Introduction:
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is an injury caused by a pinched nerve in the wrist. The injury causes pain and numbness in the index and middle fingers and weakness of the thumb. Carpal tunnel receives its name from the eight bones in the wrist, called carpals, which form a “tunnel” through which the nerve leading to the hand extends.
Signs and Symptoms:

Signs and symptoms of CTS include:
•    Nighttime painful tingling in one or both hands, frequently causing sleep disturbance
•    Feeling of uselessness in the fingers
•    A sense that fingers are swollen even though little or no swelling is apparent
•    Daytime tingling in the hands, followed by a decreased ability to squeeze things
•    Loss of strength in the muscle at the base of the thumb, near the palm
•    Pain shooting from the hand up the arm as far as the shoulder

What Causes It?:
The carpal tunnel is filled with tendons (bundles of collagen fibers that attach muscle to bone) that control finger movement. Tasks requiring highly repetitive and forceful movements of the wrist can cause swelling around the tendons, resulting in a pinched nerve and producing CTS.

Who’s Most At Risk?:

People working with small hand tools in manufacturing and those using a computer keyboard on a regular basis are especially at risk.
Women are 2 - 5 times more likely than men to develop CTS. It most commonly occurs in people ages 30 -60. CTS is associated with health conditions, such as Lyme disease, hypothyroidism, rubella, pregnancy, obesity, and menopause. High caffeine, tobacco, or alcohol intake are contributing risk factors.

What to Expect at Your Provider’s Office:
If you have symptoms of CTS, you should see your health care provider. Your health care provider can help you determine which treatment or combination of therapies will work best for you.
Your health care provider will perform a physical examination and some simple tests to determine if there is a loss of sensation or some weakness in your thumb or fingers. Your health care provider may also perform more sophisticated diagnostic procedures ranging from a nerve conduction study to electromyography (EMG). X-rays or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be used to reveal the cause and the nature of the injury.

Treatment Options:
Your health care provider may put your wrist in a splint or brace to keep your wrist from bending, and to minimize or prevent pressure on the nerve. You’ll probably need to wear the splint full time for 3 - 4 weeks, then at night only. Putting ice on your wrist, massaging the area, and doing stretching exercises may also help.

Prevention
You can help prevent CTS or alleviate symptoms by making some simple changes in your work and leisure habits, such as:
•    Stretch or flex your arms and fingers before beginning work and at frequent intervals.
•    Alternate tasks to reduce the amount of repetitive movements.
•    Modify or change daily activities that put pressure on your wrists.
•    Modify your work environment. If you use a computer, have an adjustable keyboard table and chair, and a wrist rest.

Drug Therapies
Your provider may prescribe the following medications:
•    Anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, to reduce inflammation (swelling, pain, and redness)
•    Corticosteroids, a type of steroid, injected at the site of the carpal tunnel to reduce tendon swelling
•    Diuretics, if needed

Surgical and Other Procedures
Patients who do not improve with medication and splinting may need surgery. Surgery provides complete relief in 95% of patients.
Complementary and Alternative Therapies
A comprehensive treatment plan for CTS may include a range of complementary and alternative therapies.

Nutrition and Supplements
Following these nutritional tips may help reduce symptoms:
•    Eliminate all suspected food allergens, including dairy (milk, cheese, eggs, and ice cream), wheat (gluten), soy, corn, preservatives, and chemical food additives. Your health care provider may want to test you for food allergies.
•    Eat foods high in B-vitamins and iron, such as whole grains (if no allergy), dark leafy greens (such as spinach and kale), and sea vegetables.
•    Eat antioxidant foods, including fruits (such as blueberries, cherries, and tomatoes), and vegetables (such as squash and bell pepper).
•    Avoid refined foods, such as white breads, pastas, and sugar.
•    Eat fewer red meats and more lean meats, cold water fish, tofu (soy, if no allergy) or beans for protein.
•    Use healthy oils in foods, such as olive oil or vegetable oil.
•    Reduce or eliminate trans fatty acids, found in commercially baked goods, such as cookies, crackers, cakes, French fries, onion rings, donuts, processed foods, and margarine.
•    Avoid coffee and other stimulants, alcohol, and tobacco.
You may address nutritional deficiencies with the following supplements:
•    A multivitamin daily, containing the antioxidant vitamins A, C, E, D, the B-complex vitamins and trace minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, and selenium.
•    Omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish oil, 1 - 2 capsules or 1 tablespoonful of oil daily, to help decrease inflammation. Fish oils may increase bleeding in sensitive individuals, such as those taking blood thinning mediations (including aspirin).
•    B-complex vitamin, 1 tablet daily, for symptoms of carpal tunnel. Some studies suggest low levels of riboflavin in the blood is associated with carpal tunnel syndrome and other inflammatory diseases.
•    Vitamin C, 500 - 1,000 mg daily, as an antioxidant.
•    Alpha-lipoic acid, 25 - 50 mg twice daily, for antioxidant support.
•    Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), 3,000 mg twice a day, to help decrease inflammation.
•    Resveratrol (from red wine), 50 - 200 mg daily, to help decrease inflammation and for antioxidant effects. Resveratrol may increase the blood thinning effects of blood thinning medications, such as aspirin and Coumadin.

Herbs
Herbs are generally a safe way to strengthen and tone the body’s systems. As with any therapy, you should speak with your health care provider before starting any treatment. You may use herbs as dried extracts (capsules, powders, teas), glycerites (glycerine extracts), or tinctures (alcohol extracts). Unless otherwise indicated, you should make teas with 1 tsp. herb per cup of hot water. Steep covered 5 - 10 minutes for leaf or flowers, and 10 - 20 minutes for roots. Drink 2 - 4 cups per day. You may use tinctures alone or in combination as noted.
•    Green tea (Camellia sinensis) standardized extract, 250 - 500 mg daily, for inflammation and antioxidant and immune effects. Use caffeine free products. You may also prepare teas from the leaf of this herb.
•    Bromelain (Ananus comosus) standardized, 40 mg 3 times daily, for pain and inflammation.
•    Turmeric (Curcuma longa) standardized extract, 300 mg 3 times a day, for pain and inflammation. Bromelain may increase bleeding in sensitive individuals, such as those taking blood thinning medications, including aspirin.
•    Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa) standardized extract, 20 mg 3 times a day, for inflammation. Cat’s claw can intereact with certain medications, including blood pressure medications. Cat’s claw may worsen autoimmune conditions and Leukemia

Homeopathy
Although few studies have examined the effectiveness of specific homeopathic therapies, professional homeopaths may consider remedies for the treatment of carpal tunnel symptoms based on their knowledge and experience. Before prescribing a remedy, homeopaths take into account your constitutional type — your physical, emotional, and psychological makeup. An experienced homeopath assesses all of these factors when determining the most appropriate treatment for you individually.
An experienced homeopath can prescribe a regimen for treating CTS that is designed especially for you. Some of the most common acute remedies are listed below. An acute dose is 3 - 5 pellets of 12X to 30C every 1 - 4 four hours until symptoms clear up.
•    Apis mellifica for joints that are red, hot, or swollen.
•    Arnica montana, 4 times per day, for a bruised, beat up feeling, soreness, achy muscles after trauma or overuse. This treatment may be especially effective if the gel or cream form is used topically.
•    Guaiacum for CTS that is improved by the use of cold applications.

