Tag Archives: Happy Employee

What You Need to Know About Religious Discrimination in the Workplace

Like most countries, the United States has given its people the freedom to be religious or irreligious. A section of the constitution states: “The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance….”

It is thus unacceptable to experience prejudice because of your religious beliefs in the workplace. You can file a workplace discrimination claim if you have been a victim. Employment lawyers are specialized professionals that can help you bring your claim forward.

Let’s find out first what constitutes religious discrimination in the workplace.

What Is Religious Discrimination In The Workplace?

The constitution of Australia states that it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against or treat any employee differently based on their religion. What does this mean for an employee? It means an applicant or employee cannot be retaliated against, refused promotion or wage increase, harassed, or denied reasonable accommodations because of their religious beliefs.

Some of these reasonable accommodations include:

  • Allowing you to take the day off to observe a religious holiday.
  • Allowing certain exceptions to your dress code and grooming.
  • Allowing and permitting specific shift substitutions.

Harassment can also come from fellow employees in the following forms. 

  • Offensive remarks about your beliefs or practices
  • Humiliation based on the choice of dressing

The law does not prohibit innocent teasing, jokes, or isolated offhand comments that aren’t very serious. Harassment will be illegal when it becomes too frequent or creates a hostile or offensive work environment.

Religious discrimination in the workplace can be psychologically draining on the receiving party. It can lead to constructive dismissal. Constructive dismissal is when an employee is coerced into resigning because of an employer’s conduct.

It is also crucial to note that an employer is not obligated to respect an employee’s religious convictions if:

  • It directly or indirectly presents a burden or will affect the business operations in a significant way.
  • The employer would suffer undue hardship as a result
  • It compromises the safety of the workplace
  • It weakens s the efficiency of the workforce
  • It infringes on the right of other employees
  • It requires other employees to do more than is required of them
  • It is too costly

When Can You File A Discrimination Claim?

If you have reasons to believe that your employer has harassed you, denied you a reasonable accommodation, or retaliated against you, then you can file for a workplace discrimination claim.

It is important to note that your employer must be aware of your religious beliefs beforehand to make the necessary adjustments in the workplace.

If an employee needs to dress in a certain way to work or takes a day off due to a religious holiday, it should also be communicated to the employer. Doing this would give the employer enough room to make the appropriate substitution to keep the business operations at an optimal level.

If after following these due steps and an employee is still facing harassment in the workplace, then it is time to call on professional employment lawyers who understand all of the applicable state and federal laws.

Positivity in the Workplace

Meeting Room Signs Conference Room Signage Ideas and Tips

If you have your own office building or if you are in charge of leasing or managing the office space, then it is quite obvious that you will require meeting room signs. It is not a good sign of the condition of your business if clients or visitors coming to speak with you are not able to see in front of you any information regarding your business or its activities.

Even though there might be plenty of computers and other technological gadgets in your reception area, it does not mean that people sitting or standing right in front of you should not be able to find out more about what you are all about. There are certain things you must keep in mind when it comes to designing and choosing meeting room signs.

How to choose meeting room signs?

The first thing that you need to keep in mind is to choose a sign that has sufficient space for all the information that you want to display. When you have all the related information, people coming to your place of business will be able to read what it says in a very quick time. Therefore, you should always try to have the most spacious and large sign possible. Keep in mind that your sign should stand out in the middle of the lobby or reception area where you want it to be seen. Therefore, it should not be tucked in a corner where it is not easily seen.

Next, you should always consider how clear the sign is as well. A sign should be able to effectively convey its message without confusing or distracting people. You can take cues from the color of the sign and even the texture of the sign to determine how clear it should be. More often than not, the texture of a sign can be determined by its material. Signs made out of glass or acrylic are easier to maintain and prevent from being broken.

Furthermore, you should also make sure that your sign is bold enough to catch the attention of the visitors. This means that it should stand out in the lobby so that people walking in will be able to notice it. However, you do not want to overdo it. It is fine for your sign to be simple. It only has to catch the attention of the visitors.

Another tip when choosing your sign is the shape and size of the sign. You want the size of the sign to be one that is proportionate to the size of your meeting room. For instance, if you have a very long haul, then you do not want to use a sign that is too small because it will dwarf the entire length of your hall. The same goes if you have a very small meeting room.

If you want your sign to be able to blend in with the ambiance of the room, then you can choose one that has some type of black lettering on it. You may also want to consider choosing a sign that is printed on either a dark gray or a dark blue. These colors will easily blend into the ambiance so that no one will really be able to notice what the sign is. However, if you want the sign to stand out, then you can opt for a red sign.

Depending on where you are placing your sign, you may also want to consider a little something extra. You can get glass shelves that will allow your sign to be resting on top of it. This will ensure that the sign does not fall off if some people try to pass by. Also, you can get a little umbrella stand on the sign. This will allow you to place the sign near the table and keep it out of the way but still be able to rest it on a table.

The next thing that you will want to consider is the message that your sign is conveying. This is something that will vary from person to person. Some people prefer clear text that tells all of the information without giving away the entire message.

Other people may prefer a sign that has some graphics, so that people know exactly what they are reading. Others still may simply prefer a plain, solid-colored sign. Whatever your preference, just make sure that your sign is conveying the message that you want people to take away from your business.

Meeting Room Signs

Positive Words Research: Meeting Room Signs: Conference Room Signage

5 Benefits of Office Chairs You Shouldn’t Miss Today

Designed to suit your comfort level, ergonomic office chairs are a blessing. They are an amazing seating arrangement that uplifts the mood of every employee by allowing them to sit comfortably. A well-padded swivelled office chair is extremely necessary, especially if you have to work for long office hours. Of course, buying the best office chair comes at a good price, but the investment is completely worth it. We have enlisted 5 benefits which completely justify buying the best office chairs at your workplace.

Provides maximum comfort

The best part about these ergonomically designed office chairs is that they can be customised according to peoples’ choices. Everything, including the height, the back support, armrest, and depth can be adjusted according to one’s convenience. Not only that, but the soft fabric material and the thick padding also provide the utmost support to the person sitting. These chairs allow people to sit comfortably in a relaxed manner. 

