In fact, each one of us has our own unique stress threshold. For everyone who starts to feel worn down and emotionally depleted after a few weeks of double shifts, there’s another who only truly starts to feel engaged and invigorated when the pressure’s really on. According research done by Professional DynaMetrics Systems if the demands of your natural energy level doesn’t line up with your work schedule, it’s very likely that you’ll reach burnout much sooner in your career.

What Does Life Balance Mean To You?

Just as each person has their own idea of what defines the perfect job, most people also have a unique conception of the type of schedule that their dream job would entail. Whether your idea of the perfect job is a leisurely part-time position with virtually no “on-call” expectations, or a demanding dawn-to-dusk role with lots of opportunities for overtime and double shifts, it’s important that you define your unique work/life balance needs and perhaps have a behavioral assessment done before you begin your next job search.

By including work/life balance priorities and your natural energy level on your list of job-search criteria, you’ll be better-positioned to find a role that you can thrive in. Here are some tips to help you land the job that will be a perfect fit with your unique work/life balance needs.

Assess yourself.
Take a ProScan survey*. It unlocks the key to your natural strengths, energy levels, leadership style and how you tend to make decisions. It also helps you identify what motivates your actions and defines your primary needs. Truly understanding yourself is the first step to finding work/life balance.
Do a reality check.
After you’ve gotten some insight into your natural strengths, make sure that they are compatible with the type of work you’re looking for. For example, if you’re the easily-stressed type who prefers a laid-back work schedule, it’s going to be very hard to find a position that meets your criteria. If you identify a potential mismatch, it may be best to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm a few alternative career directions that offer schedules more in keeping with your preferences.
Bring up work/life balance in performance reviews.
Talk to your supervisors about the priority environments that are causing stress. Remember that you place some if this on yourself (that’s called eustress). Does the company have any productivity or performance training programs already in place? Who can you speak to in getting a “life coach” to help you achieve balance?
Your work/life balance needs are as unique as your fingerprint. By pinpointing your personal motivators and needs, you can use them as a road map to help find the fulfillment you need at work and at home. It’s a smart play for companies that want to retain top talent.

*ProScan survey is a non-threatening, quick, easy and reliable tool that is one of the most advanced instruments available. It takes statistical research of working adults that accurately gives feedback to a person’s basic and preferred work styles. The ProScan survey also examines combinations of specific traits that affect how a person works most effectively and reacts to stress. The survey focuses on strengths and motivators to help employers create an enviroment that reduces employee stress while increasing energy and morale.

• Do not panic hire! Filling a position, just to fill an empty position is one of the bonehead moves that are so common today.
• You have to get the right people hired and get them in the right position that plays to their strengths.
• If possible, try using a pre-hire behavioral screening program. The system first creates a job model, which defines the position in terms of the behavioral dynamics most likely to succeed in the job. The behavioral survey is easily made a part of the application process. These systems help managers match people to positions, increasing hiring success and decreasing turnover

Recently I had a project where I was hired to come in and work with the company’s corporate executive chef. He had not been performing up to the expectations of upper management. One of the tools I use when doing such work is a behavioral survey called ProScan. After going over the report, first with the corporate chef and then with his supervisor it became quite apparent that he was placed in the wrong position. The ProScan survey revealed that while he could perform the duties of a corporate chef, it went against his natural strengths. After discussions with all the parties involved we decided it best to move him into an executive chef position at their highest-volume unit. In the end, it was a win-win situation all around. The employee repositioned flourished. He reported reduced stress and increased job satisfaction. We created a job model for a corporate executive chef and used the ProScan survey with the new applicants. We located and interviewed a candidate with the traits most likely to succeed. So far, it’s been quite a success. The owners are happy with the new chefs results, the new corporate executive chef thrives on the challenge of the job as it parallels his natural strengths.

I have always had a saying, that hiring in the hospitality business is a lot like mining for gold. You have to dig through a lot of dirt to find the gold nuggets. However, when you find one treated for what it is… gold.