Physical Medicine
Contrast hydrotherapy — alternating hot and cold water applications — may offer relief from CTS symptoms. This approach decreases inflammation, offers pain relief, and enhances healing. Immerse your wrists fully in hot water for 3 minutes, followed by 1 minute in cold water, and repeat three times. Do this 2 - 3 times daily.
Castor Oil Packs — Apply castor oil to a cloth, loosely wrap around wrist, and then cover with Saran Wrap. Apply a heating pad for 1 hour, or without using a heating pad, sleep with the application on the wrist. Do this for 4 - 5 nights per week until improvement occurs.

Acupuncture
According to the National Institutes of Health, acupuncture may help treat CTS. Studies suggest that acupuncture restores normal nerve function and can provide long term relief of pain associated with CTS. Acupuncturists treat people with CTS based on an individualized assessment of the excesses and deficiencies of qi located in various meridians. In the case of CTS, acupuncturists will often target the liver, gallbladder, and kidney meridians.

Chiropractic
CTS is commonly treated by chiropractors. The methods most chiropractors use to treat CTS include manipulation of the wrist, elbow, and upper spine, ultrasound therapy, and wrist supports. Two studies support the use of chiropractic treatment for CTS.
In the first study, 25 individuals diagnosed with CTS reported significant improvements in several measures of strength, range of motion, and pain after receiving chiropractic treatment. Most of these improvements were maintained for at least 6 months.
A second study compared the effects of chiropractic care with conservative medical care (wrist supports and ibuprofen) among 91 people with CTS. Both groups experienced significant improvement in nerve function, finger sensation, and comfort. The researchers concluded that chiropractic treatment and conservative medical care are equally effective for people with CTS.

Massage
Massage may help prevent or relieve symptoms, especially in combination with rosemary or St. John’s wort oil.

Prognosis/Possible Complications:
Most people’s symptoms clear up within a few months with conventional treatment. If left untreated, CTS in advanced stages can become quite serious, involving a loss of sensation, muscle deterioration, and permanent loss of function.

Following Up:
If your wrist is placed in a splint or you receive corticosteroids, you’ll need ongoing evaluation by your health care provider until treatment is completed. If you have surgery for CTS, you may need only a single follow up visit.
•    Reviewed last on: 6/17/2010
•    Reviewed by Steven D. Ehrlich, NMD, Solutions Acupuncture, a private practice specializing in complementary and alternative medicine, Phoenix, AZ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

Source: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/carpal-tunnel-000031.htm#ixzz2KfoGSwq9

Providing the right incentive and recognition scheme is a top challenge for HR professionals. Tim Young looks at how the best companies are rewarding their top performers, and why getting recognition right is so important.

It used to be so easy. For our parents’ generation, a job-for-life, a long-service award and a pension might have been enough to ensure 40 years of productive service. These days it is a little different. Competition for the best talent has intensified, and once you find the right person, you have to keep them. According to the Department of Labor, in the 1950s the average employee stayed for 20 years in each role – in the 1990s it was less than five years.

It’s not just the expectations of staff that have changed. Jack Welch, legendary CEO of GE was an influential advocate of recruiting A-plus staff only. There was no point in trying to develop C staff into Bs, Welch argued; you should just get rid of them. The quid-pro-quo for A-rated staff was higher rewards through stock options and bonuses.

Many companies still embrace this approach with gusto; after all, it makes intuitive sense to reward your most talented and try to move on those not pulling their weight. It’s not a risk-free strategy though, and the danger is twofold. Unless you have robust, objective criteria for measuring performance, it can be easy to let personal bias affect decisions.

The more pervasive problem with the system though is that even if you can measure performance accurately, the effects such a system can have on your company culture can be counter-productive. Creating a culture where staff are constantly having to look after number one can lead to a feeling of disenfranchisement and distrust of senior management – who are perceived as also looking out for themselves.

In response, many companies are now taking a long, hard look at themselves and building structures in which staff feel a sense of participation in the goal of the company. Genentech CEO Art Levinson, whose company topped this year’s Fortune 100 Best Places to Work list, is on record as saying he actively screens out applicants who ask about job titles and options; what he wants are people who are driven to make drugs that fight cancer. So what options are available to try help build the motivated, engaged staff body that all companies need?

Happy staff, Happy markets

“HR professionals have instinctively known for years that engaged, motivated employees work harder and smarter – which contributes directly to the company’s bottom line. There is growing empirical information that confirms these assumptions,” says Karen Renk, Executive Director of the Incentive Marketing Association. Renk cites a study from Northwestern University that shows a “direct link” between engaged employees and customer satisfaction and profitability – “even if the employees have no direct contact with customers.” Another study, from Ohio State, rated the morale in different companies as high, moderate or low, and studied stock market performance in 2002. Those companies in the high morale category out-earned their counterparts by almost 20 percent.

The strategic challenge, then, is to create high staff-morale – and the logical place to start is with compensation and benefit packages. There is no doubt that compensation is a key hygiene factor for any company. Crudely put, the job market is like any other – if you’re not paying the going rate for your staff then don’t be surprised when the market’s invisible hand picks up your brightest and best and takes them elsewhere.

What’s more, the work environment and facilities need to be up-to-date – workers struggling into an outdated office lacking modern (or even any) air conditioning aren’t going to do their best work in the summer months, for example. As Renk puts it: “In an environment where employee compensation is inadequate and where they lack the proper tools or equipment to perform their jobs effectively, an incentive program will not produce long-lasting results.”

A decade ago, during the stock-market boom of the 1990s, the trend was to offer a low basic wage with high value stock options. However, the limitations of this approach came to light when the stock market tailed off. People get used to a certain level of monetary progress and come to expect it; when that progress stops, it doesn’t motivate people to work harder and just antagonizes them.

Christi Gibson is Executive Director at the National Association for Employee Recognition (NAER). As she puts it: “Pay-checks are not reward enough for employees. If you give someone cash, they figure that’s compensation and they’re just going to keep it.” With this in mind, Gibson believes there’s no need to pay over the market rate: “Everything must be balanced. If you have the correct compensation and benefit package, compensation doesn’t have to go over and above what your competitors are offering.”

