Who is a perfect boss: the one who is cheerful, professional, experienced and fair. But in reality this does not exist. Building a productive working relationship with the existing imperfect boss is a more practical solution. 

Previously, the norm was that you had a job for life. Today we are in the transitory phase with global transformations and economic fluctuations requiring speedy adjustments. Most businesses today must continually make changes to remain competitive. Downsizings are almost routine and being laid off does not have to reduce your employability -- unless you let it.

With the increasing presence of call centres and other BPOs, the number of people working in shifts, especially night shifts, have increased. There are many physical and psychological implications of working in shifts. Understanding these implications and practicing skills to cope with them will help lead healthier lives. 

The building, protecting and repairing of relationships is at the center of all our lives - personal and professional. As a supervisor or manager you will build and maintain thousands of relationships during your career. This makes it worth developing your relationship skills. Here are some tips on building good relationships at work.

Balancing work and other aspects of our life is an essential ingredient for a content and happy existence. Without balance, focus is on one area of life at the cost of another. 

"Every workplace has some people who are difficult to work with. But if we do NOT respond appropriately, the problem behavior could get exaggerated and may continue creating challenges for you. Read on to understand how you can potentially respond in such situations"

People join work thinking life in the corporate will be similar to the life in a college and the same rules apply. However that is not the case. As a business school graduate said, "The real world is a big change, more than you can ever imagine when you are sitting in the classroom thinking about the outside world!"

Taking up a new job in a new city you are setting yourself up for a lot of changes - living on your own, managing your finances, exploring opportunities, being adventurous, establishing a routine for yourself. While quite exciting and a great learning experience the cumulative effect of having to adjust to all these new things all at the same time, can be quite overwhelming as well.

"While shiftwork or long working hours are hard on employees, it also affects the whole family. This is especially true for families with young children, and this can lead to communication breakdown and even marital problems. However, these can be overcome with better understanding of the situation and some planning."

Retirement is often considered a rite of passage... as inevitable as the birthdays that signal its oncoming. Although some of us do dread not having office to go to and nothing to look forward to, no break in the monotony - for many retirement is something to look forward to - a time when, as Khalil Gibran puts it, time is no longer money and hence we can spend it as we like!