From Smarter Vacations To Working At MailChimp: This Week’s Top Leadership Stories
This week, we learned what emotionally intelligent people do to recharge on vacation, why MailChimp puts its new hires through a week of onboarding before letting them do any actual work, and where in the U.S. people tend to take the least time off.
These are the stories you loved in Leadership for the week of July 1:
1. This Is How Emotionally Intelligent People Vacation
Self-improvement might not be at the top of your agenda as you head off on your summer vacation, but it’s easier to practice than you think. After all, there are some things you automatically do on vacation that might boost your emotional intelligence without even realizing it, like tuning into your surroundings and reflecting on your goals and priorities. You might as well make it count—here’s how.
2. Why MailChimp Doesn’t Let New Hires Work For Their First Week On The Job
For some companies, employee onboarding is nothing more than a tick-the-box exercise. For others, it’s a structured process that unfolds over several days. For email marketing service MailChimp, it’s definitely the latter. The company’s new hires go through a weeklong orientation that includes a behavioral assessment and sitting down with the research team for a “Customer Chat.” MailChimp’s chief culture officer Marti Wolf says that while this approach might sound inefficient, it’s “paid off in boosting success across the company.”
3. This Is Who Takes The Least Vacation In The U.S.
It’s no secret that Americans are notoriously bad at taking vacations and wind up working long hours as a result. A new survey from Project: Time Off indicates that things are getting somewhat better, but overall, 54% of U.S. workers surveyed are still “leaving paid time off on the table.” Comparing state by state, Idaho fared the worst; 78% of its survey participants reported having unused vacation time. Maine comes out on top, with only 38% of its workers reporting unclaimed time off.
4. This Is The Current State Of The American Workplace
It’s an optimistic time for American job seekers. Unemployment is at pre-recession levels, and the latest Gallup data suggests that 51% of U.S. employees are looking for new jobs. On the other hand, only one-third of employees feel engaged with their work. As for the factors employees say they’re weighing lately before jumping ship, many cite company culture, salary, and flexible work opportunities.
5. Networking Sucks, But You Can Make It Bearable—Here’s How
Some people find networking enjoyable. Others dread it and hyperventilate at the thought of having to make awkward conversations with strangers over alcoholic beverages. But there are ways to make it less painful, from not setting unrealistic expectations to choosing environments that put you at ease. And there’s always practice: If it works for big presentations, why not try it for networking?
This week’s top stories might inspire you to take a more emotionally intelligent vacation or make you a better networker.
This week, we learned what emotionally intelligent people do to recharge on vacation, why MailChimp puts its new hires through a week of onboarding before letting them do any actual work, and where in the U.S. people tend to take the least time off.
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