Enhanced productivity and quality of work

Because these ergonomically designed office chairs allow employees to sit comfortably, without straining their spine or neck or arms, they can concentrate on their work for long hours. As a result, it increases their productivity. Not only that, but they can also work comfortably which improves the quality of work they deliver. Go ahead and rent office chairs in Pune and let your enterprise experience the optimum performance of your employees. 

Cost-saving

Investing in an ergonomically designed office chair is costly, but they are equally efficient and durable. Hence, you don’t have to replace your office chairs after every few months. These well-designed office chairs are rewarding in the long run. Also, these chairs provide you with your much needed back support so you don’t develop health issues like musculoskeletal disorders. Thus, buying ergonomic office chairs saves your losses in various ways and helps you maximize your company’s work efficiency. 

Enhanced employee engagement

Your employees would be left with very little to complain about when they have a comfortable working space. That’s the best part of these office chairs. They provide your employees with maximum comfort, leaving them satisfied. This also helps you to maintain a good boss-worker relationship. Not only that, but satisfied workers would also give their best to take the company forward. As a result, you would notice your employees attending office daily and giving attention to every detail and objective. 

Health benefits 

Well designed ergonomic office chairs ensure a healthy working environment in your office. Since they are adjustable in a lot of ways, they prevent employees from suffering from back problems. They give proper support to your spinal curve, thus preventing the chances of suffering from lower back pain. They also alleviate your neck and shoulder strains and allows your arms to relax. These chairs are known to enhance blood circulation, thus keeping physical and mental fatigue away.

In short, ergonomic office chairs are effective, efficient, and productive. You can buy your office chair along with a well-designed study table. Consider to rent study table in Pune from a reputed store. The product is available at affordable prices. So what are you waiting for? Grab the best office chairs and study tables at discounted prices and improve the work experience of your employees!

Positive Words Research – 5 Benefits of Office Chairs You Shouldn’t Miss

Office Chairs

Good Words to Use In a Resume or CV and Get the Dream Job

Why is it so damn important to write a good resume? If you’re educated, trained or experienced, shouldn’t that be enough for an employer to hire you? The answer is: NO. You have to fight for your spot and use everything you’ve got to impress the person looking into hiring you.

The first thing your potential employer learns about you comes from your resume. And we all know how important a first impression is. Your resume either makes you or brakes you! In order to make it perfect, you need to choose the best words to use in it. I’m going to help you do that.

The Importance of Good Words

Your resume is about your skills, expertise, level of experience and your overall work ethic. In order to show your employer what you’re made of, you need to make an effort in finding the right words. I’ve created a base of good words to use in a resume. Take a look at the following skill categories. See what you can find useful in showing you made a serious effort prior to sending your application in.

Work Ethic

It’s crucial to point out your work ethic and skills related to it. Instead of saying “hard-working” or “responsible”, you need to be more precise. Use words which explicitly indicate what kind of a work ethic you’ve built and what would you bring on board if they hired you.

  1. Studious – This is a much better option than “Ready to learn!” It’s precise and to the point.
  2. Thorough – It’s one word to help you avoid writing “Pay attention to details” which is worn-out.
  3. Attentive – Tell them this and you’ll dodge saying “Interested and dedicated worker”.
  4. Dependable- “reliable” and “responsible” aren’t the worst words in the world, but this is still better.
  5. Meticulous – “conscientious”, “precise” and “accurate”, all in one word.

Stewart Miller, a recruiter at EssaySupply confirms our theory: “I’ve read thousands of resumes. If I don’t see an effort in writing it, I toss it aside. Be thorough in writing it and it will pay off.”

Organization

A good way to show that you’re organized is to write a well-organized resume. Leave out the unnecessary phrases and words.  Stick to the point by using some of these great words:

  1. Orderly – Skip the obvious: “organized” is a NO word.
  2. Systematic – You’re saying your “efficient”, “organized” and “precise”. Great word, right?
  3. Timely – Let them know you won’t skip deadlines or be late on meetings with this one word.
  4. Methodical – Sounds better than “well-organized”, right?

Communication

Most of the jobs require excellent communication between members of a team, or employees and the clients. Here are the words to use while pointing out your communication skills:

  1. Cordial – Avoid the good old “warm and friendly”. It sounds like a cartoon character.
  2. Respectful – This is a great communication skill. It shows you’re both “polite” and “considerate”.
  3. Convincing – “Persuasive” sounds like you’re luring a child in a van with some candy.
  4. Collaborative – Better than “team-player”, for sure.

 “Communication skills are gold! You need to make them shine in your resume by using appropriate vocabulary. Avoid being predictable.”- says James Daily, a writer at FlashEssay.

More Resume Tips

Apart from using suitable and effective words to write a killer resume, there are other things to keep in mind. Take a look at other issues you need to deal with.

1. Accuracy

Using power words is the key to success, but it’s not the end of the resume-writing story. Yes, there’s more to pay attention to.

There’s one thing no employer is going to tolerate: an inaccurately written resume. A spelling or a grammar mistake can end your application before it even started. This is why you absolutely must ensure your resume is accurately written.

In order to prevent looking unprofessional and eliminate any inaccuracies and errors from your resume, you can use online tools such as GetGoodGrade, ProWritingAid, or OnlineWritersRating.

2. Worn-out Words and Phrases to Avoid

Avoid using empty phrases and formulating your resume in a typical manner. Try being different and showcase your skills and qualities in a distinctive way. This is what you should avoid:

  • Think outside of the box
    This is so old an cheesy. Your employer would probably roll his eyes after seeing it.
  • Team player
    Or even worse: “Prepared to work both individually and as a part of a team”. It’s a NO from us.
  • Microsoft Office
    It’s the 21st century, everyone can use it. It’s not a “skill”.
  • 3rd person
    Write your resume in 1st person singular. Period.
  • Hobby

Nobody cares about how you spend your free time.

“A resume represents you and what you stand for. If you fill it with cliché phrases and empty adjectives, it means you made no effort. You’ll seem uninterested for the job and end up not getting it.”- explains Kevin Harper, content manager at ResumesCentre.

Conclusion

Your resume speaks for you. And, you don’t want to sound uninterested, old-fashioned, cheesy or unprofessional, right? You want to shine in the eyes of your employer before you even meet him. Plus, you want to stand out from the rest of the candidates with the same education and work experience.

Use the power words I’ve listed above. Spend quality time in writing your resume. Plan it, sketch it and improve it several times. The effort will be visible to those who read it, and that’s all you need for a great resume.

