The Snitch

You don't have to make your boss like you with cards and roses.

For those looking to move up the career ladder, it is important to gain the respect and the trust of their managers.  But could you be secretly driving your manager up the wall without even knowing it?

Tim Hird, managing director of Robert Half Singapore shares with us eight negative actions that bosses generally dislike in employees.

1. Turning down new assignments

If your supervisor comes to you one day with a new task, do not decline it. It would be unwise to build a reputation as someone your boss can’t count on. Furthermore, it is good practice to accommodate to your boss’ wishes as long as you can afford time for that extra work. Saying “no” can convince your manager to stop offering you opportunities, which may include the ones you might be interested in.

2. Being “high-maintenance”

Do you constantly need attention from your boss to remain productive or to ensure that you’re on the right track? This behaviour may just prevent your manager from attending to important tasks or getting into a good workflow. And this is a sure-fire way to annoy anyone in the workplace.

3. Communicating poorly

Your boss’ instructions can be vague but it is critical for you to understand his communication style and preferences and adjust accordingly. Also consider the amount of information he would like. Ensuring you remain on the same page with him is important to a good collaboration.

4. Asking too many questions

Always pay attention to your boss when he is speaking and try to seek clarification on the get-go. Repeatedly asking him the same question can drive him insane. However if you must follow-up with your manager, be sure to approach him with a specific list of questions and take notes so you don’t need to bother him again.

5. Failing to follow through

Pay attention to details – even the finest ones. Think ahead when you tackle about the types of concerns your boss might have when tackling a project. This would build your manager’s confidence in you.

6. Refusing to admit your mistakes

Step up to the plate if you’ve made a mistake. Creating an excuse to justify poor work performance is not only dishonest but also unprofessional. Additionally, your ploy might not stand the test of time. So face your mistake and then go further by devising a plan to both correct and avoid similar incidents in future.

7. Waving the red flag after the ship has sunk

If you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to meet a deadline, let your manager know about it at an earlier timing. Do not break the news to him at the last minute. This could infuriate him.

8. Fueling the rumour mill

Most importantly, do not spread gossip or complaints around the workplace. Bosses seek employees with a positive outlook and want workers who are able to influence the attitudes of other beacuse enthusiasm is contagious!

Overall, Hird says that “cultivating good emotional intelligence and adopting a positive attitude are crucial to workplace survival”.

Bully-proof yourself

How can you tell if you are being bullied at work?

When the term “hostile workplace” is brought up, people generally tend to think that it refers to an environment where one has to subdue to another’s overbearing ways of threats, harassment, belittling, verbal abusing, or excessive criticism.

But because there is no pre-determined definition to the term “bullying” in the corporate world, does it mean that you are being bullied if you feel isolated and singled out at work?

Some bullying tactics to help you identify if you have fallen victim to your workplace bullying include:

• Made up rules (generally against you)
• Silent treatment
• Accused of things you have not done
• Discounting your personal opinions, work, etc.
• Non-verbal intimidation (e.g. stared at)
• Encouraging others to turn against you as well
• Starting rumours (which are about you and your work and generally negative)
• Constant criticism
• Harsh treatment
• Ignoring and not commenting on good work

Stress is often a consequence for victims of bullying. Hence, it is essential to take steps to resolve the situation:

• Speak to the bully
• Tell someone else that you trust
• If you are part of a Union, speak to them
• Keep a note and diary of every incident occurred
• Do not fight back or get into a debate with
• If it gets really bad and none of the above has led to the bullying stopping, make a formal complaint and go through the grievance procedures

(Via)

A great service culture is one where employees not only create value for their customers, but also strive to make work better and easier for the rest of their colleagues.

According to Ron Kaufman, founder of UP Your Service! College, companies need to adopt a great service culture such as this to stay competitive, keep their current customers and engage their internal employees.

“There is an increased profitability, higher margins, greater market share, more loyal customers that come to organisations that can build and maintain this superior service culture,” he adds.

In this three-and-a-half minute video, Kaufman talks about the benefits of a service culture and how HR can help create and nurture a service culture within their organisation.

Have trouble loading the video? Why not check your company or computer’s firewall settings to make sure that Youtube videos can be streamed on your computer.

Is your company culture scarier than a horror flick?

How do you know if a company culture has hit rock-bottom and its time for an overhaul?

According to blogger and management consultant Karl Staib at Work Happy Now!, he says there are certain identifying factors that show if a company’s culture has gone south.

Attrition rate: Is your company’s attrition rate higher than your industry standard? While Staib uses the average turnover rate in US (which is 3.2 to 3.6%), it might be more feasible to benchmark your company’s turnover rate to your industry’s. Taking out those who have left due to circumstances such as family and school, anything higher than industry standard might indicate that there’s a problem with your company culture.

Is there rampant gossiping? “A company that doesn’t address issues will have rumors running rampant throughout its organization,” Staib says. However, if there is negative gossiping about the company that is not addressed, this could fuel the imaginations of employees and “make them afraid of what might happen”.

There are no more complaints of the good kind: There is a distinction between good complaints and bad complaints, Staib says. The former usually points out a problem that demands attention. However, when employees have no complaints, it usually means that they’ve stopped caring about the company.

