain Holt an email with a signature that included ‘Your Stinky Butt’ he was not thinking about the impression he would make. Don’t make this mistake.

Your email signature should be clear, concise and free of anything that might cause offense. A good rule of thumb is the following:

Fist Name Last Name
Phone Number
Email address

If you are a creative you can also include a link to your portfolio, and we would strongly encourage you to do so. If you are applying for a social media role, than again, we would strongly recommend that you have a link to your ‘professional’ social media profiles as well.

Still lost?

Feel free to contact us to begin a conversation. We offer substantially discounted consulting rates for students. You can email us at kiaora@timiconsulting.co.nz for more information.

This TīMīTalk was written by Client Services Manager, Tahlia Hutchison-Tini.