In The Spirit...

With school coming to a close and the holiday season in full swing I was looking to see how people get into the holiday spirit. I have a lot going on in my life right now and I wish I could just ban the holiday season this year out of my life. I don't have the time to think about it and just don't want to be bothered with it. Somehow it is creeping around me every where I turn. I have never before been this way and normally I love the holiday season because it means friends and family time, but I just can't get into it.
So I am looking to get some insight on how to have fun with the holiday season and not be a grinch...

Lay Offs

It happens to many people but you'll never think or expect it to happen to you.
Thursday my mother was laid off from a customer service rep job that she has been employed at for over 10 years. Even after that long she never thought she would be laid off from the company. However, as the company is facing some changes and reorganizing they decided that the job that my mom has done for so many years wasn't a necessary expense for the company anymore. My mom knew the company was doing a reorganization but wasn't concerned with it because there are only three people that do her job in the district. Thursday morning she went into work and was informed of the changes that were being implemented. They allowed her to email a few individuals and pack her things. My mother left the company with a smile on her face because she knew if she got upset it wasn't going to get her anywhere. My father owns his own company and my mother already does work for him, so she is going to work full-time now for him. The company that she was working for offered her a severence package for one year. So looks like my mother will be taking a break from work (other then my father's company) for a little while and just enjoy life.
When life throws you lemons...make lemonade and put an umbrella in it :)
Never think you are prepared for the day in front of you...
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/severence-package.asp#axzz1eA2Jebx8

Pies and Cakes

As I have mentioned I work in the hospitality industry. The restaurant that I work for makes our own seasonal pies and some of our cakes. Currently we are selling whole pies and cakes especailly for the holiday seasons. Our thought behind this was to get the attention of those customers who travel up here to visit with friends and family during the holiday season who may find it difficult to make a dessert at home and pack it for traveling. The seasonal pies and cakes that we are offering are:
Dutch Apple Pie                                       
     

Pumpkin Pie
  


Mixed Berry Pie                                     Carrot Cake                     
    

And My personal favorite:
Triple Chocolate Cake


We have been advertising at the restaurant by using table tent cards and also by posting on the restaurants facebook page. I am not sure we are connecting with the customers, but I also believe that is because for Thanksgiving most customers enjoy their own personal homemade desserts. I was looking to see if anyone could suggest any other way for us to reach out to customers to get them to pre-order Thanksgiving desserts. Also, if anyone would like to order one of these homemade desserts for Thanksgiving or any other time, please let me know :) They are delicious!!!

Work @ Home

When you get into the world of work you begin to realize how much time you will spend at work compared to your home. You will realize how much of your time you spend with other people and how to take all that in. One of the things that becomes a challenge is when you have been promoted to a managerial position because ultimately this means that you put in more time at work and have to be there for other people. This can change your life at home when family or significant others don't understand. If you love your job and you enjoy the work that you do, work will not feel like work. Your time spent at work will just feel like anyother part of your life because you enjoy the time there and it'll feel like you are just living your life.
So, when you enjoy what you do and don't mind working the crazy long hours, how do you handle that at home with friends, family or a significant other when they begin arguing with you about working to much? Especially when you don't feel that the time you are putting in is too much time, then what?

Personal Problems in the Business World...

In my first blog I mentioned that I had recently been promoted to the Dining Room Manager of the restaurant that I work for. We have hired a few new employees that have only known me as their manager, which is actually rather nice. One of the girls was having an issue at home the last few days and wasn't her bubbly self at work. I knew something was wrong but when I asked her if she was ok, she told me things were fine. I am not one to pry into people's lives and if you tell me that you are ok then that is where I am going to leave it. However, I have with my staff told them many times that if they ever need to talk to someone, even just have someone listen to them and not say anything, not to hesitate to pull me aside. I am a great listener and I know that sometimes it is just a relief to be able to speak what is on your mind.
The other day this employee, lets call her Carol, begins to tell me that she needs to take Sunday's off from now on. I asked her if things were ok and you could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. She was trying not to cry, but I could tell that she needed to say somethings and we needed to talk about her not working Sunday's anyways. So I told the other employees that we would be right back and I brought her upstairs into the office. She informed me that her family (husband and children) are having a hard time dealing with her going back to work because she was a stay at home mother for so long. She was also having some issues with her husbands ex-wife and dealing with the children's after school activities schedules.
After letting her get out everything that she was thinking and that was on her mind, her night turned around and she seemed to be in a better mood. After our initial talk and again during the night and one more time before she left for the evening, she apologized to myself and the owner for being crabby and bringing her personal life and problems into the restaurant and not being able to leave it at the door. I kept telling her that it wasn't a problem and we all have our days. That being said: I don't have a problem with bringing personal problems into work especially when it is your work or schedule that is conflicting with your home life or visversa. We do all have our bad days and need our quite days when life isn't where we want it to be etc. However, I do agree to leave problems at the door when they are going to make you mad and you are going to become irritable, crabby, start arguments or make the work environment uncomfortable for other employees.
Seeing that everyone will be entering into the "Business World" in a short time, I was hoping this would be a great opportunity to get some insight on others thoughts behind bringing your personal life or problems into the business world or atmosphere. What do you think?

How close is too close...

I am already and have already been out in the business world as I am a non-traditional student. However for many seniors that have not ventured out into the business world I thought I would put out the question of how close it too close?
Going out in the business world and working with a group of new individuals can sometimes be a difficult transition for many people. When you finally land a job you will be working with a group of new people that you will want to get to know and want to work well with. Sometimes, because you want to be liked so much, you may open up to these people more than you expect or want to share things or talk about your personal life with them. This is where my question comes into play.
How close if too close to get to people that you work with? Is going out for a drink or having dinner with them outside of work functions possible? How much of your personal life is appropriate to share with the people that you work with? What are your thoughts?

Think About It...

Steve Jobs.....When you read this name what does it mean to you?
Until this past week, when a coworker informed me that he passed away, it didn't mean anything to me. I knew that he was the creator of Apple, but didn't really know much about his life. I believe that there are people in this world that put themselves out there for others to see and to learn from. Steve Jobs was this kind of man. Through his life he started a company, helped it grow and got fired from that company without it affecting his ambition. With one company behind him he turned around and started another one, well actually he started two more. This is one thing that I have already learned from this semester is to never allow failure to keep you down.
After the death of Steve Jobs on Wednesday October 5th, a close friend of mine had seen his commencement speech that he gave at Stanford University in 2005 and forwarded the video onto me. There are three stories that Steve talks about and with each one you learn something about him as a person, about his life and possibly about your own. So today, I share Steve Jobs's speech with you because it opened my eyes up to the world and to this thing called life...