Benefit packages can also be considered a hygiene factor to some degree. If you are not offering some kind of pension or 401k savings plan and you’re not offering any kind of medical insurance, then you can be sure that your employees will complain about it at the water cooler. They will also probably be more inclined to leave. However, bring these benefits in and while appreciated they soon become normalized – it is unlikely that many people consider their future retirement income as a motivating factor when that tricky phone call or assignment is looming.

Building the right culture

It therefore seems that HR professionals need to concentrate on more than just rewarding people with money to motivate them. For Gibson, the number one priority is clear: companies need to align their recognition and reward schemes with their own mission and goals. “When employees feel they serve a purpose, and they’re being noticed for doing a good job, then they will embrace the mission, goals and values of the company and work to higher standards,” she says.

As a result, management needs to think about more creative ways of reinforcing positive behavior in their staff. However, there are several challenges. The first is to recognize that employee motivation is a strategic challenge for the business, and that any efforts to reward and recognize staff must come from the very top. “Reward programs must come from the CEO – if you have the CEO onboard everyone will connect with it and everyone will get onboard,” argues Gibson.

A good example of the CEO driving the culture of a business can be found at Valero (see boxout). Valero was third on the Fortune 100 best places to work list this year, and works hard to create a ‘let’s-get-it-done-together’ work ethic. Valero CEO Bill Greehy’s success at driving this culture was demonstrated following Hurricane Katrina last year. Eight days after the storm had hit, Valero had its New Orleans refinery up and running, and Greehy was seeking special permission to fly into the closed airport to visit. Not only was the refinery up and running a week before its competitor next door, but despite the chaos reigning in New Orleans at the time, 1400 Valero employees made the effort to come in for the traditional site barbecue, held whenever Greehy visits.

Demonstrable leadership can go a great way to showing staff that they work in a company in which everyone is swimming in the same direction. But it takes more than just a visible, enthusiastic CEO to keep people’s morale at an optimum level. To do this, the right culture needs to be embedded throughout all levels of the organization.

Just say thanks

This is where recognition schemes, both formal and informal, come in. As Karen Renk suggests: “An organization that provides a conducive environment can use properly planned and administered incentive programs to provide tangible recognition, improve employee attendance, encourage completion of training and improve productivity.”

A recent study, Awards Selection: Insights from Managers by the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement, asked a sample of business what tactics they found were the most successful for motivating staff. The consensus was that non-cash benefits were more popular, with ‘employee recognition’ schemes coming out top. The study concluded it was a tactic that “works for most situations within most corporate cultures”.

In practice, these schemes can take a variety of guises. The most common tend to be long-service awards, on-the-spot performance tokens or employee of the month schemes. But of course there are a multitude of ways in which employees can be recognized for good performance by innovative employees. The NAER reports that its members have offered ice-cream socials, peer recognition programs and personalized letters from the CEO as ways of recognizing staff input.

Whatever particular scheme you develop, there are two golden rules; recognition must be personal and it must be timely. Christi Gibson explains: “Say you did some fabulous thing for the company in January, but you don’t hear a word until July when you get a thank-you note in the post or a pay-rise. It means nothing. You just figure you deserved that anyway.” In other words, if you are too ham-fisted about saying thanks to your people you can end up doing more harm than good.

Conversely, the company that is on the ball and offers genuine, on-the-spot gratitude can reap benefits far in excess of the cost of rewards. “If you do something over-and-above and receive on-the-spot recognition, you’re going to respond,” continues Gibson. “Even if it is just an e-mail from upper management saying thanks, or a small trinket – the right trinket given at the right time by the right person can be so meaningful. And it makes people loyal, and it makes them stay.”

The challenge here is making sure you’re giving the ‘right trinket’ at the ‘right time’, and this is where strategic commitment to recognition strategies can be so crucial. A good manager shouldn’t just be guessing at what makes their individual staff tick, but should know. One way of ensuring all managers can meet this challenge is to set recognition and staff morale as a strategic goal of the organization, regularly reinforcing with managers that the delivery of this strategic goal is part of their responsibilities, and supplying coaching and training for managers to help achieve this.

Horses for courses

Another key factor to consider when developing a recognition scheme is that the task and behavior you are trying to reinforce will affect which approach you should use. The Awards Selection report shows this clearly. The research showed that recognition schemes and non-cash awards tend to be better at reinforcing less tangible, morale-based outcomes such as creating a positive internal ‘buzz’ or improving teamwork. By contrast, for more short-term and tangible goals like increasing sales or improving product quality, cash awards have more of a role to play (see box).

Equally, managers must be alert to the challenges of rewarding teams. If you concentrate too much on individual rewards and most of your staff primarily works in teams, you risk alienating your honest foot soldiers, who in many cases are providing the support and foundations on which their colleagues can shine. On the other hand, if you concentrate exclusively on rewarding teams then you face the danger that free-riders can share in the success of their colleagues, with all the potential problems this brings for future team-working and trust. “It is important to have both individual and team awards,” says Christie Gibson. “Many times a team will make something work, but you should also be rewarding the person who first came up with the idea as well”.

Clear business goals

It is clear then that the modern business needs to be flexible in its approach to recognizing and motivating its staff. Relying on just one or two annual awards or bonuses is not going to promote the kind of corporate buy-in from staff that is so important to ensure success. For many companies, the cost of human capital through payroll expenses can be comfortably the biggest annual business cost, so it makes sense to try to optimize the marginal productivity of this asset.

Ultimately, what people want in their lives is a sense of purpose, and a sense of approval from their peers – after all, we’re social animals. For business to best utilize this need it is crucial to set your mission and goals and actively recognize and reward the behaviors that will get you to that goal. While this may require a strategic commitment on behalf of business, this commitment should pay dividends – not just in the area of staff retention and morale, but on your bottom line as well.

Best practice at Valero

If you’re looking for an example of industry leading best practice of motivating staff, the oil refinery business might not be the obvious place to start. Unless you started looking at Valero – not only the country’s biggest oil refiner, but also recognized as one of its best employers.

The Valero approach is simple. It believes employees are its number one asset – before shareholders and before customers. The twist being that under CEO Bill Greehy, Valero has worked hard to make this corporate truism a reality.

In some ways, the approach to personnel management is quite old-school; men wear suit and ties, women wear dresses, employees undergo regular mandatory drug-testing, and executives have been fired for swearing at their staff.

Match-up-to Greehy’s expectations and the rewards come. Employees are enrolled in a company-funded pension plan, receive enough credit to purchase medical and dental insurance and life-cover, and have a choice from a range of other flexible benefits such as a vision plan, term life insurance or child-care subsidy. There is also an all-employee bonus plan and long-term incentive awards, as well as individual recognition awards such as ‘employee of the month’ or ‘volunteer of the year’.

