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There’s an old saying in racing that goes “in order to finish first, first you must finish.” No one knows exactly who said it first, but everyone agrees the adage speaks to the idea that you cannot win over the long-term without discipline, discretion and focus. From companies with over 150 years of experience to my current role at an identity firm with five years under its belt, and countless hot laps around the racetrack, I’ve spent a lot of time steering my passion for racing alongside my career. With that breadth of territory comes a lot of lessons — one in particular that has transferred from place to place and scene to scene: productivity is the friend of success.

To me, productivity means consistently achieving goals. So let’s first talk about the structure of a strong goal. Goals are measurable, single-layered, simple and number-oriented. With a well-defined goal, you can benchmark progress easily and regularly, garner excitement quickly and define focus whole-heartedly. If, alternatively, you rally your team around a subjective goal, such as “be the best” or “have the most,” achievement becomes subjective as well.

From racing cars to building a cross-device identity solution at Drawbridge, I follow these tips to find the productivity our team needs to cross the finish line.

1. Commit to your line.

When you’re driving 100 miles an hour, there are going to be a lot of distractions on the road. There are other drivers busting into your lane, fans cheering along your windows, maybe even a dead car on the side of the road. It’s your job to focus on the clear path ahead. That’s the only thing that matters.

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So what is your clear path? What is going to drive your business in the long run? How will you motivate and incentivize your team to drive on the clear path? For my team, that clear path is identity. Our technology is the cornerstone of our business and deserves to be the cornerstone of our commercial efforts as well. It would be simple to get distracted by the easy money on the side of the road — for us, that’s media — but through repetition and clear messaging, we’ve shifted our focus to selling our core technology, the Connected Consumer Graph and personalized cross-device user identity.

2. Sweat the details.

How well does a race car drive without a proper oil change? Or with a rusty spark plug? Can you drive in the rain without excellent tires? These details are your competitive advantages on the track.

This lesson ties very closely to my days at Apple. The details matter. Apple creates beautiful products, but they’re not just beautiful on the outside. What you don’t see are the tens of thousands of hours spent designing things we, the consumer, will never see. I swear, the circuit board inside your iPhone is as stunning as a piece by Monet. Why bother? We’re focusing on the clear path ahead, is the inside of a phone what really matters? It does matter, in fact, it’s the reason your phone works.

Without sweating the details, users receive at best a neutral experience and at worst an unpleasant one. You don’t want to hear from your social media manager about an angry, Yelp-savvy, unhappy consumer on a Twitter rampage. Achieving goals means creating a built-in, pleasant, end-to-end customer experience. From the first email your client receives, to the wrap-up report, even the shipping label on the package at their door — you need to deliver a great user experience. Good products are good from beginning to end.

Sweating every detail means you’ll end up with a high-quality product. A high-quality product means better capabilities and more precise data. And just like a dialed-in car, a high-quality product wins in a head-to-head competition.

3. Never be satisfied.

Do you think Mario Andretti, Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton achieved their legendary status by winning one championship and checking it off their list? This is the darker side to productivity, but perhaps the most important. When you consistently achieve goals, you consistently have to set new ones. Being productive comes with a healthy dose of never being satisfied.

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If productivity is the friend of success, complacency is the enemy. When you get complacent, your competitors lap you. From product to consumer experience, revenue to internal cost efficiencies — productive people always strive to be more productive. True innovation comes from an insatiable desire.

4. Don’t trick yourself about your productivity.

Training is just that, training for the real thing. Push until you break because your muscles will come back stronger. Sure, going out for a few easy laps is better than nothing, but it’s not going to win you any trophies.

Trust me, I know it’s really easy to focus on the things that don’t matter, and it feels really good. But here’s the truth: replying to 50 emails and doing back-to-back meetings might be an easy win for the day, but cutting out the noise to focus on something bigger such as an annual plan — that’s a better win. Don’t be fooled by the easy victories. Going through the motions does not equate to productivity, going through the motions means you’re getting managed by your to-do list.

5. Treat others the way you would like to be treated

That’s right, the golden rule applies here, too. There is a reason Senna is one of the most-loved drivers of all time. He wasn’t a jerk.