About the Author: Sylvia Giltner is a career coach, HR specialist, and freelance writer at StudyClerk.com. Her passion is to help people make career changes and get jobs they truly love by showing them how to take full control over their careers. Feel free to contact her via LinkedIn.

Positive Words Research – Good Words to Use In a Resume

Good Words to Use In a Resume

Top Reasons About How To Find The Courage To Switch Career

Are you deciding to switch an established career at a late-life stage of life is indeed a challenge?! We need to determine various aspects before making the actual jump, and this post is showing all in a nutshell. According to the USA Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average baby boomer from 18 to 48 age held 11.7 jobs in a career. Older workers are now exploring new job opportunities. These jobs are available thanks to innovative job profiles like social media, cybersecurity, financial regulations, and international relationship management. According to an anonymous survey, 82% of workers are ready to change the job after the age of 45.

These statistics indicate that changes in career and directions are inevitable and happen at any age. Now, the question is that why people prefer a change in job or career path at a later stage of life.

Reasons behind the change in career at a later stage of life

To Cut the Stress

After 40 human body starts its declining phase and physical stamina goes down gradually that becomes visible after 50. It also cut the stress-bearing capabilities and tolerance to physical as well as psychological stress. Therefore, despite high position, good pay scale, and a number of benefits like paid time off, medical care, and long vacations are proving worthless against the day-to-day stress they bear in a regular in-house job.

Learning Appetite

Everybody wants a reason to jump out of bed in the morning with excitement and new energy. Unfortunately, one and long career lost it after a long span, and monotony in life begins that proves boring. If a new career is challenging and provide opportunities to learn new things, skills, it brings excitement to daily life. It is a strong reason to leave the old one and adopts a new one immediately.

Respecting Passion

Many stick with a career to make money only even though they are not passionate about it. At a midlife stage, they have saved enough money to start a career that follows their passion and fulfilling life.

For a Shake of Changing Pace

Despite all excitement and lucrative career, many are tired of the frantic pace of working life and want to bring fresh air into it. Therefore, they decide to leave even a successful career behind and begin a new journey.

Checklist before a Switch Career

Whatever the reasons seem to trigger a change in your career at a later stage of life, you must consider following things before taking a jump as a precautionary measure.

Recognize Your Strength

We have seen that an employee held an average of 11.7 jobs in a career. It means most of the jobbers have multiple jobs in a career and each new job comes with some innovative and challenging experiences where skills and strength develop further. At a later stage of life, you have to recognize your strength and weakness well through analysis. It will help you identify how you will fit into a new career at a later stage of life and new types of job environments.

After recognition of your strength and skills, you can present yourself to the prospective recruiter with confidence, and they will consider your experience as a guarantee to meet your claims for delivery.

Passion for Learning New Skills

The job market is constantly evolving and coming with innovative roles/jobs that you have never imagined. New types of jobs require new types of skill sets too. For instance, intense digitalization has made computer skills compulsory for any employee working in any industry.

If you are not ready to learn new essential skills for your next career or role, you may hardly get succeed in your late career. Therefore, a passion for learning new skills constantly is a must.

Advantages of Experience

Some jobs and companies need highly experienced people in their organization for a certain post. However, a career switch with years of experience would provide you a good opportunity to grab those all at good perks and satisfaction.

Entrepreneurship

At a later stage of life, let’s say after 50 you have enough maturity, skills, experiences, and resources to start up a new adventure related to your niche expertise. Therefore, the highest rate of entrepreneurship is reported among the over-50 age group.

Recognize the Fastest Job Categories

Nurses and medical aids, teachers, and software engineer job categories are growing rapidly with stable demands. Similarly, some other job areas have big prospects, and you have to recognize those areas if aligned with your skills or passion and apply for it.

Overcome Myths

Despite enough thrill and enthusiasm regarding changing the job or career some prevailing job market myths may prevent you from taking instant decisions. Therefore, you must learn about those myths and overcome them all at once.

Myth 1 – Employer Refrain Hiring Aged Candidates

At a later stage, you may lose some physical and mental strengths to compete with young competitors for a post/job in some areas. However, you have intense experiences, strong confidence, and a rich set of skills as well as determination power to fulfill the promises or delivery claims. These all positive factors surpass your age-related issues and make it all minor in hiring considerations.

Therefore, don’t feel low or intimidated about any age-related issue.

Myth 2 – Unable to Compete Youngers’ Tech Prowess

We are experiencing constant waves of technologies and relevant innovations in the market. Computers, mobiles, and now wearable technologies are growing at a rapid pace, and penetration is almost 100% in all fields.

Therefore, you must be a tech-savvy candidate that can demonstrate adequate command and familiarity over the upcoming technologies. Learning new technologies, tools, and technique is not dominant of the young generation, you can learn all at any age and at any moment if you’re strongly determined it.

Myth 3 – Learning New Business

Many entrepreneurs want to start their own venture in new trades and trends, which were not existing before a decade or a half. They believe learning new businesses over-50 is daunting and challenging.

Unfortunately, that is not true at all. Today we have entrepreneur training courses, classes, and government/NGO organizations to support you in all respects. So, you have smooth sailing in starting a new business of your choice.

Myth 4 – Return in Employment

Some employees over-50 once lost their existing and prolonged jobs they feel extreme depression regarding re-employment. They lost the courage to return to their niche or other by rejuvenating their skills, strengths, and experiences. In fact, many companies looking for an experienced and stable workforce, and trends are increasing among the highly volatile job market where youngsters are frequently changing the job and have inadequate experiences to manage certain roles.

What you have to do is to recognize those areas and companies and make a strong presentation of your skills, experiences, and commitment to fulfill their expectations, you may have a good perk awaiting in your call letter!

Who Can Help You?

Present statics and surveys of the international job market reveal that switching careers at a later stage of life is becoming a common trend everywhere. In the United Kingdom and the USA like affluent countries, there are multiple reasons that people prefer switching careers or starting a new adventure, and they get significant success too.

Try to get in touch with your area’s Career advisers to help you to prepare resumes, face interviews, make effective presentations of your skills and experiences and most importantly provide mentoring services to boost morale to hit your goals. If you stay in Norwich, UK then our job portal Just Norfolk Jobs provides a strong platform to find the right jobs and assist you to switch careers at an advanced stage of life.