I’ve worked for Wolfgang Puck, had my own restaurant (the overrated dream of so many young chefs) and now I own a restaurant consulting company that also helps revive older chef’s passion for the culinary arts (that’s called executive coaching). A flame that gets snuffed out by the corporate world of productivity and it’s pursuit for the bottom line. Yes, I too have sold my culinary soul in search of the dollar. I’ve come full circle now……and here is what I have found: you can have it all.

You can be a creative chef who is filled with the passion and wonder of a child. You can also have a life beyond the kitchen. What? No more 96 hour work weeks? Maybe even have a real relationship with a person and not a saute pan? Yes, I have seen the promise land and I can help get you your own map to Shangrala. It’s not that hard….however, it’s not easy either. Like the skills you’ve developed in the kitchen over the years. You have also, been brainwashed into thinking you have to work really hard and God forsaken hours, sacrificing everything dear to you in order to reach culinary perfection.

It’s kind of like being in the movie “The Matrix” and finding out that the world we think we are in is not the real world. Like Neo in the movie…..I too threw up when reality set in. My culinary compadre, you need to wake up too before you realize that the real world has passed you by.

Today in the Wall Street Journal there was a great article on how companies are using behavioral surveys to identify and match up in individuals work style and behavior with company needs. “It has helped me to learn how to interact better with work teams and to leverage my strengths in the workplace,” said Dana Lund a client-relations manager with Acxiom Corporation, a global interactive marketing firm. These days about 25% of midsize and large hospitality companies use personality and behavioral surveys for entry and mid-level decisions as either a pre-employment or new employee orientation tool.

Ultimately these tests aim to help the company hire a specific type of person for a job that might require particular traits. Or conversely, to rule out traits that are likely to lead to job failure. “Companies understand that the right personality fit is a critical criteria for good performance,” says Scott Erker, a senior vice president at a global human resources consultancy. Getting that right person in the right job, reduces turnover costs (which are typically a lost employee’s one-year salary) required to recruit and train a new professional. “You can reduce turnover up to 50% with the right pre-employment assessment,” Mr. Erker says.

Companies are also using these tools to screen candidates as they apply candidates won’t even get an interview unless they match the behavioral job model for the position. By simply outsourcing this process companies can save money and a valuable employee time pre-screening applicants that would not make the first cut. As young people face the hurdle of behavioral surveys many may be tempted to try and manipulate their answers. While it may be tempting to study up on what kind of answers, you should give to score well, experts caution against doing so. “Don’t try to psych out the test,” says Jo Bennett, an executive recruiter from New York. Be honest and open in your answers. If you lie or try to manipulate your answers to land a job and doesn’t fit you or your personality, you’re more likely to be miserable at work.. If you land a job and then try to fudge a companies new employee orientation tool, you could find yourself misunderstood by your boss.

Some applicants may be a bit anxious when asked to take, a behavioral survey. “I didn’t really know where the behavioral assessment factored into the application process,” says Matt Rion, a 29-year-old marketing and operations manager who now realizes the incredible benefits, such surveys offer. ” I understand now that we just want to make sure that someone has the capability to do the job.”

Many companies choose not to share the results of the pre-interview assessments. However, if your assessment was given after you agree to take the job as part of a new employee orientation, then the results should be shared. This gives the new employee valuable insight into their future coworkers. A few companies have even taken the behavioral survey data and incorporated it onto an employee’s name tag. if the employee is working with a person who is a high extroversion than they would know that they should communicate with friendly comments, present things persuasively and as beneficial to people, give them a recognition and avoid being harsh or insulting. And employee communicating with a person who is high pace would understand that they need to give the person time to think about the process and present the benefits of change, showing that it is fair and reasonable and to give concise and clear priorities and directions.