So often we choose to worship the ruthless leaders of our industry, the ones that see their teams as disposable masses. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s this: your team will work harder for you if they like you. Be nice. They’re your greatest asset. Pushing for productivity is hard work and it’s bound to put a strain on your team. As you consistently achieve your goals, you’re also going to hit pressure points. That will lead to burnout if you don’t find a happy balance for your people.

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OSHA is an entity that is primarily concerned with health and safety matters. The main objective of OSHA rests on providing valuable assistance on health and safety factors to business organizations. It is engaged in state plans, workplace meetings, strategic partnerships, training and educational assistance on health and safety, together with voluntary protection programs given to interested firms. A recent activity performed by OSHA in order to reach the aforementioned objectives was the setting up of a new publications page on its web site.

Such new site provides necessary resources in a more efficient and user-friendly manner. This is done to facilitate the service provided to interested organizations. Apart from providing a free service, OSHA is also committed in providing an effective service as seen by the example mentioned. What is the purpose of job hazard analysis? The main reason why job hazard analysis is performed is to diminish and prevent hazards at work. Its main purpose as already stated is to reduce injuries in the workplace.

This is important for a business entity because it strengthens the adherence with legal requirements concerning health and safety in the working environment. This is performed by examining the operations of the firm and setting appropriate procedures that reduce danger. In addition, areas of employee training are identified and put in practice. In addition to the legal factor, for what other reasons should organizations be involved in safety programs? Safety programs, which are an integral part of Safety and Health Management System, can aid the organization in a number of ways.

The first one that comes to mind is the enhancement of the reputation of the firm. By adopting proper procedures that diminish work hazard the company will diminish labor turnover and adopt a good reputation in the labor market. This will in turn aid the firm in attracting skilled employees when vacancy arises. What is identity theft? Identity theft basically comprises any type of activity that wrongfully obtains personal data concerning an individual or a business entity through deceit in order to attain an economic gain. The issue of identity theft is present on a number of industries and professions.

For examples, banks and auditors are particularly keen in safeguarding confidential information from identity theft. This is especially the case in light that data stored on computers can be easily taken through spy ware and viruses that are present on the Internet. Why are companies concerned with repetitive stress injuries? What is carpal tunnel syndrome? Why is there a CTS controversy? A repetitive stress injury, which normally arises through strain on a body joint stemming from repetitive actions. Specialization is an economic factor that increases the repetition of tasks and thus enhanced the risk of repetitive stress injury.

This is of particular concern to business firms because apart from infringing health and safety regulations it also diminishes motivation, which ends up in lower productivity and efficiency. Meticulous organizations carefully plan procedures that diminish the risk of repetitive stress injury. An example that comes to mind is a comfortable chair at work for clerks. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a physical distress that arises whenever the median nerve is either irritated or squeezed due to particular movements. The results of carpal tunnel syndrome are normally numbness of the thumb, middle fingers and index.

A research conducted in 2001 at the Mayo Clinic revealed that computer users are not susceptible to the risk of incurring carpal tunnel syndrome. This led to a controversy with safety experts who contended that computer usage is a driver of such sickness. Indeed they challenged that the Clinic in which such research took place holds good working practices concerning health and safety in the office. They therefore state that such variable diminished the incidents of carpal tunnel syndrome and thus limits the results of the research. Case 2 Assignment The issue of employee safety is gaining increasing importance in the workplace.

A number of legislations are put in practice in American States that ensure that health and safety is adhered at work. Employers can be fined heavy penalties and fines if they deter from providing a sound-working environment with respect to safety. This was the result of a number of incidents as shown in the case provided. Safety in the workplace should commence with reasonable care in the selection of employees. An employer should select employees that are capable of performing the required job. We ought to keep in mind that frustration may arise from staff that does not hold the skill to complete his daily duties.

Indeed if an employee that is not able to do the job is hired, he should be immediately given the necessary training to enhance such abilities. In addition, in the hiring process, the entrepreneur should also ensure that the potential candidate does not have past records of violence and/or is not suffering from any mental illnesses. A recent medical certificate and police conduct report can be requested in order to ascertain such factors. Hazard risks arising from conflict between employees can also be tackled by adopting rigid policies and procedures concerning bullying, harassment, intimidation and other related factors.