Author’s Bio ~ Manya Ray

Here at Positive Words Research, we are looking to share with our readers original content that hasn’t been published on other sites so if you are comfortable with Positive Words Research being your sole publisher, we are more than happy to share with our readers your inspiring and empowering story.

Positive Words Research – How To Find The Courage To Switch Career

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5 Tips On How Avoiding Negativity Improves the Work Day

“A happy employee is a productive employee”. We’ve all heard this quote numerous times, but is there any truth to it? It turns out, there is. A recent study done by the University of Warwick showed the productivity of a happy employee increased 12 percent when placed in a positive and happy environment. So, how do we create this happy environment for ourselves?

1. In with the Good, Out with the Bad

Negativity has a scientific term when associated with the biological systems of the body. The emotion of negativity is directly related to the hormone cortisol. Cortisol’s primary function is to trigger a stress reaction in the human body. It is our body’s natural built-in system to create the feeling of stress. In today’s world, the concept sounds foolish. However, if you were a caveman crossing paths with a saber-toothed tiger, you may want a built-in system that lets you know you are in a dangerous situation.

Have you ever heard stories of police officers or military talking about the hair on the back of their neck standing up? That’s cortisol letting the brain know it is in a hazardous environment. In these hazardous environments, cortisol being dumped into the system in large quantities over a short period of time is a very effective system. However, in a workplace setting, cortisol being pumped into your system is much smaller, and much more consistent doses is something we want to work positively to avoid. This steady stream of the stress hormone has been linked to depression, weight gain, weakened immune system, and a shortened lifespan. The power of positivity on your health can be measured in loads.

2. Get Moving Towards a Brighter Day

Endorphins, also known as the activity hormone, are cortisol suppressing hormones. These are released in almost any physical activity, from running a marathon to spending some quality time with your partner in the bedroom. To release this hormone at work, start scheduling some activity into your workday. See if there is a lunchtime workout class close to your office or a nice running trail. If not, set an alarm on your phone or utilize an app for a predetermined set of time. When the alarm goes off, get active! Calisthenics, yoga, or walking lap around your building will do the trick.

3. Have Your Cake and Eat it too

You know that feeling of euphoria when you bite into a decadent piece of chocolate cake? How about that wave of comfort or relaxation after finishing spring cleaning or organizing your desk. That’s dopamine, the “mission accomplished” hormone. How do you release this hormone? You guessed it, accomplish missions! Start every day by writing down a “to do” list. As you accomplish the tasks, deliberately scratch the items off the list. Consider doing it while listening to feel-good music that has been found to have positive effects on the emotional areas of your brain. With each cross-off, you’ll get a healthy dose of dopamine. By the end of the day, you’ll wonder how you were ever feeling down, to begin with.

4. Get Talking

Serotonin is quite similar to dopamine; it too is a “mission accomplished” hormone. However, this hormone is socially engaged. It is very hard to trigger a serotonin release on your own. The emotion most often associated with serotonin is pride — not pride in yourself, but when you feel how proud the people in your life are of your accomplishments. Feeling proud of someone else’s accomplishments can create a rush of serotonin as well. Try fostering a mentor/mentee relationship where you commit to using only positive language with one another. Regardless of what side of the relationship you are on; as soon as one of you has a great accomplishment, the serotonin will soon follow.

5. Servitude and High Fives

Oxytocin, the most powerful cortisol suppressant, has been proven to help aid with depression, substance abuse, and can even increase your lifespan. Like serotonin, this hormone is difficult to release all by yourself. There are two effective ways to release oxytocin in a social setting: physical contact and acts of service. A hug or even a high five-time can help to lighten another person’s day, as well as your own. Committing acts of service, such as organizing an office blood drive, park clean up, or soup kitchen staffing will help create a positive working space for yourself and your colleagues.

Author’s Bio

Avery T. Phillips is a freelance human being with too much to say. She loves nature and examining human interactions with the world. Comment or tweet her @a_taylorian with any questions or suggestions.

Here at Positive Words Research, we are looking to share with our readers original content that hasn’t been published on other sites so if you are comfortable with Positive Words Research being your sole publisher, we are more than happy to share with our readers your inspiring and empowering story.

avoiding negativity

5 Secrets To Make Your Boring Day Job Exciting Again Now

Can you recall how many times you tried dragging yourself to work?  It can be definitely hard to be enthusiastic and excited about going to work after you have been doing it for quite a while. This can be very hard for most of us, however, let us rekindle your drive for your job.

Why Low Career Libido Happens?

Then, one day you wake up that you just do not feel the zeal for your work the way you once did. Nothing about your job has changed. However, it is your drive to do things which has suddenly died down.

We may not truly and fully understand this phase in our careers. Yet, our first instinct is to tell ourselves to pack things up and leave. Remember, as long as our job provides us with various opportunities, we are not being stagnant; so why don’t we exert some effort to bring the passion and drive back?

Though it can be hard to have an enthusiastic attitude about your job, even if you once found it to be exciting, it is easy to be caught in the pothole.

It does not mean that you need to find a new job as soon as you can. Sometimes, a change in your own perspective can turn things around.  There are plenty of different things you can try to help your old job feel like a little more fun and exciting:

  1. Find some time to goof off with your workmates. It is important to take your job seriously. Just not too much. However, it does not mean that you have to take yourself and the job like too seriously. Have some fun at work. You can try to share some laugh and some fun with your friends at work. These simple things, to my surprise, can turn around the mood at work.
  1. Try changing your daily routine. One of the steps into shaking things up is by checking on your activities or routine. Try changing your assumptions and about what you have gotten used to. Perhaps when you are too familiar with what you do on a daily basis and eventually lost the magic of spontaneity. Everyday feels like a boring routine. Well, you might as well change a thing or two. This will somehow stir some fun and interest. You can change your bedroom setting. Rearrange your breakfast spot. Or hunt for redesigning plans from a huge home improvement blog online and look for painters in Sydney. You will surely find a lot of ideas on how to break the monotony through design and planning of your space.
  1. Set tour goals beyond what you normally have in a day. This will make you feel motivated. However, not all are great in working with you in establishing your goals and benchmarks for the day. Just do not take it against yourself. List down attainable goals. Plus, you can include goals that will make you exhaust your means and will make you exert extra effort. A milestone will make you achieve larger goals which will keep you motivated as you celebrate a victory along the way.
  2. Take the time to take a break. Just because you feel boredom at work, you shouldn’t also be busy and totally stressed out. The monotony of daily routines can definitely kill your enthusiasm for work. It is never wrong to ask for a time off. Once you had the chance to unwind, you will not feel the boredom that much.
  3. Never be afraid to help someone at work. To add a little fun and novelty into your life, you should get out of your way to make someone’s day even brighter.  You do not have to do something extravagant not it has something to do with your job. Just learn one thing that can help bring some fun into your day. You will get that “helper’s high” when you help others and feel a sudden boost of mood. You will surely feel efficient and motivated instantaneously.