“We see the assessment as an opportunity for our professionals to better understand themselves,” says Debbie Pyle, a human resources training and development leader. Bottom line, behavioral surveys assist you and your company in making better hiring decisions. There are a variety of behavioral assessments and surveys on the market. Here are some key factors to take into consideration when looking to implement a behavioral survey into your company:

• In general,, stay away from companies that use the term assessment or test. A behavioral survey is not a test, it merely measures the four cornerstone behavioral traits that all of us possess. There is no pass or fail, there is no right or wrong. It just gives an insight to where your natural strengths maybe.
• Ask the company for documentation on their initial research. Many of the tools on the market, used college students as their base research. Look for a company that has based their research on a cross-section of working adults-not students.
• Asked the company, the number of people included in the initial research. If it is less than 1000, you may want to look at other companies. There is currently on the market, a company that is currently marketing it’s behavioral assessment as a “highly accurate” report. Yet, when you look into the number of people they used to conduct their initial research study…it was 40. That’s not a typing error, only 40 people. How accurate could that really be?
• Research the ease of use. This is huge. Many of the behavioral tools on the market take anywhere from 10 minutes to 90 minutes. There is one well known assessment tool on the market that is 298 questions! That can be intimidating to an applicant.

A behavioral report can be a powerful tool in hiring, training and developing high performance teams.

I did a consulting project recently and the so called “director of operations” was not schooled in resource allocation. For a few hours I went along with his time wasting requests and then I reminded myself what a consultant’s job is: to protect the owner’s investment. Sometimes we also need to protect people from themselves. In this case the owner had no background in the food service industry. Let’s just say he had a more medical background. Now, I’m a big believer in “support the team you play for or play for another team”. Owners also need to subscribe to the belief that “if you don’t trust the people you hired to do their job, hire people you do”. So I had the what I call the “consultant’s reality” talk.

I explained how his operations director was tearing apart his operation and gave supporting data on the turnover and unrealized financial opportunities overlooked by his upper management team. The directors “old school” management style was not getting positive results. Sometimes the problem when companies bring in an outside consultant is some managers feel I’m there to show them up. The truth is I am an impartial observer there to get their operation back on track. The issue is one that is prevalent within the hospitality industry, they don’t think they need to change their behavior or management style. Unfortunately most managers are still using techniques that were designed for the 1990′s worker.

During the 1990s, several trends influence the way American managers did business. At the beginning of the decade, rounds of layoffs led to sweeping reductions in employee numbers. Positions were eliminated and managers were told to increase productivity instead of hiring someone for the vacant spot. Somewhere along the way, either because of excessive efforts to retain workers or because of the excessive elimination of organizational structures, managers lost their ability to lead. In an effort to remain profitable corporations asked managed to make do with what resources they had. This has led to the high burnout, turnover and low satisfaction ratings the hospitality industry is currently experiencing.

In the end, the owner of the restaurant could not see past the friendship and incompetence of his director of operations. I finished the objectives that we had established for the consulting contract and was asked if I wished to extend. It would have been easy just to stay and take the money. Unfortunately, I am a big believer in getting paid to produce results. When you take a job or a commitment, remember you’re getting paid for results. To deliver less is not fair to the owner or yourself.

The Upside to the Restaurant Recession:

• Yes, some restaurants are below projections on sales and many have been closed down. Yet, many are thriving! With over$550 billion in projected revenue for the industry, trust me, someone is making money this year. Think of the recession as economic natural selection. The operations that poured millions into advertising when they should have been putting that money into hiring the right people and training them are getting shaken out of the tree. This industry is saturated with restaurants that get by with mediocre service and food. When money is tight a customer won’t pay for mediocre. Here is a case in point. I went by Clio restaurant the other night. It’s an incredible fine dining restaurant in Boston from Chef Ken Oringer and on the upper tier of price points. Well, the dining room was full. The food and service there is excellent. Three doors down was a place I had eaten at about six months ago and the food and service was mediocre. They had only two tables. The recession will get rid of the weak.
• Top talent will be looking for better companies. In almost every restaurant there are a couple superstars. With uncertain time these people will be looking for companies that understand business cycles and are still investing in training and development. The companies that are going to come out of this recession stronger are the ones actively recruiting hard to hire the right people and placing them in the right jobs. Many companies are investing in programs that create behavioral job models and match candidates to those positions. A wise investment for long term growth.
• One of the big mistakes companies make when times get tough is cut the training budget and throw it into marketing. So, they attract new customers and then lose them because the staff is not trained to provide excellent service and food. Stupid move. The companies that are booking training workshops to develop their people and using the slower times to work with the staff will be the winners. They will have their company in an excellent position when the economy turns back around (like it always does).

