Official Rules for the Personal Branding Giveaway

personal branding giveaway

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE THE CHANCES OF WINNING.

1. Eligibility: This Campaign is open only to those who use Facebook who enter through one or more of the following ways: liking the post, liking Life Work Balance’s Facebook page, commenting on the post, and/or sharing the post; and who are 18 years of age or older as of the date of entry. The Campaign is only open to those in the state of Colorado (for in-person winners) or who have access to a telephone and computer with internet, and is void where prohibited by law. Employees of Life Work Balance LLC, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and suppliers, (collectively the “Employees”), and immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of Employees are not eligible to participate in the Campaign. The Campaign is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited.

2. Agreement to Rules: By participating, the Contestant (“You”) agree to be fully unconditionally bound by these Rules, and You represent and warrant that You meet the eligibility requirements. In addition, You agree to accept the decisions of Life Work Balance LLC as final and binding as it relates to the content of this Campaign.

3. Campaign Period: Entries will be accepted online starting on Monday, January 7th, 2019 at 12:00pm (MST) and ending on Sunday, January 13th, 2019 at 5:00pm (MST).

4. How to Enter: The Campaign must be entered by those who use Facebook who enter through one or more of the following ways: liking the post, liking Life Work Balance’s Facebook page, commenting on the post, and/or sharing the post. The post may be found here. The entry must fulfill all Campaign requirements, as specified, to be eligible to win a prize. Entries that are incomplete or do not adhere to the rules or specifications may be disqualified at the sole discretion of Life Work Balance LLC. You may enter up to four times. You may not enter more times than indicated by using multiple email addresses, identities, or devices in an attempt to circumvent the rules. If You use fraudulent methods or otherwise attempt to circumvent the rules, your submission may be removed from eligibility at the sole discretion of Life Work Balance LLC.

5. Prizes: The Grand Prize Winner of the Campaign (the “Winner”) will receive a resume and cover letter review, a LinkedIn review, interview preparation, and job search technique assistance (approximate value of $460). Three Runner Up Winners will receive a one hour consultation regarding how to get started on job searching, resume/cover letter updating, and/or LinkedIn updates (approximate value of $120). Actual/appraised value may differ at time of prize award. The specifics of the prize shall be solely determined by Life Work Balance LLC. No cash or other prize substitution shall be permitted except at Life Work Balance LLC’s discretion. The prize is nontransferable. Any and all prize-related expenses, including without limitation any and all federal, state, and/or local taxes, shall be the sole responsibility of Winner. No substitution of prize or transfer/assignment of prize to others or request for the cash equivalent by Winner is permitted. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for Life Work Balance LLC to use Winner’s name, likeness, and entry for purposes of advertising and trade without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.

6. Odds: The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.

7. Winner Selection and Notification: Winner will be selected by a random drawing under the supervision of Life Work Balance LLC. Winner will be notified through Facebook Messenger within five (5) days following selection of Winner. Life Work Balance LLC shall have no liability for Winner’s failure to receive notices due to spam, junk e-mail or other security settings or for Winner’s provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If Winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within five (5) business days from the time award notification was sent, or fails to timely return a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate Winner selected. Receipt by Winner of the prize offered in this Campaign is conditioned upon compliance with any and all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES BY WINNER (AT LIFE WORK BALANCE LLC‘S SOLE DISCRETION) WILL RESULT IN WINNER’S DISQUALIFICATION AS WINNER OF THE CAMPAIGN, AND ALL PRIVILEGES AS WINNER WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED.

8. Rights Granted by You: By entering this content (e.g., photo, video, text, etc.), You understand and agree that Life Work Balance LLC, anyone acting on behalf of Life Work Balance LLC, and Life Work Balance LLC’s licensees, successors, and assigns, shall have the right, where permitted by law, to print, publish, broadcast, distribute, and use in any media now known or hereafter developed, in perpetuity and throughout the World, without limitation, your entry, name, portrait, picture, voice, likeness, image, statements about the Campaign, and biographical information for news, publicity, information, trade, advertising, public relations, and promotional purposes without any further compensation, notice, review, or consent.