These are just of the ideas we can share to spruce and inject some fun into your boring day at work. How about you? How do you motivate yourself at work? Please let us know with the comments below!

Author Bio

Aiza Mabayag is a Manila-based writer who’s gone full-time freelancing about five years ago. Since then, she’s written for many overseas client including A One Korean Painting, a Sydney-based painting company.

Here at Positive Words Research, we are looking to share with our readers original content that hasn’t been published on other sites so if you are comfortable with Positive Words Research being your sole publisher, we are more than happy to share with our readers your inspiring and empowering story.

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7 Secrets to Improving Your Performance at Work Today

Wondering why some workers are able to churn out gargantuan amount of work, day after day, without ever feeling tired, while you can’t stop complaining about the workload? There might have been times when you felt a certain urge to ask them what is the key to almost miraculous abilities. Almost every time, you probably, stopped short of doing it considering the peer to peer competition that most workplaces have. 

However, if you follow the example of successful entrepreneurs and influencers in the world, and be a little attentive to achieving success in your profession, these secrets can be all yours. This post discusses some points that will help you achieve the same level of performance, expertise and productivity that you always wished you had. 

No matter which part of world you are in, or which country you belong to, if you are on job, there is one thing common that you share with all other professionals: the number of hours in a day. Whether you are working in billion dollar enterprise or bootstrapping a startup, it’s all about how you use your time that has the maximum effect on productivity.

In order to remain ultra motivated and productive, you will have to develop the right habits. You will have to manage tasks, set the right goals, and handle distractions in a better manner. Although the process might be painstakingly slow as old habits die hard, in the end when you are heaped with all the praise and attention of your boss or the industry, all your efforts will be totally worth it. So, here are the productivity hacks that will put you on top of your work.

1. Take one task at a time 

 Although it sounds contradictory, most people would give their best only if they were focused on one task instead of multitasking. Especially during a meeting, we are tempted to do a mail check, or complete our pending tasks which do not require much mental application. Although you might be thinking that you are making good use of time, this split focus makes these meetings less productive. Even if you’re only doing mindless stuff, still you are distracted, which makes you less productive. Most psychologists will tell you that there is no such thing as multitasking. In fact, multitasking stands against everything that requires focus and concentration.

2. Make a to-do list

Creating a to-do list of all the tasks that require your attention a day in advance. That can be of great help for those who constantly keep forgetting their schedule. However, to ensure this activity is really helpful, there are two minor improvements that you can include. The first one is to prioritize your tasks in the order of their importance. The second one is to keep your list as realistic as possible. Along with tasks also write the estimated time that each task would take so that you do not clutter your table with more than what you can handle.  In reality, assigning realistic times to tasks will automatically force you to prioritize.

3. Declutter your mailbox

 Technology definitely makes a lot of tasks easier to accomplish and communication is one of them. Mails are the lifeblood of communication in most organizations. It must not take more than a couple of minutes to go through a communication mail and if it’s taking more than that the first thing that you need to set right is your mailbox. Keep your emails to the point and write only when necessary.  Make necessary folders and organize your mails in them.

4. Meetings should be minimum

 Meetings are the necessary evil that corporate organizations are still finding hard to get over. Mark Cuban, the billionaire CEO of HDNet and owner of Dallas Mavericks thinks “meetings are a waste of time unless you are closing a deal”.    Renault and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says that keeping the length and number of meetings definite is the perfect solution. During his talk with Fortune he said, “The maximum is one hour and 30 minutes. Fifty percent of the time is for the presentation, 50 percent is for discussion.” Most subjects can be handled well within this time frame. There are other topics which require only 15 minutes. Your meeting time shouldn’t be a slave to predefined calendar.

5. David Allen’s Two Minute rule

By now you must have guessed where this is heading. David Allen, the multi-millionaire productivity guru, has come up with this very unique approach of working. The simple conclusion of this two minute rule is that if there is a task that can be done within two minutes, do it now and get it out of the way. Millions of professionals swear by the effectiveness of this hack. It definitely lessens your procrastination time, so that you can dedicate it for greater purposes. 

6. Short breaks

 Although not exactly a secret, it still needs to be told. Short 15-minutes breaks can help you realign your mind to the task’s requirements in case you have reached a threshold. Taking a break will recharge your senses, and you would be able to look at things with a completely different perspective. This helps moreover when you are stuck at a problem. Work sessions of short lengths (about 90 minutes) followed by a 10-15 minutes break, are more productive than a continuous 8-hour work cycle.

7. Self-confidence is the primary key 

Confidence is an essential ingredient of a successful professional. Anyone who needs to make decisions, take risks and set priorities should be a confident individual. Productivity will automatically follow a confident mindset.  Multiple researches have come up with evidences that speak in favor of confidence as a central factor in achieving tough goals. One’s perception of their abilities is a major motivation to persist in a hostile situation.  One such highly cited test is that of mental rotation.

Scientists and psychologists have been trying to figure out the reasons behind the difference in performance between male and female gender on 3-D mental rotation task. Recent researches suggest that more than any actual difference in abilities it is the perception of these abilities that causes this performance mismatch. Since long people have assumed that females have less aptitude at math and spatial skills than men. Around half of the females also endorse this assumption. This awareness came in their way of performing as good as their male counterparts. When asked to perform the same test while assuming that they were men, females performed much better on the mental rotation task.  Thus what we believe does affect our performance.