Valero also works hard on the softer-side. The company offers a free annual health assessment, and the corporate headquarters in San Antonio contains a ‘wellness center’ that provides free care for minor illness and injury. Special events are held throughout the year, such as family day picnics and appreciation luncheons. It is also a tradition that whenever Bill Greehy visits a site, he hosts a barbeque for all employees.

How does this package work for the business? Well, Valero has featured in the Fortune Best 100 Companies to Work for the last six years, rising to the number three position in the country in 2006. And it’s an equally rosy picture when you examine the bottom line; Valero turned an xx percent profit in 2005-6 making it the country’s most successful refinery business. Putting people first appears to be paying dividends.

Author: http://www.hrmreport.com/article/Rewarding-work/

In a very sluggish economy or a recession people should generally try to watch their spending and not take any undue risks that might put their future financial goals in jeopardy. There are several types of risks that everyone should avoid during a recession. Let’s look at some of the most common mistakes people make and how to avoid them.

Becoming a Cosigner
Cosigning a loan can be a very risky thing to do even in flush economic times. After all, if the individual taking the loan doesn’t make the scheduled payments, the cosigner could well be asked to make them.

However, during an economic downturn the risks associated with cosigning a note could be even greater as the person may be at greater risk of losing his or her job and the means to pay down the loan. Also, the cosigner is more likely to land in the unemployment line as well.

With all that in mind, there are times when you may find it necessary to cosign for a family member or close friend regardless of what’s happening in the economy. In such cases, it pays to have some money set aside as a cushion. (Find out how to help the ones you love without hurting yourself; read 8 Ways To Help Family Members In Financial Trouble.)

Getting Into an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage

When purchasing a home, some individuals may choose to take out an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). In some cases, this move might make sense. After all, as long as interest rates are low, the monthly payment will be low as well.

However, what if the individual were to be laid off and interest rates were to rise as the recession or slowdown started to abate? As rates rise, the monthly payment may go up. In such a case, the homeowner may find it extremely difficult to come up with the money to make the payments. Keep in mind that late payments or non-payment can have an adverse impact on the individual’s credit rating, which can in turn make it more difficult for them to obtain a loan at a future date. (Do you know how your borrowing activities affect your credit rating? Find out inThe Importance Of Your Credit Rating.)

Adding Debt

Taking on new debt (such as a car loan, home loan or similar obligation) may not be a problem in good times if the individual makes enough money to cover the monthly payments and still has extra funds to live on and to save for retirement. However, what happens if the individual’s livelihood is adversely affected in the midst of the economic turmoil? What happens if the borrower is laid off?

In many cases, recently laid off individuals may have to take jobs that pay less than their previous salaries just to make ends meet and to keep money coming in the door. Unfortunately, the new income may not be anywhere near the amount they had previously earned. When this happens, savings can quickly dwindle away. (Don’t let excuses prevent you from reaching your financial goals. Read Debunking 10 Budget Myths.)

In short, if you’re considering adding monthly payments/debts to your financial equation, understand that this could complicate your financial situation if you are laid off or have your income cut for some reason. Taking on new debt in a recessionary environment is risky, and should be approached with caution.

Remember, over leveraging yourself at any point can lead to financial setbacks. This can prevent you from achieving your longer-term financial objectives. In a worst-case scenario, it could even contribute to bankruptcy.

Taking Your Job for Granted

During an economic slowdown, it’s important to understand that corporations, even large ones, may be under financial pressure. And when that happens, many companies will try to reduce expenses any way they can. In some instances, that may mean scaling back on company functions such as holiday parties, but in other cases, companies may cut the dividends they pay, and sometimes companies will cut jobs as a means of saving money. (Layoff rumors can run rampant, but if your company is required to give you two months’ notice, you can plan for unemployment. See Layoffs: Know The WARNing Signs.)

Job cuts are targeted by many companies that are struggling because the cost of keeping an employee on board can be huge. Think about it. Sometimes in addition to salary, the employer may also have to contribute to healthcare costs and/or make retirement contributions.

Because the employment situation during a recession may be so fragile, employees should generally try to do all they can to make sure their employer has a favorable opinion of them. This may mean coming to work early, staying late and of course doing top-notch work at all times. While there is no guarantee this will save your job, it could make you important enough to your company to ensure you’re kept on the payroll. (Want to learn more about how employees lose their jobs? Check out How To Lay Off Staff.)

Taking Risks With Investments

Business owners should always be thinking about the future. They should always be thinking about new and exciting ways to grow their businesses. However, an economic slowdown may not be the best time to make risky bets.

For example, taking on a new loan to add physical floor space or to increase inventory, or otherwise add to the business may sound good. But what if the business was to slow down? Would the business owner or owners have enough left over at the end of the month to pay interest and principal back to the lender on time? Would they have enough left to live on? When making any sort of investment, it is important to be cognizant of the potential risks and rewards associated. This particularly true during a slowdown or a recession. (In a recession, financial industry personnel are often hit hard. Find out how to avoid getting the ax, read Top 6 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Job.)

Bottom Line

Individuals may not need to live a monk’s existence during an economic slowdown, but they should pay extra attention to their spending and budgeting, and be wary of taking any unnecessary risks.

Author: www.investopedia.com

Mentally prepare while waiting for a job interview.
Standing out from the rest of the applicants at a job interview is essential to getting a job. With the amount of people unemployed and searching for work, you must be on top of your game to complete a job interview successfully. With the right amount of preparation and confidence, you can have the interview of your dreams and walk out of it feeling like you have done your best and showcased your main qualities.

Instructions

o1 Practice at home. Go over questions that you think the interviewer may ask you. Review your speech and demeanor when answering questions.

o2 Know the company where you are interviewing. Research the company so that you have insight about what they do, what their mission is, and goals that they have accomplished.

o3 Dress and look professional. Wear job-appropriate and clean clothing and shoes such as suits, slacks, blouses, skirts and polo shirt. Decide what clothes to wear based upon the work atmosphere of the business where you are interviewing. Slacks and a polo shirt would be fine for a casual office setting, whereas a suit would be appropriate for a conservative office interview.

o4 Arrive early for your interview. This shows the company your promptness and gives you time to relax and prepare for your interview.

o5 Speak clearly and with confidence during your interview. Try to be relatable. Show the company why you would be an asset to them.

o6 Pay attention to the interviewer so that you can answer questions properly. Look the interviewer in the eyes and smile when answering a question. Answer every question that you are asked and try to incorporate, if possible, some of the information that you learned about the company through your research in your answers.

o7 Ask questions about the position and the company at the end of your interview. Show that you are really interested in the company and the position.

