Career – Page 8

Corporate America Asks Questions Without Wanting True Answers

05.14.2007 by Angel Chernoff // 1 Comment

Have you ever felt momentarily suspended in a complete void of productivity because someone just asked you a question that you knew they did not want an honest answer to? I am not referring to a situation where you are intentionally deceiving a loved one’s trust by hiding information that could emotionally hurt them. The situation I am referring to involves a professional environment where multiple individuals in a strict business relationship disregard the truth in favor of delivering the ideal lie. In other words, these business people ask their associates questions that already have a presumed answer regardless of whether that answer is true or not. Frustration in Corporate America

For instance, if the regional director Bob of Spazz Inc. asked John, one of his small branch managers, how the brand new employee training system was functioning, would John be honest with his boss? Without any knowledge of the company structure, maybe he would. But what if John knew that Bob had a lead role in convincing the president of Spazz Inc. to pour 25 million dollars into designing the new employee training system. If the training system was truly a faulty disaster, would you expect John to be upfront about it with the director project, whom also happens to sign his paycheck

Situations like this create an absolute void of productivity and efficiency. Unfortunately, this sort of thing occurs in corporate America on a daily basis and companies of all sizes suffer from it. This is not just an isolated management dilemma. The problem starts at the root of executive company administration and spills out to every facet in the chain of command. The source of the epidemic correlates directly to a shortfall in the company-wide team building process. When an employee does not feel comfortable with the management, a lack of trust sets in, at which point they will tell their boss exactly what they think their boss wants to hear. And sadly enough, many times this is exactly what the boss desires.

Career Opportunity vs. Fear of Change – Is The Bump Worth The Jump?

05.03.2007 by Marc Chernoff // 2 Comments

At some point in time most working professionals will be faced with a new career opportunity outside of their current employer’s offerings. Most of the folks I know have some sort of fantasy involving a job opening that pays a higher salary, contains added career growth potential, and/or generally sets them in a direction that suits their future ambitions. But when that ideal job opportunity moves from the fantasy land of their dreams and into the landscape before them, how will they react? How would you react?

open opportunity When this door of possibility opens, the initial reaction of the working professional is usually extremely positive. They are gung-ho about the idea of advancement and the excitement of something new, but once the opportunity translates itself into an official offer letter, the frame of mind adjusts 180 degrees. Apprehension of change takes over the consciousness and fear sets in. Hesitant thoughts begin to traverse the mind: “Maybe this bump in salary or career direction isn’t worth the jump right now.” “Maybe I should hold off for a little while and see where my current position takes me.”

Yeah, maybe they should, and maybe they shouldn’t. Nothing is certain, and the fear of change is completely natural. However, surrendering to this fear and hesitation without an accurate evaluation of the options can lead to unfortunate personal growth stagnation.

The bottom line is that we all must evaluate our options realistically and be ready to face change if necessary. We must be willing to adjust in the event that we are dealt a straight flush. Sure, the house might have the royal flush, so you’ll never be absolutely 100% certain where your current position will take you. But if you perform a constructive assessment of your options weighted against a timeline of the next five years and your gut feeling tells you that the bump is worth the jump, your instinct is almost certainly correct. Make the leap and never look back.

A buddy of mine is currently in a state of extreme hesitation concerning a career opportunity that I truly believe he should take. Either way, I just hope he makes a decision that he won’t regret down the line.

Update: This article was picked up by the Carnival of Careers in Middle Age.

Seizing the Unforeseen Moment of Opportunity

03.16.2007 by Marc Chernoff // 1 Comment

Short self-help articles discussing the motivational concept of seizing opportunity have become common filler on the face of news websites across the web. The fundamental lesson usually rests within the notion that one must absolutely capitalize on opportunity when it arises, for it may not come again. It seems like countless individuals, including myself, concentrate heavily on the hunt for opportunity. Most of us spend a great deal of time searching for a new job, analyzing the potential of an investment, brainstorming the million dollar idea, all while endlessly attempting to impress our superiors.

When will our big break transpire? When will the perceived outcome we so desperately seek move from our imagination into the physical space before us? These are questions pertaining to a point in time that will continue to remain unknown. We all have the ability to take steps in a positive direction, but the climatic moment that solidifies the success of all our efforts will come suddenly, in complete disregard of what we see coming over the horizon.

So how can we be certain that we will be ready to seize the opportunity in the wake of that unforeseen moment? I’m only beginning to apprehend a slight understanding of the essential elements. It has nothing to do with luck, and everything to do with confidence, awareness and education. We must always be prepared to act… and when the moment arises, we react.

The Female Boss is Your Friend: Act Ethically and Get Promoted

10.17.2006 by Angel Chernoff // 3 Comments

So you think you’re a hard working employee. Maybe you exceed company expectations in almost every measurable category directly pertaining to your position. You’ve put in a couple years of dedicated service, and in this time frame you’ve managed to befriend your boss. Your boss happens to be female, and occasionally you informally socialize with her outside of the workplace.

You’ve been respectful in the past and have established a solid rapport with her. Does the existence of this informal relationship give you the right to stretch the rules of the work environment? “She likes me. She’ll let me get away with a little tardiness. Won’t she?” It’s this kind of attitude that quickly eats away at the relationship and dismantles all levels of the trust and respect you’ve constructed in the past.

I’m a young female professional, and yes, I am the boss. I’m fair and compassionate, but I expect results. I certainly expect my employees to follow the rules, but above all I expect honesty. Because I choose to occasionally socialize with my employees in an informal setting, they sometimes feel that they can use this as a free pass to slack off at work. When this occurs, I find myself in an uncomfortable situation.