Oh, one thing that economic fear and panic brings out….the vultures. Consultants and others will tell failing restaurants that they can save them. They pray on your fears. Be careful. Hire a consultant that has experience owning a restaurant, not just operating one. The mindset between being on the payroll and being responsible for the payroll, makes a world of difference. I know, I’ve been on both sides.

To sum it up:

• If your establishment is mediocre, I have good news and bad news. Okay, maybe just bad news. Your saving grace is this: get rid of the staff that is pulling your business down and hire better people!
• Train your people! Inspect what you expect. If you call the restaurant and the hostess cannot answer easy questions about your food and how to get there, drive to the restaurant and fire that person.
• Don’t hire on just a resume. Use a behavioral survey tool (there are many available on the market) to back up your intuition. A good behavioral survey will tell you how a person reacts to stress, how they lead (or if they can), and most important….how they communicate. I’ve seen it time and time again. I get a call from an owner who hired a person who seemed so calm during the interview and then turned into a yelling, foul mouthed jerk that caused more turnover in six months than he has had in two years. Owners: of course a person is going to be presenting their best when interviewing, they want the job.

If you and your team are working everyday to improve something, even a little thing….you are practicing what the Japanese call Kaizen. And that will put you in a great position when the recession is over.

“So, Susan, your report indicates you support forging ahead with the expansion but have you considered the impact this will have on our customers? Surely you remember the fiasco in Dallas last year when they tried the same type of project?”

Yikes! If you’re Susan, you’re likely feeling under pressure! You have to answer the question and allay the CEO’s concerns about the disruption to customers. What do you do? What do you say? How do you say it? What if you can’t think of anything to say?

This is not an uncommon situation. Whether you are put on the spot while attending a meeting, talking to guests, selling an event, or answering questions after a presentation, articulating your thoughts in unanticipated situations is a skill. Thinking on your feet is highly coveted skill and when you master it, your clever and astute responses will instill immediate confidence in what you are saying.

When you can translate your thoughts and ideas into coherent speech quickly, you ensure your ideas are heard. You also come across as being confident, persuasive, and trustworthy.

Confidence is key when learning to think on your feet. When you present information, give an opinion or provide suggestions, make sure you know what you are talking about and that you are well informed. This doesn’t mean you have to know everything about everything, but if you are reasonably confident in your knowledge of the subject, that confidence will help you to remain calm and collected even if you are put unexpectedly in the hot seat.

The secret of thinking on your feet is to be prepared: learn some skills and tactics, and do some preparation for situations that might put you under pressure. Then when you do find yourself faced with unexpected questions and debate, you’ll be ready to draw on these tactics and preparation, and so stay poised while you compose your thoughts and prepare your response. Here are some tips and tactics:

1. Relax
This is often the opposite of how you are feeling when you’re under pressure, but in order for your voice to remain calm and for your brain to “think”, you have to be as relaxed as possible.

• Take deep breaths
• Take a second and give yourself a positive and affirming message
• Clench invisible muscles (thighs, biceps, feet) for a few seconds and release.

2. Listen
It comes as no surprise that listening is critical to thinking on your feet. Why do you need to listen? To make sure you fully understand the question or request before you reply. If you answer too soon, you risk going into a line of thinking that is unnecessary or inappropriate. To help you with your listening remember to:

• Look directly at the questioner
• Observe body language as well as what is being spoken
• Try to interpret what is being suggested by the question or request. Is this an attack, a legitimate request for more information, or a test? Why is this person asking this and what is the intention?

Tip:
Remember that the person is asking a question because he or she is interested. Some interest is positive – they simply want to know more – and some is negative – they want to see you squirm. Either way they are interested in what you have to say. It’s your privilege and pleasure not to disappoint them!

3. Have the Question Repeated
If you’re feeling particularly under pressure, ask for the question to be repeated. This gives you a bit more time to think about your response.

At first glance people think this will only make them look unsure. It doesn’t. It makes you look concerned that you give an appropriate response. It also gives the questioner an opportunity to rephrase and ask a question that is more on point. Remember, the questioner may well have just “thought on his or her feet” to ask the question, so when you give them a second chance, the question may well be better articulated and clearer to all.