Author: Ketwan William

Your work ethics say a lot about you as a person. People make judgments about you based on your work ethics. It’s important to set out early in your career to determine what values are important to you. These are the ideas that govern your behavior while you’re working, including how you perform work tasks and how you relate to others in the workplace.

Choose Your Work Values
Write a list of important values or concepts in terms of how you approach work. These are the values that affect your attitude in the workplace. Possible examples include showing up on time to work, taking your fair share of a group project and meeting deadlines — or letting the boss know when you cannot meet them. These values might be ones you aspire to, or ones you already use each day at work.

Accept Responsibility
A huge part of work ethics involves individuals accepting personal responsibility for their behavior and level of contribution to the organization. This is a concept that you have to address inside yourself. It takes intrinsic motivation to complete your work tasks, and it takes maturity to accept personal responsibility for your positive and negative actions at work.

Use Self-Direction Techniques
Self-direction techniques help you become more responsible. Study your job description and make a list of reminders of what you can do to meet them more effectively. Make reminder entries on your task bar or appointment book. Write down a list of five milestones that will help you complete a project on time for your boss.

Support the Work Culture
People judge you based on how you interact with others. Look at your attitudes about working with different personalities and people of different backgrounds. Use diversity awareness training to become more respectful of diversity in the workplace. Determine how you can become more supportive of the work culture. This can be as simple as taking the time to help others using your technical knowledge or telling your boss that you need more training before accepting a new project.

Fit Into the Culture
Fit into the workplace culture by behaving in acceptable ways. Take care of your personal appearance, use appropriate language when interacting with customers and co-workers and use organizational learning opportunities to develop your skills. Always give your best effort while on the clock.

Author: Audra Bianca

Show your employer that you are a reliable and valuable employee by being a star performer on the job. Employers are more likely to reward those who go above and beyond the call of duty with promotions and raises. In times of trouble, an employer may fight harder to keep a star employee on staff over someone who simply does the job day in and day out. Small changes to your attitude and actions turn your into a star performer.

Step 1
Love your job. When you have a passion for your work, it is reflected in your actions and in your approach to the job. If you do not love or even like your job, it may be time to re-think your chosen career. Passion for what you do helps you stay eager and enthusiastic when it comes to getting assignments and projects done.

Step 2
Look past your job description. A star performer works on what needs completing, whether or not the tasks are in the description of her position. Employers really do not want to hear you say “that’s not my job.” Another way to look beyond your job description is to take on the assignments other employees usually avoid.

Step 3
Mind the clock. Whether you are on salary or an hourly employee, make an effort to be at work and working on time. Your employer will think you are dedicated if you start work at 9 a.m. instead of catching up with your co-workers or filling up your coffee cup. The same is true for the end of the day. If you are scheduled to work until 5 p.m., stay until then or even later. Don’t walk away from your desk at 4:59 p.m. or start packing up at 4:50 p.m.

Step 4
Communicate with your supervisors and co-workers. Excellent communication skills are needed to get ahead in any job. Be able to ask your boss questions as needed. Be ready to offer praise to your co-workers. Learn to be flexible and to really listen to the ideas and concerns of those you work with. Instead of rushing to get your ideas out, pay attention to what others have to say and adjust your ideas accordingly.

Step 5
Think outside the box. Star performers know when it is time to take risks or to approach a problem in a new way. Don’t be afraid to propose an unconventional idea or solution, especially if you feel confident that it will work out well.

Step 6
Remember that you are not always right. Part of being a star performer is knowing when to put your ego to the side. If a supervisor has criticism to offer you, listen and accept it. Use the criticism to become stronger. Also keep in mind that your co-workers may have ideas or solutions that are a better fit than yours from time to time.

Author: Elizabeth Freeman

What was true more than 2,000 years ago is just as true today. We live in a world where “business as usual” ischange. New initiatives, project-based working, technology improvements, staying ahead of the competition – these things come together to drive ongoing changes to the way we work.

Whether you’re considering a small change to one or two processes, or a systemwide change to an organization, it’s common to feel uneasy and intimidated by the scale of the challenge.

You know that the change needs to happen, but you don’t really know how to go about doing delivering it. Where do you start? Whom do you involve? How do you see it through to the end?

There are many theories about how to “do” change. Many originate with leadership and change management guru, John Kotter. A professor at Harvard Business School and world-renowned change expert, Kotter introduced his eight-step change process in his 1995 book, “Leading Change.” We look at his eight steps for leading change below.

Step 1: Create Urgency
For change to happen, it helps if the whole company really wants it. Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. This may help you spark the initial motivation to get things moving.
This isn’t simply a matter of showing people poor sales statistics or talking about increased competition. Open an honest and convincing dialogue about what’s happening in the marketplace and with your competition. If many people start talking about the change you propose, the urgency can build and feed on itself.

What you can do:
•    Identify potential threats, and develop scenarios showing what could happen in the future.
•    Examine opportunities that should be, or could be, exploited.
•    Start honest discussions, and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people talking and thinking.
•    Request support from customers, outside stakeholders and industry people to strengthen your argument.

Step 2: Form a Powerful Coalition
Convince people that change is necessary. This often takes strong leadership and visible support from key people within your organization. Managing change isn’t enough – you have to lead it.

You can find effective change leaders throughout your organization – they don’t necessarily follow the traditional company hierarchy. To lead change, you need to bring together a coalition, or team, of influential people whose power comes from a variety of sources, including job title, status, expertise, and political importance.

Once formed, your “change coalition” needs to work as a team, continuing to build urgency and momentum around the need for change.

What you can do:
•    Identify the true leaders in your organization.
•    Ask for an emotional commitment from these key people.
•    Work on team building within your change coalition.
•    Check your team for weak areas, and ensure that you have a good mix of people from different departments and different levels within your company.

Step 3: Create a Vision for Change
When you first start thinking about change, there will probably be many great ideas and solutions floating around. Link these concepts to an overall vision that people can grasp easily and remember.

A clear vision can help everyone understand why you’re asking them to do something. When people see for themselves what you’re trying to achieve, then the directives they’re given tend to make more sense.

What you can do:
•    Determine the values that are central to the change.
•    Develop a short summary (one or two sentences) that captures what you “see” as the future of your organization.
•    Create a strategy to execute that vision.
•    Ensure that your change coalition can describe the vision in five minutes or less.
•    Practice your “vision speech” often.

Step 4: Communicate the Vision
What you do with your vision after you create it will determine your success. Your message will probably have strong competition from other day-to-day communications within the company, so you need to communicate it frequently and powerfully, and embed it within everything that you do.