If I let them slide, my reputation as a fair manager is in jeopardy. The image I portray and the example I set becomes tarnished. Other employees see me favoring their peers over themselves and quickly become displeased. My credibility is lost. If I take the necessary disciplinary action, I personally feel horrible. Punishing or firing someone that you’ve established an informal relationship with can be disheartening.

In the end it basically comes down to “me or them”. Their unethical behavior will either negatively affect my professional reputation, or I must hold them accountable for their actions. This is something many of my employees continuously overlook. They don’t see the immediate affect their actions have on me. They don’t understand that the compassion I show outside of the workplace is completely unrelated to my leniency at work.

Does my sex have something to do with their misinterpretation of reality? I know females are typically seen as more empathetic than their male counterparts. So do they think I’m a pushover? Who knows. Some may say that one way to avoid the situation is to cease the habit of informal socialization. But, that would be a sad situation. I truly believe the fostering of an informal relationship can increase overall employee moral and ambition. I know it can easily benefit both parties. Employees just need to follow the basic rules.

Do you informally socialize with your boss? If so, allow me to layout a concise summation of my experiences and expectations. I’ll make this really short and sweet. Here’s a quick reality check of what not to do, and how to harness this informal relationship and use it to your advantage:

Understand this…
There is a distinct separation between business and pleasure. Believe me, your boss understands this fact. Don’t cross the line by believing that a stronger informal relationship gives you the ability to break the rules of the workplace. Also, bragging to your coworkers about the conversations you had with your boss can easily start negative rumors. This will reflect poorly on your perceived honesty and dedication.

React like this…
Reinforce the informal relationship by proving yourself within the workplace. Instead of slacking off, do the exact opposite. Take pride in your work, and go the extra mile. If your boss takes the time to get to know a little more about your personal life, she probably holds you in high regard. Don’t screw it up by disrespecting her authority in a professional atmosphere. Instead, use it to your advantage. If your boss likes you, she will be willing to spend more time assisting you, training you, and ultimately promoting you. The choice is yours. You can lose your credibility, or you can place yourself on the fast track for promotion. It should be a no-brainer.

Pissing Off Your Employees

09.24.2006 by Marc Chernoff // 3 Comments

I came across this blog entry that listed 50 things an employer could do to their employees that would make them want to quit. The crazy thing is that this list hit far to close to home… not concerning to my new job, but concerning the job that I recently left behind. I wasn’t the only one to split either. For the most part, our entire team quit over the course of a year. Why? Because we put heart into every job related duty and all of our clients loved us, but when it came time for internal corporate recognition, the men upstairs gave us the cold shoulder. Interestingly enough, two us are currently employed by the same (new) employer… and we’re both praised for our efforts, compensated respectfully, and rapidly working toward a big promotion. Another one of our ex-colleagues just interviewed with this same employer last week. Our boss loved him, and offered him the job almost on the spot… yet our old employer thought he was totally expendable. They are learning their lesson though. One of our ex-colleagues that didn’t leave recently informed us that all of their clients are in an absolute uproar over the poor quality of service produced by the team that replaced us. Here are some of the things our old employer/bosses did to motivate our departure:

Assign enough projects with tight deadlines so that your team has no choice but to work a 60 hour week while you only work 30 hours. – (Follow this up by telling us that we don’t really work that hard all the time… basically, a slap in the face.)
Cap overtime pay. – (What overtime pay? We never saw a dime!)
Talk more than you listen. – (They loved to hear themselves talk. But when it came time for proactive suggestions, the office was closed.)
Constantly underestimate the time it takes to get things done. – (Yeah… and then force us into the meat grinder anyway.)
Hire someone that is very weak to take the place of a veteran and expect the same results from the team. – (They basically expected the same level of results regardless of the lack of resources… all day, every day!)
Consistency is good. Never ask your employees if they are challenged enough or want to take on more responsibility. – (Oh yeah, and let’s keep all the hard working guys in their current position forever because they do such a good job at it. If an upper level position becomes available, we’ll just bring in an outsider.)
Make promises to customers but have no idea on the elements involved in getting the task done. – (Yeah, or employ an entire army of sales guys that are barely capable of operating their own personal laptop, and then have them sell cutting edge client/server based digital video editing systems to multimillion dollar professional sports clients. I mean, who cares. If they screw it up, the IT support guys will clean up the mess.)
Give employees low raises because the more you save, the higher your bonus. – (All they cared about was the bottom line… Forget about the guys on the front line that are helping the company achieve its goals. The word “Budget” went hand in hand with the word “Raise”. Yet, they threw thousands of wasteful dollars around when schmoozing the clients.)
Create a desk cleanliness policy. – (Or, just randomly piss and moan about it for no apparent reason while living by the “do what I say but not what I do” philosophy.)
Instead of offering to help hands-on, watch from a distance and provide support over email. – (Upper management was never actively involved in our problems… they never even showed an interest unless a significant financial loss was at risk.)
Never be the on-call guy to share in the team burden. – (Nuff said!)
Give advice on topics you are only partially educated in. – (Oh, they were pros at this! This is what occurs when business men own a cutting edge tech company and ignore the advise of their hired IT staff.)
Let a couple people work from the house, but provide no reason for it or ways for others to obtain the right. – (This seemed to be some kind of loophole we never could figure out. Half of the company staff worked from home, but this wasn’t an option for us… even though it would have been totally feasible.)

It’s amazing that even after dealing with all this corporate crap, I actually enjoyed my job, and I took pride in my work. I would have loved to remain onboard. If blatant mismangement hadn’t been such a career impeding problem, I would have never looked elsewhere. Hopefully they realize that.