Match other's perceptions to our potential - Not just hard work. 2

[LoaferMan]

Simply working hard is not the key to career advancement. Just as in golf, swinging harder does not make the ball fly further. We need to align the club (and our careers) with the "Sweet Spot". Then the ball (and our careers) will travel in the right direction at the right speed.

Does anyone have examples of things they have done to advance their career that got better results than obtaining another certification, learning a new computer language, or working 80 hours a week, etc.? Please share. I have a few, but would like to hear yours.

LoaferMan - There is no practice life. This is it. (Billy Crockett)

 

[BeckahC]

I went back to school. It didn't really seem to matter at the time what I was taking... just my going to college seemed to set things in motion in the head of my boss at that time. I guess he thought that if I started learning more, I might not want to just be a clerk - data entry can get very boring, so he asked if I was interested in a promotion, before I even started school...
Now I'm not going anymore, but that one little push that got me started seems to have pushed me onto a moving-up track. I think just showing I wanted to do more/learn more/improve myself went a long way. Literally working my way up to programmer when I started out as a payment clerk (data entry and filing) was hard work, but mostly it was just showing how much I was committed to my work and how well I could do, given a chance.
I did also go to training classes to learn SQL Server and I sat with other programmers to learn more, but I think what helped me move up the most was the fact that I did my best to prove that I will always do my best at whatever it is that I am doing.... not necessarily staying late or dong extra (though I have done that too ;-) ), but getting everything done when and how it needs to be done and showing an interest in more... A lot of people don't seem to try anymore, they do what they have to do, and that's that.

(Sorry if I rambled a little)

I look forward to hearing your tales BeckahC

 

[LoaferMan]

Hmmm...

Here are a few. A friend of mine and I realized that certain people we knew and managers we knew were wearing tasselled loafers. This seemed kind of strange to us, being technical types. We always considered them "sissie shoes", but we observed these loafer wearers and discovered some amazing things about them. We had several theories about what upper management looked for to review and promote their employees, but we had to prove our theories. (Being the scientific types we are of course. )

So...We went out and each bought a pair of loafers. We started to see results right away. I scored better on my quarterly review than I ever had before. My friend renegotiated his employment agreement. I survived a layoff which chopped my whole division. (A dot com division). We began to see tangible, predictable outcomes (and incomes) related directly to wearing loafers and following the behavior of the other loafer wearers.

What do supervisors (especially non-technical ones) really know about your job? Well essentially, very little. They observe what they see with their eyes and hear from you and others, but they believe what they see more than anything else.

So, what do they see?
They see what time you come in. (On Time is good.)
They see if you take a lunch. (Taking a lunch is good.)
They see if you work so hard that it makes others look bad. (A no-no)
They notice if you take care of yourself. (Bottled water good, Pop not good, Health Club good, Donuts not good, Sleep good, working through the night not good.)
They notice if your teeth are straight and whitened. (Good)
They notice if you greet people in the morning. (Good)
They notice if you play golf. (Once there was a layoff at a company I worked for. Nobody in the golf league got laid off.)
They notice if you take time out for family birthday parties, school events, and celebrations. (Good)
They notice if you are arrogant and nobody can get along with you. (Bad)
They notice if your work looks impressive. (Good)
They notice if you build others up. (Good)
They notice if you are honest. (Good)
They notice if you have a definition and a back bone. (Good)

In short, they notice the visible. Your after hours work makes them feel guilty, because they don't do that. If they spend extra time for work, it is to go with a client to a ball game or something. They value relationships, events, and transactions, not time, sweat, or pain.

Make sure you place at least some of your efforts on the visible things. You are already probably killing yourself with the invisible (but necessary) things.
LoaferMan - There is no practice life. This is it. (Billy Crockett)

 

[BeckahC]

LoaferMan,

Now that you mention it, I did notice a surge of "good" work and praise headed my way when I was keeping up with my nail appointments and wore skirts to work more often and "did lunch" with people of influence once in awhile... (Not that I let myself go, I just got married and every little bill adds up)

I think it's kind of sad and a little funny that the little things we do sometimes make more of a difference than the big ones...

My review is coming up, maybe I should get a manicure and get my hair done before asking for a raise...