Don’t just call special meetings to communicate your vision. Instead, talk about it every chance you get. Use the vision daily to make decisions and solve problems. When you keep it fresh on everyone’s minds, they’ll remember it and respond to it.

It’s also important to “walk the talk.” What you do is far more important – and believable – than what you say. Demonstrate the kind of behavior that you want from others.

What you can do:
•    Talk often about your change vision.
•    Openly and honestly address peoples’ concerns and anxieties.
•    Apply your vision to all aspects of operations – from training to     performance reviews. Tie everything back to the vision.
•    Lead by example.

Step 5: Remove Obstacles
If you follow these steps and reach this point in the change process, you’ve been talking about your vision and building buy-in from all levels of the organization. Hopefully, your staff wants to get busy and achieve the benefits that you’ve been promoting.

But is anyone resisting the change? And are there processes or structures that are getting in its way?

Put in place the structure for change, and continually check for barriers to it. Removing obstacles can empower the people you need to execute your vision, and it can help the change move forward.

What you can do:
•    Identify, or hire, change leaders whose main roles are to deliver the change.
•    Look at your organizational structure, job descriptions, and performance and compensation systems to ensure they’re in line with your vision.
•    Recognize and reward people for making change happen.
•    Identify people who are resisting the change, and help them see what’s needed.
•    Take action to quickly remove barriers (human or otherwise).

Step 6: Create Short-term Wins
Nothing motivates more than success. Give your company a taste of victory early in the change process. Within a short time frame (this could be a month or a year, depending on the type of change), you’ll want to have results that your staff can see. Without this, critics and negative thinkers might hurt your progress.

Create short-term targets – not just one long-term goal. You want each smaller target to be achievable, with little room for failure. Your change team may have to work very hard to come up with these targets, but each “win” that you produce can further motivate the entire staff.

What you can do:
•    Look for sure-fire projects that you can implement without help from any strong critics of the change.
•    Don’t choose early targets that are expensive. You want to be able to justify the investment in each project.
•    Thoroughly analyze the potential pros and cons of your targets. If you don’t succeed with an early goal, it can hurt your entire change initiative.
•    Reward the people who help you meet the targets.

Step 7: Build on the Change
Kotter argues that many change projects fail because victory is declared too early. Real change runs deep. Quick wins are only the beginning of what needs to be done to achieve long-term change.

Launching one new product using a new system is great. But if you can launch 10 products, that means the new system is working. To reach that 10th success, you need to keep looking for improvements.

Each success provides an opportunity to build on what went right and identify what you can improve.

What you can do:
•    After every win, analyze what went right and what needs improving.
•    Set goals to continue building on the momentum you’ve achieved.
•    Learn about kaizen, the idea of continuous improvement.
•    Keep ideas fresh by bringing in new change agents and leaders for your change coalition.

Step 8: Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture
Finally, to make any change stick, it should become part of the core of your organization. Your corporate culture often determines what gets done, so the values behind your vision must show in day-to-day work.

Make continuous efforts to ensure that the change is seen in every aspect of your organization. This will help give that change a solid place in your organization’s culture.

It’s also important that your company’s leaders continue to support the change. This includes existing staff and new leaders who are brought in. If you lose the support of these people, you might end up back where you started.

What you can do:
•    Talk about progress every chance you get. Tell success stories about the change process, and repeat other stories that you hear.
•    Include the change ideals and values when hiring and training new staff.
•    Publicly recognize key members of your original change coalition, and make sure the rest of the staff – new and old – remembers their contributions.
•    Create plans to replace key leaders of change as they move on. This will help ensure that their legacy is not lost or forgotten.

Author: Kotter

Over half (53%) of women setting up their business are parents as well.

Over half (53%) of women setting up their business are parents as well.

According to a new UK poll of over 1,000 women entrepreneurs from Business Link. Whilst many found that owning their own business helped them spend more time with their families, a worrying 24% actually had less time with their children.

TOP FIVE WAYS TO BALANCE A BUSINESS AND FAMILY

1.Plan ahead to make the most of your time

2.Build an effective support network of people to help when demands on your time are too much

3.Gather as much advice as possible from other entrepreneurs facing the same challenges

4.Set aside certain times of day for certain tasks, such as an hour in your day to make client calls, rather than juggling them through the day

5.Be realistic with what you can achieve in your day

The poll took into account the views of women entrepreneurs throughout the UK. It found the majority of women business owners started their new company when they were already mothers, often with the intention of working more flexibly and having more time to spend with their family.

Whilst over half achieved this, almost a quarter (24%) found that the demands of starting a business meant that they spent less time at home. Women starting recruitment, legal or finance companies reported the biggest impact, with over half stating they had less time with their families after setting up in the business world.

Diana Robertson, marketing and communications director at Business Link in London, comments: “Many entrepreneurs start their own business driven by a desire for a better work/life balance. It’s something many achieve, but the first few months and years of a new enterprise can be an incredibly busy time. If the last couple of years has taught us anything about the business world, it’s that it can be challenging to create and maintain a solid and successful organisation.

“The key is to go into it with your eyes open. The rewards – both personal and professional – of running your own business can be immense, but it isn’t something that comes easily. Establishing a reputation and building firm foundations for a long term business can be a time consuming task. The short term impact on things like family life need to be considered.

“That’s not to say that, with careful planning, a better work life balance can’t be achieved in the short term. If you’re thinking of setting up on your own, go out and get advice from all the sources open to you. Speak with Business Link, speak with your friends and family, speak with other successful women entrepreneurs – get a firm grip of what you need to do to succeed and make a balanced decision on what impact it will have on your home life.”

The same poll also found that the gender barriers were beginning to close for women entrepreneurs. 20% of women entrepreneurs feel they have to work harder than men to prove themselves in the business world; a significant improvement from this time last year, when a similar poll showed 38% felt they had to work harder.

Author: Diana Robertson, continues: “Women entrepreneurs in the SME sector are making noticeable inroads to gender barriers. As International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8th March, these entrepreneurs have never been in a stronger position.”

Lately, I’ve been asking myself if in this kind of economy are professionals focusing on their career or are they focusing on keeping or getting a job? I ask this question because I hear so many stories about American workers struggling to get by.

When I came out of school (seven years ago) I was able to secure a job right away, in fact I was still in school when I received my first job offer and that offer wasn’t my only one.  Before starting my first real job, I would have two other offers in my hand, and then I had to choose which one would put me on the right path for my career. Today, it doesn’t work like that (at least that’s the impression I’m getting based on what I’ve seen and heard), it seems as though those searching for new opportunities are looking for jobs and jobs that are not necessarily on their career pathes.  Securing a job on your career path is a plus, but it seems as though securing a job that’s even in your industry is “a nice to have”, while securing any job regardless of the field is what people are looking for.
And thus it brings us to the topic of the overqualified candidate.