By asking to have the question repeated you also get another opportunity to assess the intentions of the questioner. If it is more specific or better worded, chances are the person really wants to learn more. If the repeated question is more aggressive than the first one, then you know the person is more interested in making you uncomfortable than anything else. When that’s the case, the next tip comes in very handy.

4. Use Stall Tactics
Sometimes you need more time to get your thoughts straight and calm yourself down enough to make a clear reply. The last thing you want to do is blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind. Often this is a defensive comment that only makes you look insecure and anxious rather than confident and composed.

• Repeat the question yourself. This gives you time to think and you clarify exactly what is being asked. It also allows you to rephrase if necessary and put a positive spin on the request. “How have I considered the impact on customers in order to make sure they have a continued positive experience during the expansion?”
• Narrow the focus. Here, you ask a question of your own to not only clarify, but to bring the question down to a manageable scope. “You’re interested in hearing how I’ve considered customer impacts. What impacts are you most interested in: number of menu items available or service? ”
• Ask for clarification. Again, this will force the questioner to be more specific and hopefully get more to a specific point. “When you say you want to know how I’ve analyzed customer impacts, do you mean you want a detailed analysis or a list of the tools and methods I used?”
• Ask for a definition. Jargon and specific terminology may present a problem for you. Ask to have words and ideas clarified to ensure you are talking about the same thing.

5. Use Silence to your Advantage
We are conditioned to believe that silence is uncomfortable. However, if you use it sparingly, it communicates that you are in control of your thoughts and confident in your ability to answer expertly. When you rush to answer you also typically rush your words. Pausing to collect your thoughts tells your brain to slow everything down.

6. Stick to One Point and One Supporting Piece of Information
There’s a high risk that, under pressure, you’ll answer a question with either too much or too little information. If you give too short an answer, you risk letting the conversation slip into interrogation mode. (You’ll get another question, and the questioner will be firmly in control of how the dialogue unfolds). When your reply is too long, you risk losing people’s interest, coming across as boring, or giving away things that are better left unsaid. Remember, you aren’t being asked to give a speech on the subject. The questioner wants to know something. Respect that and give them an answer, with just enough supporting information.

This technique gives you focus. Rather than trying to tie together all the ideas that are running through your head, when you pick one main point and one supporting fact, you allow yourself to answer accurately and assuredly.

Tip:
If you don’t know the answer, say so. There is no point trying to make something up. You will end up looking foolish and this will lower your confidence when you need to think on your feet in the future. There is (usually) nothing wrong with not knowing something. Simply make sure you follow up as soon as possible afterwards with a researched answer.

7. Prepare some “what ifs”
With a bit of forethought, it’s often possible to predict the types of questions you might be asked, so you can prepare and rehearse some answers to questions that might come your way. Let’s say you are presenting the monthly sales figures to your management team. The chances are your report will cover most of the obvious questions that the management team might have, but what other questions might you predict? What’s different about this month? What new questions might be asked? How would you respond? What additional information might you need to have to hand to support more detailed questions?

In particular, spend some time brainstorming the most difficult questions that people might ask, and preparing and rehearsing good answers to them.

8. Practice Clear Delivery
How you say something is almost as important as what you say. If you mumble or use “umm” or “ah” between every second word, confidence in what you are saying plummets. Whenever you are speaking with people, make a point to practice these key oration skills:

• Speak in a strong voice. (Don’t confuse strong with loud!)
• Use pauses strategically to emphasize a point or slow yourself down
• Vary your tone and pay attention to how your message will be perceived given the intonation you use
• Use eye contact appropriately
• Pay attention to your grammar
• Use the level of formality that is appropriate to the situation.

9. Summarize and Stop
Wrap up your response with a quick summary statement. After that, resist adding more information. There may well be silence after your summary. Don’t make the common mistake of filling the silence with more information! This is the time when other people are adsorbing the information you have given. If you persist with more information, you may end up causing confusion and undoing the great work you’ve already done in delivering your response.