9. Terms & Conditions: Life Work Balance LLC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Campaign should virus, bug, non-authorized human intervention, fraud, or other cause beyond Life Work Balance’s control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, or proper conduct of the Campaign. In such case, Life Work Balance LLC may select the Winner from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Life Work Balance LLC. Life Work Balance LLC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Campaign or website or violates these Terms & Conditions. Life Work Balance LLC has the right, in its sole discretion, to maintain the integrity of the Campaign, to void votes for any reason, including, but not limited to: multiple entries from the same user from different IP addresses; multiple entries from the same computer in excess of that allowed by Campaign rules; or the use of bots, macros, scripts, or other technical means for entering. Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Campaign may be a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such attempt be made, Life Work Balance LLC reserves the right to seek damages to the fullest extent permitted by law.

10. Limitation of Liability: By entering, You agree to release and hold harmless Life Work Balance LLC and its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers, and directors from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim, or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from: (i) such entrant’s participation in the Campaign and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof; (ii) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunction of any computer, cable, network, hardware, or software, or other mechanical equipment; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions, telephone, or Internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Promotion; (v) electronic or human error in the administration of the Promotion or the processing of entries.

11. Disputes: THIS CAMPAIGN IS GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE STATE OF COLORADO, WITHOUT RESPECT TO CONFLICT OF LAW DOCTRINES. As a condition of participating in this Campaign, participant agrees that any and all disputes that cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Campaign, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in the state of Colorado having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances shall participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to, punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, including reasonable attorney’s fees, other than participant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e. costs associated with entering this Campaign). Participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

12. Privacy Policy: Information submitted on Facebook with an entry is subject to the Privacy Policy stated on the Facebook website. To read the Privacy Policy, click here.

13. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the Winner’s name or a copy of these Official Rules, email your request to: abby@lwbalance.com. Please include “Personal Branding Giveaway January 2019” in the subject line. Requests must be received no later than Sunday, January 27th, 2019 at 12:00pm (MST).

14. Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Campaign is Life Work Balance LLC, 8575 Fenton Street, Arvada, CO 80003.

15. Facebook: The Campaign hosted by Life Work Balance LLC is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook.

Employee Engagement is Everyone’s Responsibility: the Employee’s Guide to Engagement

Teamwork - collaboration - employee engagement

Google question - employee increase engagement

Google search: How do employees help increase employee engagement?

(Relevant) Results found: 0

When I first discovered the term employee engagement I was thrilled. I thought, “Finally! There is something that describes how I want my work to feel! Why can’t my employers get it right?”

I quickly realized that increase employee engagement can’t happen overnight and is quite difficult to improve. It wasn’t just my employers who were struggling with employee engagement.

Of the hundreds (if not thousands) of articles I’ve read about employee engagement, the articles I’ve written, the presentations I’ve attended and given, and the conversations I’ve had with employees and management, the responsibility for engaging employees tends to fall on the employer.

Frustrated monkey - cycle of non-engagementThe cycle of non-engagement:

Employers have described how they don’t feel like they have the resources available to make changes. Employees feel like there is absolutely nothing they can do until the employer makes the engagement resources available for which they can engage.

Although I believe systemic change is only possible when the employer is on board with employee engagement initiatives, I was disappointed when I couldn’t find any articles or explicit resources out there on the topic of employees working to improve their own level of engagement.

I decided to reach out to one of my LinkedIn Groups: Employee Communications and Engagement. There are almost 40,000 members in this group so I figured it would be a great staring place.

I asked, “How can *employees* help increase employee engagement?” and described how I recently presented at a conference where all levels of employees in an organization attended. I was asked the question during a Q&A: how can employees who are not in leadership or management positions increase employee engagement within their organization?

questions - raising hands

My post received over 20 responses with some great feedback.

I wanted to share the results in one place where everyone can access the helpful information.