Author Bio

Saurabh Tyagi is a blogger and a professional career author with proven expertise in writing for topics related to job search, job trends, different job opportunities, various workplace and industry information, tips and strategies for job seekers. You can follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Positive Words Research – 7 Secrets to Improving Your Performance at Work

Improving your performance at work

4 Types of Referral Programs That Works Wonders for You

I often get asked by small and medium business owners that referral programs work for their enterprises as effectively as everyone says about it. Well, I think referral programs are great for every business regardless of the size of the enterprise because do they not only increase your consumer base but also improve the percentage of satisfied customers and reduce your sales expenses from your operations.

Wondering you should be hired as referrals? There are no great referrals than your satisfied customers because they know what a customer thinks before purchasing a product.

Here are 4 types of referral programs you should know before your implementing for your business:

1. Direct Referral programs

A direct referral is when one of your existing customers refers someone in their network. You could offer something in return to your existing customer when the referral turns into business. For instance, a retailer can offer sample shampoo or skincare lotions to his/her existing customer who referred a friend or family member who bought their products.

2. Implied Referral programs

With implied referrals, you make it kind of obvious that you are doing work for someone without directly asking for a referral. Let’s say, if a constructor is building a house in your society then they could send pamphlets to all the other houses in the society letting them know if they have any new contract they can reach to the builders. This way, the residents in the society will see the construction company as being helpful. Moreover, the residents can also get to see the finished product of the new construction house and may consider it if they need any work in the future.

3. Tangible Referral programs

With a tangible referral, you hand over some valuable thing to your existing customer that they can give to the referral person. The impressive about this feature is that you can operate it 4 times a year as a low-cost way to keep referrals top in the list. Twice or thrice a year you can send gift cards with 50$ or 100$ to your valuable customers and ask them to share them with their friends or family. That way you can turn referrals into customers and increase your sales.

4. Community Referral programs

There are a lot of organizations that need tons of support from businesses like you. Maybe you could run a promotion that can benefit both of your organizations. A fine example of this is a coffee shop that makes its income in the month of January donates 10% of it to charity. This way charity gets benefitted and you are promoting your business too. In such a case, the charity is also likely to promote the business and will mention it to their customers because the more sales they make the more amount goes to the charity.

You first need to understand your business and the market it caters to so that you can build a better-targeted marketing and communication strategy to expand your business. And you can use referral tracking software to complete the tracking and management of referrals.

Positive Words Research – 4 Types of Referral Programs That Could Work Wonders for You

Business Consultant

Best 7 Tips for Giving a Boost to Personal Growth Today

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. — Will Durant

Have you ever tried to define personal growth? It’s that immense feeling of expansion. You feel like you’re a greater person when you become better, kinder, and more knowledgeable. Your soul grows bigger. It’s the goal we all have in life, whether we realize it or not.

Why should we be concerned about personal growth, you might ask?

  • The goal to become a better person gives us a sense of direction. You know that feeling of being lost? You won’t experience it if you know where you’re headed to: towards a better you.
  • The journey of personal development makes us more self-aware. We get to realize who we really are and what we want to become. We identify our beliefs and values, as well as our purpose in life.
  • This goal gives us focus. We get the feeling that we’re not wasting a single day when we continue working on ourselves. We become more motivated to achieve our goals, and we develop resilience against stressful situations.

There’s no question about it: it’s important for each and every one of us to develop a culture of personal growth. The only question is: how?

That’s why we’re here for today: to learn how we can give a boost to our personal growth journey. I have a few tips to share:

1. Then, Act!

We all have dreams. Until we start acting upon them, they remain dreams. To turn those ideas into tangible goals, we need to strategize a bit. If for example, I want to become more knowledgeable, I’ll define a precise area of study and I’ll locate several online courses I can take. Then, I’ll include the timelines of those courses in my Google Calendar and I’ll plan my time in a way that helps me achieve that goal. That’s how I managed to complete a mindfulness course on Coursera. It was a great experience that made me realize: I can turn every dream into a goal, and every goal into action.

  • Your strategy needs to include long-term goals, which you’ll translate into short-term goals that lead you in that direction.
  • Then, you’ll need to work gradually towards the desired results. You can’t expect rapid, flashy personal development. It’s a process, so be patient and walk through it.

2. Confront Your Comfort Zone

Is it a comfort zone or pure laziness? However you put it, it’s the same thing. If you want to develop a personal growth mindset, you’ll have to stand against that comfort zone. You’ve been thinking about joining a book club, but you don’t like meeting new people and you can’t relax when being in a group? It’s time to get out of your shell.

Whatever it is you dream about doing, do it! Whether it is about learning a new skill, developing a new habit, or visiting Japan, just make your strategy and start doing something. The comfort of your personal space is cool, but it may suffocate the growth.

3. Read!

It’s amazing how good literature can expand our points of view. It inspires us to explore new ideas, places, and cultures. Turn yourself into a passionate reader! List at least 10 books you want to read this year, and start reading 30 pages every single day. You can definitely find time for 30 pages.

As for the books, they have to be valuable. Don’t focus on mainstream bestsellers! If you’re wondering where to start, here’s a good list to consider: the Rory Gilmore reading challenge.

4. Follow an Example

Do you have a person you admire? A yoga teacher? Keanu Reeves, maybe? What is it about their character that attracts you so much? How did they achieve that level that helped them develop a magnetic personality? What did they do?

You can start following their footsteps. Join courses and lectures they attended and start learning the things they know. It’s important not to become obsessed, though. Remember: you’re you. Your personal growth will be an individual journey. You can use others as your motivation, but always be self-aware!

5. Keep Challenging Yourself!

Our life can become full of routines even when we stay committed to personal growth. Reading, exercise, healthy eating… everything can become a boring routine. Commitment is much different than routine. We need to keep imposing challenges to ourselves.

As a writer at writing service, I can’t risk turning my job to a boring habitual practice. I want to grow. That’s why I practice a weekly exercise and involve my colleague writers in it: we get a prompt and write a 150-word story. We share our stories between us, and we give each other feedback. That’s the kind of challenge I’m talking about. Do something different, something that pushes you forward and keeps you on the path of personal growth. The most important thing is to have fun along the way.

6. Become Physically Strong

Our body is a reflection of our inner state of being. Being able to get into a headstand or a handstand requires not only physical, but mental and emotional strength as well. A constant physical activity makes your character stronger and more resilient.

Turn this into a habit: start every single day with a physical activity. Pick yoga, cardio fitness, aerobic, pilates… whatever you want. Stay committed to your practice and you’ll notice the change in mindset.