Such policies should be communicated clearly and employees should be consistently monitored to ensure they are following such procedures. If incidents like these arise, proper action ought to be taken by management in line with what is specified in the procedures. In case of dismissal, whenever necessary the use of experts should be used. A performance appraisal scheme is another appropriate measure in detecting and refraining physical and psychological threats on employees. A performance appraisal method should be adopted where the worker is given room to discuss problems he encountered.

Management should also keep a keen eye on factors that may indicate employee harassment. For instance, employees that are no longer maintaining the required quality are normally troubled either due to work or personal problems. Apart from diminishing stress induced from others, performance appraisals also aid in identifying employee weaknesses necessitating training. This will thus further reduce stress in the workplace, which may lead to tragic incidents like the ones mentioned in the assignment case. The threat issue tackled in this assignment can also stem from outside persons.

This particularly applies for organizations whose operations entail meeting clients on a regular basis, like a postal service. Measurements that can be adopted to prevent health hazards are by limiting office access, hiring security, installing cameras and more. Employees dealing with clients should also be given the necessary training pertaining how to deal with customers. This will decrease the risk of clashes that may arise with clients and will enhance the ability of staff to deal with aggravated customers due to glitches that may arise in the service provided. Case 3 Assignment 1.

Violence in the workplace may be the result of either factors present in the working environment or in the society at large. Elements present at work that may induce violence are a highly authoritarian management style that constantly imposes their rules on employees without any valid reason. Lack of communication in the workplace can also enhance frustration, which results in violence. Keeping an employee unaware of what is expected from him may lead to negative feedbacks that may induce stress. A treating working environment may also arise due to arrogant and undiplomatic behavior from supervisors, namely when employees perform mistakes.

The direct supervisor also constantly checking that the employee is working can also boost frustration, which leads to violence. Deterring employees from being involved in the decision making process and indulging the feeling of assembly line workers can also diminish the self esteem of the individual. This is particularly the case if any ideas put forward by the employee are always ridiculed. The blame of violence in the workplace can also be sometimes put on societal and cultural factors. Adverse economic conditions like an economic recession may exert additional pressure on employees that may eventually direct towards violence.

A society that holds a persistent trend towards an attitude of being the sole victim can also lead towards violence. 2. A very effective method that can be utilized in order to identify the violence factors mentioned in the previous question is through a performance appraisal system. If designed carefully such system may give room for the employee to express elements that are inducing stress. After the meticulous planning from management side, the employee should be given a document, which highlights important factors concerning his job and working environment. He should then state his performance on such document.

At the end of such performance appraisal sheet, the employee should outline the reasons why in his opinion he performed better or worse and why the working environment is improving/deteriorating. Once this document is completed a performance appraisal interview with the operational manager should take place. During such process the main areas outlined by the worker should be discussed. The manager would also state any areas he deems fit and if necessary action is required the manager should take a hands on approach on such matter. Factors concerning training are normally identified in the performance appraisal.

However it is not an isolated case that a performance appraisal was capable to identify issues of violence and discrimination. 3. A more participate approach should be induced by executive management in the running of the organization. The main objectives of the company should be communicated to all staff in order to evoke a sense of belongingness to the firm. By properly communicated what is expected from them, workers effectiveness can also be improved. Human resources should also develop and implement policies and procedures concerning the management of staff by operational managers.

Such policies should refrain supervisors and managers from aggressive behavior with employees and from provoking employees through constant power exercisions. Employee empowerment is also another effective tool in involving employees in the decision making process and boosting their self-esteem. A participative performance appraisal scheme should also be put in place to identify training needs. With respect to the cultural factors, that the organization holds little power on, it is advisable that management adopts an open door policy.

This will thus allow workers to discuss certain issues they are facing and thus induce a tolerant environment in the workplace. Human resources should also play a critical part in such facet by aiding management in their daily duties through guidance and support. We have to keep in mind that the work of a manager is also highly stressful, which may direct violence from such parties.

References: Armstrong M. (2005). Human Resource Management Practice. Ninth Edition. London: Kogan Page Limited. Cambridge International College (2004). Management of Human Resources. Essex: The Pearson Education Limited.

What does industry mean on a job application? It means what field you have been working with. For example, if you were a teacher, the industry would be education. If you were a nurse, then jet down medicine or healthcare.