Many HR professionals shy away from giving the overqualified candidate a shot; because they’re afraid that the candidate will find something else they’re more suited for and leave them high and dry.  And while this is an understandable concern as it is costly to hire new talent, there are some benefits to hiring the overqualified.

1. It’s a great way to help a candidate get their foot in the door. While the position they’re currently being hired for is not their ideal fit, their advanced skills and knowledge will benefit the rest of the team, as well as possibly lead to a better position within the organization down the road for your fancy new hire.

2. Get more bang for your buck. Now I’m not saying you should lowball your overqualified candidates when it comes to salary, but if they accept a position that is below their skill level, they should expect to earn an appropriate salary for that kind of job.

3.  Save on training expenses and time. There may be less of cost to train a more skilled worker.  While you should always expect that there will be a learning curve, with an overqualified employee, that learning curve may be cut in half—saving your organization time and money.

4. Instant mentorship. Junior staffers look to experienced workers to set an example and they’ll feel even more at ease with an experienced colleague on their same level.

5. Keeps the rest of their staff on their toes. Hiring a candidate that is overqualified might be the morale boost you’ve been looking for.  Because an experienced staff member is more likely to take  their job seriously—their work effort might encourage those around them to kick it up a notch as well.
While the overqualified worker is not as prevalent in healthy economies, we unfortunately are coming across numerous candidates that are underemployed or taking survival jobs just to get by. So the next time an overqualified resume comes across your desk, don’t immediately move it to the rejected pile because you’re scared they’ll leave you, read it with the benefits above in mind—you never know who you might meet.

Author: Julie Shenkman

Emotional intelligence, also referred to as ‘EQ’, is the ability to identify, evaluate and control your own emotions and to better understand and manage the emotions (or motivations) of others. The term “emotional intelligence” has been around since the 1980s and came to popular prominence through Daniel Goleman who wrote a best-selling book titled Emotional Intelligence. The term itself is subject to disagreement as to what defines it precisely but being such a broad topic, it is possible to discern the main components of EQ so that you can draw on these aspects when seeking to improve both your understanding and your personal implementation of EQ.

You will benefit in many ways from having a high level of emotional intelligence and indeed some people consider high EQ to be more important than having intellectual abilities (book smarts), although in recent times there has been more emphasis on achieving balance rather than assuming all you need is EQ. Luckily, for those of us who may be currently lacking EQ or for those of us whom simply wish to increase their EQ abilities, there are numerous ways to strengthen such intelligence.

STEPS:

1.    Understand the importance of emotional intelligence in all aspects of your life. Being intellectually capable is important in life, but being emotionally intelligent can be considered even more so, as there are many benefits associated with high emotional intelligence.

Having high emotional intelligence can help you to lead a happier life because it is easier to talk with and understand others, acting rationally and calmly in difficult situations becomes second nature and it can also lead to better relationships and job opportunities.
There are four core elements to emotional intelligence that help you lead a balanced life:[1]

• Self awareness: This is the ability to recognize your own emotions for what they are and to understand their origins. It is also about knowing your strengths and limitations and self-esteem.

• Self management: This is the ability to delay gratification, balance your needs with those of others, take initiative and to pull back on impulsivity. It is also about being able to cope with change and to stay committed.

• Social awareness: This is about being attuned to other people’s emotions and concerns, as well as being able to notice and adapt to social cues. It is also about being able to see the power dynamics at play within any group or organizational context.

• Relationship Management: This is about the ability to get along well with others, manage conflict, inspire and influence people and to communicate clearly.

1. Learn to recognize stress triggers and how to deal with them. Life is filled with difficult situations from relationship breakdowns to job loss. In between, there are myriad stress triggers that can make any daily issue seem much more challenging than it probably is and the more stressed we are, the more vulnerable we are to not coping with life’s many stressors.

2. A very important part of improving your emotional intelligence is about being able to spot stress triggers and recognize them for what they are and to bring yourself back to feeling calm and relaxed.

This isn’t the place to explore stress reduction techniques (and there are many) but you might like to have a look at some relevant books and articles on the topic, such as:
•    How to relieve stress
•    How to reduce stress with martial arts
•    Deal with stress
•    Be assertive.

3.    Be open-minded, intellectually curious and agreeable. Openness and being agreeable go hand-in-hand when it comes to emotional intelligence. Be open to new ideas – a narrow mind is generally an indication of a lower EQ.

To develop a more open mind, seek to understand and reflect upon the emotions and ideas of others. Be open to their ideas and opinions so that you are in a position to consider all possibilities in a positive manner. Remember that you can’t always be right, and by opening your mind and considering new possibilities your mind will be able to both expand and be more accepting when you discover that your take on reality isn’t as accurate as you once thought.

When your mind is open through understanding and internal reflection, it becomes easier to deal with conflicts in a calm and self-assured manner. You will find yourself socially aware and new possibilities will be open to you.

While changing your mindset can be difficult if you’re stuck on seeing everything in your life in terms of absolutes, opening up a bit can lead to new insights and less personal angst.

4. To strengthen this element of your EQ, consider:

o    Listening to debates on television or the radio; in doing so, always consider both sides of the argument, as well as realizing that there are nuances and subtleties that require closer inspection. It is often in the shades of gray that answers can be found.
o    If you feel that you have a cluttered mind, write down your thoughts and ideas, critique these thoughts, and think about why you may have these opinions. Moving thoughts from your mind and onto paper takes them from the abstract to the concrete and allows you to play around with them in front of you and to see them more clearly than simply being mentally chased by them.
o    To clear an overwhelmed mind, do something soothing such as going to a deserted beach or for a walk. Taking a break from anything you’re doing can help you to cope with stressing situations, unfolding change or repetitive daily routines.
o    When you hear something that you disagree with, before deciding you hate the idea, consider it. When someone does not react emotionally the same way you would, consider why this is.
o    To improve your ability to be agreeable, increase your trust in others. This doesn’t mean be naive or gullible but it does require you to be prepared to see the best in people and to not assume the worst.

5.    Be heart smart, care for others.
Be outgoing and empathetic. Those who have the ability to understand others and direct interest toward external properties (i.e., being focused on what is outside of the self) instead of being focused on oneself (self-absorbed) have the qualities of extroversion and empathy. To break it down, being selfless is known as extroversion (note that this is not the same as being an extrovert) and understanding others is known as empathy.

Extroversion and empathy grow concurrently – when teamed together you have an understanding, selfless person. A selfish, self-centered person generally lacks empathy, and a person who lacks empathy generally directs a lot more interest to themselves, seeing life through the eyes of their own needs and wants only.