7. There’s No Need to Do Everything

When you start listing areas you want to improve yourself in, the list will be endless. Be realistic: it’s not possible to master every single aspect of your being. Make priorities and stay focused on the goals that really matter.

Don’t forget: personal growth is not an easy thing. It’s a lifelong journey that takes commitment, persistence, and actions. Stick to that plan!

Sophia Anderson is a freelance writer and a blogger who is passionate about covering topics on writing, learning, careers, self-improvement, motivation and others. She believes that learning something new every day is a must. Her inspiration comes from reading books and online blog posts that cover a wide range of her interests. Meet Sophia at @Sophia7Anderson.

Positive Words Research – 7 Tips for Giving a Boost to Personal Growth

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Best 6 Digital Skills That Can Boost Your Career Today

Many business organizations tend to have what is referred to as “a digital skills gap”. What this really means is they lack a staff equipped with the necessary firsthand knowledge in working with digital applications, tools, and strategies. By taking the time and effort to master certain digital skillsets, you can, of course, increase your worth in the career you have chosen. Doing this also offers you the necessary room to improve your future career opportunities as well. Well then, here are 6 digital skills that can boost your career in ways you would never have deemed possible.

Image editing

Image editing is a fantastic digital skill, which will heighten your overall influence in the office setting. Been able to create mesmerizing visual aids for your company will showcase your exceptional talents to your bosses. When you are bent on becoming a pro in churning out things like infographics, or branding graphics, you must comprehend the workings of the best image editors such as Photoshop. So, when you are able to demonstrate your image editing capabilities, you will give your career a boost, by opening up new job roles.

Video production

The video is a great content format when it comes to spreading a firm’s brand identity and message to prospective clients. This can naturally present a golden opportunity for those individuals who have a vested interest in assisting the company they work for in creating excellent video content. If you are that kind of an employee, the roles you could assume can vary. From managing video production projects to honing the video shooting or editing skills of your fellow colleagues. Some of the best instances of being creative with the video for your firm are producing content that showcases its culture. Producing video interviews of satisfied clients or even video product reviews that elaborate on the benefits of your products or services. On the other hand, been good at video production can be very useful whenever you are seeking greener pastures. More and more business establishments are now accepting creative forms of job applications. Therefore, being able to demonstrate your capabilities of tailor-making video content will definitely place you ahead of the rest of the pack.

HTML

In this particular scenario, you don’t really need to be a bonafide web developer to be of use to your company. All you got to do is simply develop a fair proficiency in reading HTML code. This will place you in a position where you can be able to liaise with external agencies in formulating and implementing your firm’s website strategies. While also being at hand to notice alterations and even fix simple bugs whenever the need arises. By been conversant with some basic HTML skills, you can substantially enhance your value as an all-around employee.

SEO and content marketing

The right search engine optimization and content marketing techniques are a prerequisite in boosting your firm’s website search engine rankings. The higher you company ranks in your niche search parameters, the more traffic it is bound to receive. Having some working understanding of SEO and content marketing in general lets you determine the best methods to implement in creating viable content. Some of the most notable include keyword research and thinking like your target audience to identify which content might spark their interest. Also, you will be able to execute vital competition analysis in areas such as keyword integration to identify how you can beat them and churn out much better content.

Social media marketing

Around 2.34 billion individuals are now social media users, and many of them can snugly fit into what you would label as your company’s target audience. Taking your time to learn the ins and outs of social media marketing can greatly boost your career. This will enable you to be in a position of effectively handling all your business’s social media accounts. This is primarily through churning out content that both entertains and enlightens your target audience and leads them to your firm’s website.

Touch typing

Finally, touch typing is an essential digital skill you will have to master if you wish to expand your career horizons. Basically, it is designed to greatly improve your typing speed as well as accuracy. By learning typing best practices including ideal finger placement on the keyboard, you will significantly improve your productivity. While learning the right typing ergonomics will allow you to be able to efficiently prevent injuries and fatigue, even if you are engaged in protracted typing sessions on a frequent basis. It is pretty simple to start learning touch typing with passing a quick online typing test, use an online tutor and see the progress.

My name is Adam Fort, I’m an education strategist at Ratatype.com. This project helps children and adults to learn touch typing via an online typing test and lessons. I am in charge of developing the proper typing lessons and exercise for typists who want to improve their typing speed. I also have a commercial pilot’s license which I’m proud of.

Positive Words Research – 6 Digital Skills that Can Boost Your Career

digital skills boost career

Top 5 Reasons Why Doing What You Love Makes Great Work

You know that feeling when you wake up in the morning and for a moment you’re floating in a haze of well-being, only to have it torn apart by the realization that you have to go to work soon? I do. Those moments were horrible. It wasn’t always there. Some days were better than others, but it was there often enough to be a serious bummer. After all, that shouldn’t be the way to start your day. Doing what you love will help you have better mornings.

The thing is, it turns out I’m not the only person who feels that way. In fact, less than half of Americans are happy at their work. That might not be so bad as in 2010 when only 40% of people liked their job, but that doesn’t change the facts. The vast majority would experience more mental wellbeing doing something else, doing something they love.

And the thing is, that would be great for employers too. After all,

1. A happy employee is a more productive employee

Research has shown that happy employees are on average 12% more productive than their less happy counterparts. What’s more, they’re more protected from stress and illness, they’re less likely to experience negative emotions, they live longer, they take less sick days and they’re much less likely to leave for another company. In other words, there are nothing but benefits. And yet so few employers are really doing anything with this information.

Well if they aren’t, then we’re going to do it ourselves! The first step for finding the best job is writing the stunning CV (you can check some top websites for help). So, let’s look at some of the best reasons why you should think about finding work that you love. The best reason has to be:

2. Flow

Flow is wonderful. It’s a mental state where everything – your problems, your to-do list, your itches, your cold feet – for a time falls away as you lose yourself in what you’re doing. It leads to positive emotions as well as an experience of wellbeing. It also makes you far more productive, as you bend yourself to the task at hand and let nothing distract you.

The thing is, Flow is not something that is just achieved one, two, three. You need to actually be completely engaged in the activity to have it. And the only way that that can happen is if you actually truly enjoy doing it. Even then, you’ve got to practice, so that you have enough confidence that the doubt monster doesn’t pull you back to the surface. For that reason, it’s vital to try to find work that’s more engaging so that you don’t only get to experience this in your free time.