The primary theme revolved around the idea of employees taking personal responsibility for the way they act (physically and emotionally) and react in the workplace. This is very easy to say, and I think most reasonable people would agree this is important (talk the talk). It’s a lot harder to implement and change the way one functions (walk the walk).

Change won’t happen overnight; it takes little changes over time to make a large impact. Below are ways employees can embrace the idea of employee engagement and start to take responsibility for changing their own personal workplace culture. These “small” personal changes may cause a ripple effect and begin to change the organizational culture as a whole.

thank youGratitude.

Gratitude has been shown to improve the giver’s well-being, resilience, health, and relationships with others. Expression of gratitude also has a ripple effect – cooperative and altruistic behavior can spread from one person to another. Expressing gratitude may inspire other people to do the same. If you find yourself in a workplace lacking gratitude, consciously expressing gratitude may result in increased gratitude by your team members, and possibly even your organization as a whole.

Say a genuine thank you to someone who helped you on a project. Say thank you to the custodian who removes your trash. Anyone can say thank you. Every time you say thank you, you add something back to your workplace culture. Expressing gratitude makes the giver and receiver feel good, while also empowering those around them to share in the moment and to create their own moments in the future.

Alignment.

Take time to reflect on the mission statement, vision statement, and values of your organization. Are you on board with these statements? What sort of emotional reaction do you have when you consider your part in the overall mission and vision of the organization? Organizations with highly engaged employees have communicated their mission/vision in a way that allows their employees to strongly identify with and work toward the mission/vision. Employees begin feel like they are contributing to something bigger than themselves and are making a difference in the world.

If an organization has a clear set of core values and goals, as well as a clear mission statement, vision statement, and strategy, employees have the opportunity to align their personal values/mission/strategy/goals with those of the organization. When these organizational items are clear, employees may ensure their efforts are focused on the same priorities as their employer. Employees can ask themselves and their leadership targeted questions to seek stronger alignment and bring up ideas for performance improvement. Employees can hold themselves accountable for the results of the organization. This type of alignment can improve organizational collaboration at all levels.

volunteer involvementInvolvement.

Does your organization have a program in place (regardless of how successful) that attempts to engage employees? If so, can you (as an employee) step up your game and become a little more involved?

If your organization has a networking or affinity group, or an advocacy/community program, how involved are you? Do you genuinely participate in surveys, focus groups, or dialogue opportunities so you can involve yourself in how the organization can improve its performance or culture? Could you volunteer to spear-head a team building or volunteer event?

Employees need to remember that if they want something to change, it is their individual responsibility to engage in social events, attend staff meetings, respond to surveys, and share their ideas. Engagement is never a one-sided effort, it will only be truly successful when both sides (employee and employer) give 100%.

connecting the dots - highway

Connecting the Dots

When it comes to employee engagement, it often can feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe you work for a company or a boss who doesn’t believe they can do anything about the workplace culture (I had a boss say this once). Maybe your boss doesn’t think there’s anything wrong and is either oblivious or avoidant of the issues at hand.

If this is the case, focus on yourself. If you have the mindset that there is nothing you can do to change workplace culture, your workplace culture will never change. However, if you can prevent yourself from becoming cynical and negative about your work situation, your perspective change may help change the perspective and attitudes of those you work with as well.

Say thank you, express gratitude regularly and consistently in a genuine manner. Others will follow suit. Revisit what you love most about your company and how you can contribute to the overall mission/vision of the organization. Finally, involve yourself. If there is a focus group or committee forming, take a risk and join. If your HR department sends out employee surveys, participate and take them seriously. You may even be like one of the individuals described in the success stories above and go as far as starting your own lunch workout class!

Leadership at all levels is responsible for setting the tone of an engaged businesses. At the same time, every employee is responsible for creating and sustaining the culture. You are responsible for the way you think and act. Even when it seems impossible and like you’re stuck in the rut of negativity, you can change your perspective and outlook.

It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my post! If you’re looking for ways to increase your organization’s level of employee engagement, please review my services here and contact me here.

**Special thank you to the members of the Employee Communications and Engagement Group who responded to my post! This wouldn’t have been possible without you.**