By strengthening this element of emotional intelligence, your communication abilities will increase, allowing you to experience stronger and more satisfying relationships. The ability to communicate clearly also helps you to manage conflict better and increases your capability to influence others effectively.

To build upon the traits of extroversion and empathy, consider doing the following:
o    To improve empathy, put yourself in the shoes of others. Select someone who is experiencing hardship (for example an asylum seeker or a friend who is in a spot of trouble) and think about how you would feel if you were put in their situation. Actively imagine how it must be to go through the experiences they’re having and what might alleviate some of their hardship in terms of support and care.
o    Practice empathy on friends and peers.
o    When seeing someone going through something emotionally ask yourself,

“How would I react in the same situation?” “Do these people deserve to suffer such hardships?” “Should I feel sorry for this person?” “Are they being treated fairly?” and “Would I like to be treated that way?”
By doing this you will begin to understand others and develop empathy.

6.    Be conscientious and prepared to deliberate. Rational thinking and actions are abundant aspects of emotional intelligence. While you can understand a situation well and have a clear idea of it, if you can’t take rational actions toward it then what use would an analytical understanding of the situation be?

Conscientiousness is the act of analyzing a situation and deliberation is the act of responding accordingly in a rational manner. In other words, it is the act of seeing a situation, analyzing it, then acting upon it in a positive manner.

Many a person can “see” what’s wrong but they stop there and don’t move on to the positive action as follow-through. Through the process of rational thinking and acting upon the deliberation, you will find yourself making better decisions and your ability to survive hardships will increase drastically. Paired with an open mind, you will find yourself taking the best possible route out of any sticky situation.

Ways to improve this element of your EQ include:

o    When something occurs, analyze it. Sometimes it isn’t a bad thing to over analyze, critique articles and get right down to the bone, provided you don’t suffer the “paralysis by analysis” problem. Get to the nub, then be prepared to act upon what you’ve discovered.
o    Put yourself in a hypothetical situation and consider how you would react in certain situations. Challenge yourself to a gradation of easy to very difficult situations so that your thinking process has to work hard. Deliberating about difficult situations before they happen to you helps to train your mind in responsible reactions.
o    Be goal-oriented. Being conscientious is about being focused on achievement and taking the necessary steps to get there. One of the best things you can do is to form goals and write them down so that they begin to direct your deliberation. It’s hard to go somewhere if you don’t have the map and your life is no different.
o    Before making a decision, make sure you have taken into account all possibilities. Being prudent requires restraint on impulsivity and delaying your response until you have all the facts before you and have weighed your decision with care.
o    When making a decision, do not decide according to your mood. For example, if you are angry at the time of a decision, it would be a very bad idea to make an important decision. Make decisions when you are relaxed and have a clear head.

7.    Find peace within yourself
Be attentive and self-aware – know thyself. To be attentive is to pay attention to oneself and your surroundings in a positive manner. Knowing who you are comes in big here. If you don’t know who you are how can you expect to know others? Worse still is expecting others to define you, to remove your autonomy and sense of life purpose by delineating your pathway for you.

Finding yourself is an enlightening journey and it can take time – indeed, a lifetime – but it is the awareness that you continue to grow, change and learn more about yourself that keeps you on an even keel. Be aware of who you are and you will begin to be much more aware of others and their dreams, hopes, limitations and strengths. Also, being aware of your surroundings is important – you must be able to open your mind and analyze the outside world.

Once you know yourself you can begin to recognize your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behavior, which is self-awareness. Being self-aware allows you to manage yourself in an effective manner, being able to control your emotions and behaviors in a healthy way. And like a domino falling over, once you have yourself down-packed, you should then be able to recognize the emotions and behaviors of others with clarity, which can lead to better health and personal happiness.
To improve this element of EQ, consider these tips:
o    Ask yourself questions like, “Why do I act like that?” “Why do I have certain beliefs?” “Why do I find it so confronting to have my beliefs challenged?”
o    Recognize your strengths and weaknesses and build upon the strengths while working out how to either supplement or work around your limitations.
o    Develop morals and evaluate them. This is best done through broad reading, learning and listening to a wide group of people, including those who really challenge your own view of the world. Don’t simply adopt what your parents, teachers, workmates or anyone else believes; your morals must be carefully constructed from your broad learning and openness to the world.
o    Allow space for personal growth. An intellectually curious person will always be interested in self improvement through learning, discovering and reinventing as needed throughout life. Nothing is static and the person who learns to go with the ebb and flow will lead a much more fulfilled life than the one who resists change.

8.    Practice communication skills. Having good communication skills results in a better EQ. A high level of communication skills makes it is easier to send across and receive messages that are clear, to-the-point and respectful of both your own boundaries and those of others.

It is important to not only build on your verbal communication, but also to take note of your body language. You can learn a lot about a person and their emotions by studying their body language and equally, you are always sending certain messages through your body depending on how you control it (or omit to control it).

Pay attention to:
o    Comfort zones: Comfort zones vary between person-to-person. Study how close people stand to you and how comfortable they are with physical contact. Respect their comfort zones to decrease their discomfort; in turn, you will win them over for being so understanding and clued in to their preferences.
o    Watch for sincerity: When someone smiles, is it a real smile? You can tell a lot about a person from their smile. Read How to smile with the eyes for details about a genuine smile.
o    Body position: Study body positions to understand others better and to pick up on social cues that aren’t spoken. If a person’s body is positioned toward you in a comfortable way, with open arms and gestures and good eye contact, then they are happy to be with you.

Some people like to hide themselves by having a closed body position; don’t always assume it’s because of you, as many people are simply afraid to reveal their real self to the world and use body language to stay shut within themselves, believing it to be safer that way.
You can help such people unfurl through trusting them and showing them that they can trust you, as well as being genuine and compassionate.

9.    Be optimistic.
Be optimistic. Those who are optimistic tend to live a happy, successful life. When you’re optimistic, it’s easier to see the beauty in life and everyday objects. In a way, being optimistic results in an open mind, making it a crucial element of improving your emotional intelligence.

If you have a negative outlook on everything, how can you expect to be emotionally intelligent? Negativity encourages us to stay wrapped up in ourselves, focused only on what can go wrong in our lives rather than building our resilience and shoring ourselves against the vicissitudes of life.

Optimism results in emotional well being and greater opportunities – people want to be around the optimistic person and this draws them to you, with all the possibilities that more connections bring you.

Be sure to take some time out to practice optimism by:
o    Identifying your good features and appreciating them
o    Recognizing the good in others
o    Recognizing flaws, then accepting them
o    Making the best out of difficult situations
o    Using hardships as a fuel to improvement
o    Improving your sense of humor and learning to see the lighter side of life’s difficulties.

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Emotional-Intelligence