Then there’s:

3. Intrinsic Motivation

In psychology, they talk about two kinds of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic means that it comes from inside of you, so, for example, you are motivated to do the Sudoku puzzle because it interests you and when you finish it you feel satisfied and don’t expect any other kind of reward. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is external. This is money, praise or anything similar.

The research has shown that when your primary motivation is external, you’re far less likely to enjoy what you’re doing. In fact, often the simple act of giving somebody an extrinsic reward will make them enjoy the task less and will generally not get them perform better at it either.

The only counter agent against that is if they love what they do. Then chances are good that they will continue to love it, despite the introduction of extrinsic rewards such as money. In other words, they continue to be motivated by the act itself, instead of seeing it as a means to an end as jobs are for most of us.

And that’s important because:

4. If you love what you’ll do you’ll keep doing it

And that’s a vital part of what makes doing what you love so important. Even in the down times, you’ll still gain satisfaction from it – heck, you’d do it for free if you had to. That means two things. First of all, it means that instead of your work dragging you further down on your bad days, it lifts you up. It acts as a high point in your day rather than something that you need to recover from.

Secondly, it means that you’re going to put in the hours to make certain that whatever you’re working on is going to be at the top of its game. And that is how you get noticed and make a splash. As nothing impresses quite as much as something that’s perfect.

Except, maybe, for something made with:

5. Real Passion

I don’t know what it is about real passion, but you can see it in an end product. If you visit a restaurant where the cook cares about what they’re doing, the food somehow has something that an uncaring cook will never have. You can see it in everything – words on a page, paint on a canvas, even in the bricks in a wall.

And wouldn’t the world be so much more beautiful if everything around you was filled with the passion of the people that created it? It certainly would feel us with more passion if we get to look at what we do and be proud of it.

Conclusion

We’ve got to do what we love! Because if we’re doing it for money then where does the joy come in? After all, beyond a certain limit where we can put food on the table and meet our friends at a café, money doesn’t really change how happy we are. In fact, I suspect most people buy all the stuff they do in part because they’re trying to fill the hole left in their lives because they’re not engaged with what they’re doing. But you can’t fill the absence of meaning in your life with a new coach or a new phone. You can only fill it by finding meaning. And that means doing something we love.

So what are we all waiting for?

PS: Please leave a comment below and tell me if you are doing what you love at work or how do you plan to do what you love?

Access the list of positive words to brighten your day!

5 Reasons Why Doing What You Love Is the Only Way to Do Great Work

Top 4 Positive Highlights of The Best Employee Engagement

No matter what job you have, make the most of it! It’s not just about a financial gain here, but rather about your spiritual nourishment. Think about it. You spend at least 40 hours a week at the workplace, so it’s impossible to get detached from your job. What you do daily will eventually become a part of you, no matter how hard you want to avoid it. So, embrace your job and learn, improve, and spread good vibes every day.

To support this way of looking at your career, we’ve found the best employee engagement of this year! Indulge in their stories and learn how to become a hero at your job.

1. The employee engagement of the Selfless

Speaking of heroes, you can actually become one at the Florida Hospital Medical Center. This is the case of Johanna Castellanos, a nursing assistant at this hospital, who became the “Hero of the Year for 2016” through dedication and good nature. This hospital has a wonderful tradition of certifying the quality work of their employees and, thus, encouraging empathy, commitment, and good deeds.

Johanna is always there for her patients even when she is off duty. She always finds time to deliver her patients’ forgotten belongings on her way to work or home. This kind of selfless actions earned her the local hero title for a year and also our appreciation.

2. The employee engagement of the “Un-disgruntled”

You would think that after leaving her job, one would be full of resentment toward her former company. This is not the case of Vlada Parr, who used to work for the Apple Company. On the contrary, she chose to make the best of her situation and share her positive work experience with her readers. Everybody heard of Apple products, but having excellence as a company goal could be quite overwhelming for its employees. But this hard worker found a way to thrive and be a model employee.

The first advice she highlights is having the proper job attitude. No matter how knowledgeable and well trained you are for your job, your attitude will decide if you are there to stay. Be kind and understanding not only towards your clients but also towards your co-workers. So, this is why spreading good vibes is a prerequisite even for a high position in an international company.

3. The employee engagement of the Accepting

The orange parable that Forbes confessed to us will also bring you closer to understanding why being there for your job can only be beneficial for you. Here’s their story: one of the employees turned out to be discontented with his manager’s decision of promoting someone else instead of him. The manager decided to shed more light on his decision by asking both his employees to buy some oranges for him.

The grumpy worker just carried out this chore without paying attention to details. Meanwhile, the newly promoted man returned with the best oranges he could find at the most accessible price, even though it was his manager who paid for them. After inquiring on how the two men performed their task, the disgruntled employee accepted the idea that his co-worker was better qualified for the higher position. And his conclusion was not based on the other’s better skills, but on the other’s bigger interest in being the perfect employee.

So the lesson that you can extract from this story is that knowledge can be acquired over time. However, motivation can also be lost over time. Stop attending to your own needs and start helping others, cultivate your empathy. Bringing others down and disregarding the people you are surrounded by will only buy you a lonely path. On the contrary, successful people are always interested in encouraging and guiding others in their career choices, and their success makes them happy.

4. The employee engagement of the Learner

WikiHow.com has a come up with a very useful solution in their quest to teach everyone around the globe how to do anything. This article brings up 20 best ways to conduct your job activities perfectly. The author himself focuses more on the right job attitude rather than skills and know-hows, but he also points out a feature that most people usually neglect: learning how to take negative reviews and change them into constructive feedback to your own advantage.

When people are upset, they tend to speak their mind without filtering their words. Take their criticism with an open mind and look for a solution. This is the best and fastest way to improving yourself.

In conclusion, this year’s articles showed us that the image of the perfect employee has changed: it is not about what you know, it’s about how you think. Everyone has access to education, and the internet made the information easy to find, but the most important thing for a joyful work environment is your choice to make it so.

About the author: Marc Mendelman is a Junior HR consultant and a Contributing Editor at Today Assistant. He is passionate about identifying daily work hacks and creating ways of increasing personal and professional productivity.

Positive Words Research – 4 Positive Highlights of the Best Employee Engagement of This Year

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