Use words to indicate you are summarizing (i.e. “in conclusion,” “finally”) or briefly restate the question and your answer. So – what did I do to analyze customer impacts? I reviewed the Dallas case files in detail, and prepared a “What if” analysis for our own situation.”

Key points:

No one enjoys being putting on the spot or answering questions that you aren’t fully expecting. The uncertainty can be stressful. That stress doesn’t need to be unmanageable and you can think on your feet if you remember the strategies we just discussed. Essentially, thinking on your feet means staying in control of the situation. Ask questions, buy time for yourself, and remember to stick to one point and make that one point count. When you are able to zoom in on the key areas of concern, you’ll answer like an expert and you impress your audience, and yourself, with your confidence and poise.

People who GSD know the difference between two key words: efficient and effective. Do you know? And an even better question…..what do you focus on when taking on tasks?

So, let’s cut to the chase.

1.Start with the recognition that you are not effectively managing your time.

You can only manage yourself (your attitudes, beliefs and actions) was in the flow of time.The experience of time has more to do with your thoughts than with clock time.Stress you feel that you associate with time, originates in your thinking.Example: think about the distinction in your perception of time between when you’re late and when you’re waiting for someone who’s late.The actual clock time doesn’t change, but your experience of time does, based on your perception.To quote William Shakespeare, “nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

2.Prioritize your efforts

Stephen Covey, author of the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, makes a distinction between things that are important in things that are urgent.Most of the time, doing the things that are important, rather than urgent, results in greater effectiveness.In other words, don’t major and minor things.

3.Do less to get more

Economize your efforts.Example: when you’re boiling a pot of water, you can fill the pot with water, cover it and turn on the heat and let it come to a boil water you do something else or you can “watch the pot” while it comes to a boil.

4.Eliminate sources of adrenaline

These are substances, activities, relationships, situations, or attitudes that results in your feeling “charged up”.Adrenaline can distract you from the focus needed to complete a project, increase feelings of anxiety, intensify the feeling that time is flying.Over time, excessive adrenaline can have negative health consequences as well.

5.Eliminate things, which are taxing your time and energy

These are situations, attitudes or behaviors (in yourself or others) that you are putting up with in your personal or work life, which does not serve you or your larger purpose, but rather consume physical, mental and/or emotional energy.Eliminating them results in an increase in available energy for people and projects, and over all feeling of calmness, and the experience of more time to get things done.

6.Simplify your environment

Clutter in your office or home environment can create stress.You can actually “feel” like you have much more work to do than you really do when you “archive” things you don’t need in your environment.

7.Simplify your tasks

This may involve over-responding and/or under-responding.Example: under-responding – a fax, which needs only a quick response or a confirmation.You can write your answer on the fax document and fax it right back.Over-responding – if someone asked you for something specific, and you know that by offering more help than was specifically asked for, you can avoid the situation or issue from coming back to you in the form of a problem, then isn’t it worth it to do more?Make a point of over responding to any situation in which there is an opportunity to solve more than one problem in the process and when there is the potential for the situation to be presented again, requiring additional energy.

8.Really listen to others

When you allow other thoughts to intrude into your “listening space”, you actually create anxiety for yourself about both what you are listening to and what you allow to intrude.This anxiety is created, because you can neither act immediately on the thoughts you allow to intrude, nor can you completely take in what the person with whom you are talking is trying to tell you.You’re left feeling incomplete with both.

9.Decide what you can give up in order to get what you want

The day has only 24 hours in it, and yet, how many times have you “borrowed” from the next day to finish a project and thereby lost valuable sleep, or “borrowed” from your relationships to pursue a goal, or “borrowed” from your personal time with yourself to work on a project?We choose among multiple possibilities for how we will spend our work, and/or personal time, the universe almost always asked us to choose what we will give up in order to have the “more” in our personal or work lives.Much pain and suffering around “managing time” could be avoided if this process were respected.

10. Find some time each day for quiet reflection

When you commit to spending some time each day suspending your thoughts and judgments and creating inner stillness, you’ll train your body and mind in what it feels like and with that awareness, you can transform how you experience the flow of time when you are “in the world”.