I do see what you mean, although as far as working late goes, my boss works later than the whole dept usually...(the original workaholic) so when I work late, I do tend to get a sort of "special" treatment (more time off or a little extra give if I run late)... I guess it depends on who you work for (and there might be a slight gender issue in some places also). BeckahC

 

[LoaferMan]

Hey BeckahC,

Review time huh? That used to be one of my pet peeves, but now I look at it as a chance to negotiate more, better stuff from my employer. I used to be afraid of reviews.

If the Chicago Bulls Owner ever reviewed Michael Jordan on a review form, it would have looked something like this:
1 is unsatisfactory and 5 is exceptional.

Height: 6'6" 4th shortest guy on the team. Give him a 2.
Shot Percentage: 55% Give him a 3.
Attendance: Missed 1/4 of a game last week. Give him a 4.
Gets along well with others: Had 5 fouls yesterday. Give him a 1.
Is a team player: Took the final shot of the game even when several players had not shot at all the whole game. Give him a 1.

His average is 11/5 or about a 2. Does he deserve a raise? I don't think so. He scored less than average on his review.

Edwards Deming hated reviews. He said that it normally took 6 months to recover from them.

So I say, if the employer has to take a formal pulse of your activity with a document that was written by people who have never done your job, you should turn the tables and use the opportunity to discuss your opinion of how the company has treated you during the past year, how they could do better, and demonstrate why you are vastly underpaid, underutilized, and underappreciated. Be honest, be confident, and be unafraid. I have walked on eggshells before, but that never has secured my job or respect from my employer. If you work in a place that is strong, you can be yourself and be confident there. If you work in a place that is weak, you should find out sooner rather than later. I wish you well in your review, but don't get too caught up in the process. Know you are a worthy person, and your employer may or may not figure that out. That all depends on how perceptive they really are. LoaferMan - There is no practice life. This is it. (Billy Crockett)

 

[BeckahC]

"underpaid, underutilized, and underappreciated" -
Talk about an understatement... I think I must be the lowest paid programmer I've never heard of! ;-)

thank you for the vote of confidence, I definately needed that! I used to have a boss (same company, diff. dept.) who praised everyone as often as possible. He gave constructive criticism where warranted, but he didn't seem to prescribe to the old way of - if you do something wrong, you're chastized and shown how it should be done, however if you do something right, it's expected.... - in other words, he gave credit and praise where it was due and tried to help those who seemed to need that extra training or assistance to get it in gear and pull their weight, so to speak. I don't think I've ever been as productive as I was under his leadership, and don't think it very likely that I will ever be again.

As for my review, I'm hoping that this boss will actually review me with me in the room, previously my bosses have just put the paperwork through.... I do plan on asking for and getting a raise, as for appreciation, I think some things never change.... my corpoarate users are very nice to me and usually will give me the boost I need, but I think I've been spoiled... I actually need to hear "good job!" every once in a while... BeckahC

 

[MasterRacker]

You have no input into your own review? Yikes! We have a system whereby you review yourself, your supervisor reads that then does their review, then you sit down one-on-one and go over the whole works.

If nothing else write up an objective self-review 1) as a tool to identify your own ideas of your strengthes and weaknesses, and 2) to help you formulate concrete information you could use to contest criticisms you might feel are unfair in your formal review.

Do you at least get copies of the reviews when they are submitted? You are entitled to that by law. If you don't have copies, request copies of the entire contents of your file from your HR dept.
Jeff
I haven't lost my mind - I know it's backed up on tape somewhere ....

 

[BeckahC]

MasterRacker,

I haven't received copies so far, but since I am in a different department this time around I don't know how they are going to work it.

As far as the review process goes... we are supposed to have forms to fill out, but I have never been given any.... I usually find out about my review either to hear that it's "coming up" or it's "already done". Somehow my previous boss never thought to include me... we would have a short meeting - how are you doing? How's your work going? What are you working on now? When should that be done? etc... But I am in Info Management now, so who knows?

The only thing I miss is the praise, but I can always walk by some of my on-site users for that - They have a little something they want altered, it takes me a few moments to do, I let them know later on that it's done, they're ecstatic I got it to them same day and I'm a miracle worker or something... I shouldn't need the boost, but after staring at a computer for most of the day, sometimes I just need to know it's worth it...

Of course, if the boss never said a word to me, but showed appreciation in the paycheck.... that would be another story... BeckahC