What innovation? When companies use fear to run an organisation, employees simply stop taking risk for the fear of potentially losing revenue. “What occurs in this fear based company is stifled thought. Employees would rather not bring up an idea because they are afraid of rejection,” Staib adds.

Employees aren’t friends: In companies such as Zappos (one of Fortune magazine’s top places to work for and recently bought over by Amazon), employees are encouraged to know their other colleagues outside of work. Managers are also tasked to use 20% of their time to get to know their employees.

“The more friends an employee has at work, the less likely they are to feel unhappy with their job. A strong network of friends makes an employee feel safe and happy. If your employees are all going straight home after work then it’s a sign that they don’t feel connected to the people with whom they work with,” says Staib.

Negativity can be infectious and have a draining effect on the morale in the workplace. Is there any way you can manage or even change the attitudes of negative employees?

Alan Fairweather, associate consultant of d’Oz International, believes so. In the video interview, Fairweather has a few suggestions for managers who find themselves having to deal with employees who relish seeing the glass half full.

Maybe swearing should be tolerated in the office after all.

The next time you’re writing a memo to warn employees not to cuss and swear in the office, don’t. Studies have recently found that swearing and reduce the actual experience of physical pain.

“Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon” says Dr. Richard Stephens. “It taps into emotional brain centres and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists.”

Richard Stephens and his colleagues John Atkins and Andrew Kingston enlisted the help of 64 undergraduate volunteers for an “Ice Water Test”, in which each individual was asked to submerge their hand in a tub of ice water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice. Next, they were asked to repeat the experiment using a word they would use to describe a table. The team found that the volunteers were able to keep their hands submerged for a longer period of time when repeating the swear word.

The link is unclear, but the team believes the increase in pain tolerance occurs because swearing triggers a natural “fight-or flight” response. The accelerated heart rate when repeating a swear word may increase aggression, “downplaying feebleness in favour of a more pain-tolerant machismo”.

Swearing triggers a physical response on top of an emotional response, which may be an explanation why the centuries-old practice of cursing still persists today.

(via)

Beware: invading one's personal space may land you in a messy situation

The idea of personal space has always been spoken of, but just not enough. In Asian cultures, people have the tendency to maintain their physical distances as compared to western cultures which tend to be a bit more expressive and “touchy-feely”. However, there are bound to be “touchers” at the workplace, someone constantly giving out pats on the back, hugs, shoulder rubs or high fives.

Is it okay to be giving out the human touch ever so often?  Corporate lawyers and human-resource practitioners who spoke to columnist Elizabeth Bernstein say the safest bet is always to keep our hands to ourselves in the workplace.

“There aren’t standards about what touching is nonsexual other than handshakes,” says Larry Stybel, a Boston management consultant. “If we are sitting alongside each other and I put my hand on your knee, is that a friendly sign of affection or a sexual come-on? I don’t know, and I don’t know how you will perceive it. So let’s not even go there.”

For others, they simply subscribe to the hands-off rule. “Respect my force field,” says Greg Farrall, a 39-year-old financial adviser. “If you’re looking over me at my computer screen, you don’t need to put your hand on my shoulder. You can easily put it somewhere else.”

Touch is essentially a form of human communication, says Bernstein. It’s unnatural to suppress it, and even online, we succumb to Facebook “pokes” and MSN messenger’s “nudges”. Touch is also the best way to express empathy and other kinds of support, according to psychologists. In today’s economic climate, there is perhaps an increase in hugging and patting in the workplace as colleagues console each other after layoffs and buyouts.

Yet how do “touchers” decide whom to touch? Experts say you’re always taking a risk by making physical contact with a co-worker. A person’s up-bringing and socio-environmental influences will directly relate to their comfort level, and so will different workplace environments. Still, Bernstein believes that experienced “touchers” would definitely be more intuitive as far as whom to touch.

But while some of us may cringe and dodge the friendly touches that come our way, we might actually miss the human touch when it’s gone.

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Master your emotions and save the discomfort of having to wear a box over your head.

Emotions are often a messy and sordid affair. At work, being overly sensitive affects your work productivity and harmony with your co-workers. But when under control, emotions can take your work performance and power of persuasion to greater heights. Mastering your emotions can also give you a big leg-up in a competition.

In the book Full Throttle, Gregg Steinberg spills some strategies to supercharge your performance at work through emotional mastery. Here are a few suggestions:

Discover your inner Tiger (Woods)

True happiness is a verb, says Steinberg. It involves meaningful endeavors that inspire us from the heart. Tiger Woods epitomises authentic happiness living a life of meaning that gives him inspiration to do more and to be a better person.

Steinberg recommends making a “tiger list”, where you write down a list of all the meaingful contributions your job has made to yourself. Ask yourself if your job has made a meaningful contribution to your company, and how does your job make a meaningful contribution to you. Put the list somewhere in your office, and when you’re feeling stressed or depressed, take a glance at it for a jolt of needed motivation.

Serenity now

Let serenity be your advantage at work. When finding serenity at the workplace, you first need to gain wisdom to recognise the difference between aspects of your business life which you have control and no control over. Next, place them into two categories: Can Control and Cannot Control. For the Cannot Control list, crumble up the paper and throw it away. Hence, when you start thinking unproductive thoughts, say “trash can” to yourself.

Also, focus on what you can control by devising one strategy for each worry on your Can Control list. For example, if you have a strategy to take on extra work, stay late but make sure the work is of the highest quality. Following a specified strategy will give you a greater sense of control over the situation and reduce your anxiety.

Find your joy spot

Sometimes, we get so caught up in work that we forget to have fun. With this, Steinberg suggests laughter. Laughter puts you in a better mood, and increases your work productivity as your mental capacities increase. A good chuckle can also produce a relaxation response. So when things go awry with work, you can choose to feel angry, or you can decide to laugh at the difficulties faced at work and in your life.

Leap above boredom

Steinberg believes that boredom is on the flip side of flow. Boredom is caused by the lack of challenge, where you cannot achieve flow unless you’re appropriately challenged at work. Ask yourself if you can add more seminars to your schedule, or increase your quota to be more challenged. In short, fight boredom by making it your mission to add challenges to your job.

Take note: Can your life experiences be used as a motivational tool?

Can storytelling lead to great leadership?  Yes, says Peter Guber. With an wealth of experience of leadership in the Hollywood film and media industry under his belt, Guber says, “Your ability to narrate your offering — not just the facts, data, PowerPoints, but emotionally move them — that is the secret sauce for getting them to do something.”

Guber suggests leaders can help employees thrive in a complicated business environment through narration. “Narrative bonds information to an emotional experience,” he says. Rather than conjuring random anecdotes, the objective is to form narration out of a situation at hand, and make others feel like characters in a drama.

Guber uses MAGIC as an anagrammatic device, which stands for Motivating your Audience to a Goal Interactively with great Content.

Motivating: Guber feels the key to motivating someone is to be authentic. “You’ve got to have your feet, your heart, your wallet and your tongue going in the same direction. As soon as they see those things going in different directions, you don’t seem authentic.”

Audience: Think of your listeners as an audience, says Guber. When you speak like you’re speaking to an audience, they will naturally do the “emotional dance” with you, find resonance in your presentation, creating an unforgettable emotional experience.

Goal: Guber stresses that goals are very important, and it is okay to be very up front with them.

Interactivity: Make your audience part of the story and give them stories to remember. By doing so, the stories will live on and they will tell their own experiences, not just yours.

Content: Guber feels the material for stories can come from anywhere, from your own experiences, observations, history, metaphors to analogies. He advises collecting the stories and making them part of your business leadership life.

(via)

Apologies need to be sincere. That means no backstabbing!

I don’t want to be a wet blanket. But let’s face facts, we get into endless situations at work where an apology is needed to rectify things. Although we have been taught from young how to apologise, the sad thing is some of us tend to do it the wrong way and make things worse.

When expressed the right way, an apology does not just lead to forgiveness, but it may also repair the relationship and lead to a new and stronger footing. John Kador, author of Effective Apology guides you with ten dos and don’ts for making the right apology.

Don’t include ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’

Adding the word “if”, or any other conditioner modifier to an apology, makes it a non-apology. It always reduces the effectiveness by making the offense conditional. The word “but” is a way for us to deflect some of the responsibility from ourselves.

Don’t be passive, be active

The passive voice is another way of avoiding responsibility. You can tell if an apology is in the passive voice by looking for the verb in the apology. If the verb does not come out, it is likely you are in the passive voice as hiding the action is usually what the passive voice is designed to do.

Passive: I’m sorry you were hit.

Active: I’m sorry I hit you.

Don’t joke

Apology is always serious, and the more you treat it that way, the more effective it will be. While humour can help refuse a tense situation, it is better to let the apology itself do the defusing.

Don’t assume

Adding “I know how you feel” into an apology gives the victim the impression that you take him or her for granted. It is much better to go into dialogue with an open, eager-to-learn attitude. Instead of pretending to know, plead arrogance, and instead of assuming, ask.

Don’t ask “What can I do to make this right?”

Apologies will be more effective if it is accompanied by a concrete offer of restitution, where the victim needs to hear what you consider to be an appropriate offer. Making an apology is not a negotiation, and in an apology you need to be fair and even generous without being asked.

Take turns

In any kind of conversation, many of us stop listening because we are busy formulating our response. Hence, it is beneficial before the conversation to inform the victim that you are about to apologise, and after which he or she can feel free to speak.

I need to apologise to you. This is not easy for me, so can I ask that you hear me out and then I’ll listen to what you have to say?

Begin the apology with “I”

Starting an apology with “I” means an individual is taking personal responsibility. Starting it with “you” tends to make people defensive, especially if they are nervous.

Use the recipient’s name

Using the person’s name reinforces the entire mission of the apology, which is to repair the relationship.

Don’t ramble

We often do a good job apologising, but we keep talking and end up diluting the apology with excuses. It is best to say you’re sorry, stop, and listen.

Don’t argue

The person you’re apologising to may not see things your way, but it is crucial to listen and not argue. An apology is not a place for argument or for attempting to change someone’s point of view