What Employee Handbooks Never Tell You: The Abc's of Workplace Common Sense and Other Advice

By Kay F. Kneeland

With many years in the field of Human Resources (HR), I thought my insight and advice might be of assistance to those who choose to read my book.
I have worked my entire life with a desire and need to feel I have accomplished something within my field whether it was my first job during high school as a department store clerk, or my first "real" job as a receptionist at a major company, and subsequently many HR jobs with advancing degrees of responsibility.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463438715

Kay F. Kneeland

Kay F. Kneeland – Has over 20 years of Human Resources experience. As a first time author, her no nonsense, tell it like it is approach about life in the work world comes through loud and clear. Whether you are just entering into the workforce, one who has a hard time staying employed or someone who has been on the job a while, you will find her guidance and sound advice refreshing and to the point. Mrs. Kneeland received her Bachelor’s degree in Business with an emphasis in Marketing from Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois while working a full-time, often demanding job, and also being a wife and mother. Becoming an author had been a life long dream that had been put on the back burner until now. But as stated by this first time author - “Broken into reality are important steps of dreams.” Finally, her dream has come true.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

A

ACCEPTANCE

I would recommend reading the Serenity Prayer periodically; it helps to put things into proper perspective. It basically states, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

In the business world there will be many moments in which you will just have to accept things. It is all about being and showing maturity and control. You, of course, do not have to agree with whatever is being said or done, but you will have to find a way to accept it because frequently you cannot change it. That is, if your manager promotes someone who you believe has less experience and expertise than you, you can take the opportunity to complain, but nine times out of ten you cannot change it. And your complaining only confirms to the manager that he made the right choice.

Acceptance is a characteristic that sometimes needs to be developed. Acceptance is not easy especially when you feel you have been wronged. But, nevertheless it is a characteristic you will need to have in order to be successful.

ACCLIMATION

Unfortunately, not all companies have their act together as it pertains to acclimating new hires. So, with that said, it means that you as the new hire should do your homework; find out about the company, its people and its customers. The first thing is to find either a co-worker or manager who is willing to spend some time with you then start to ask questions. Most people, while they are not against sharing information, do not do so unless asked. Once that person sees you are just trying to acclimate yourself to the organization as quickly as possible, they will generally share information freely. Sometimes the information is as simple as telling or showing you where the cafeteria is in the building, while other information sharing might show you how to navigate the maze of a large organization when trying to get something accomplished. But, in most cases if you do not ask you will spend a lot of wasted time trying to figure things out.

When you have been at the company and have had an opportunity to learn the basics, you may then want to seek out a mentor. That person does not necessarily have to be in your same field of expertise, be the same gender, be in the same department or even be at the same company. That person should be someone who is knowledgeable and willing to take the time to mentor you. Make it a point to build a solid professional relationship with this person. Throughout your career you may need to call upon him or her more than once.

If after a period of time with your company you do not start to feel a sense of comfort or suitability, perhaps this company is not the place for you. At this time you will need to make an informed decision whether to stay and hope things will get better or leave to seek out other more suitable opportunities.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Accountability is taking responsibility for your own actions or the actions of others under your direction. That may not sound like anything that is difficult to do, but you would be surprised. Accountability when everything is or has gone right is easy and everyone wants to be the recipient of getting acknowledged for a project, assignment, or task that has been successful. But, true accountability when things have not gone so well or a deadline was missed is when you stand up and take full responsibility and not blame others. This piece for many people, even at the executive level, can be quite difficult. Most people do not want to be known for or even want to acknowledge that they personally or others under their management were responsible for a project gone wrong or a deadline missed that caused their company to lose customers or even worse, lose money.

However, it is very important in anyone’s career to be that one individual who stands up and says, I made a mistake or It was my fault. Believe it or not, in most companies telling the truth on these types of issues can go a long way. Your management might say that it took guts for you to be brave enough to take full accountability. As a matter of fact, many companies want to feel that they have an environment that allows their employees to feel comfortable enough to come forward when mistakes are made. This is not to say that if you do work in this type of environment that you can constantly make mistakes. On the contrary, at some point, continued mistakes on your part or those under your responsibility can show incompetence and even worse, result in the loss of your job and or the loss of jobs for individuals under your management.

Be sure you understand what is expected of you in your job, what the goals and objectives are of projects you or individuals working for you will be responsible for. And check and recheck your work and theirs. Never blame others for things you are responsible for. Blaming other is easy, being accountable takes guts. Being accountable will allow you to have peace of mind. It will also allow you to regain focus on what went wrong so that you can prevent the same thing from happening again in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF OTHERS

Learn to give credit when credit is due. This shows a sense of self-confidence and teamwork. Often this is a behavior that is lacking in the workplace as you generally do not hear or see this type of behavior being displayed. However, the recipient of the acknowledgement will be encouraged to continue the positive things he is doing particularly since the acknowledgement is coming from a co-worker. Unfortunately, the employee may not be receiving acknowledgment from his manager.

Employees respond to positive encouragement no matter who it comes from and to acknowledge someone in a public setting makes it all the better. What you will find is that the same co-worker will return an acknowledgement to you at some point in the future for something you have accomplished.

ADAPTABILITY

In any company there is one thing that is constant and that is change. In order for companies to keep pace with their competitors they must reorganize, realign, remake themselves, and continue to develop new and better products. Any changes a company makes will, for the most part, impact their employees. The impact of change can be small, but in some cases the change can be significant. However, as an employee you must be prepared to change to whatever extent the company changes. If not, you may find yourself on the outside looking in.

Being adaptable means you are flexible. It may mean you need to learn new skills, work a different shift, work longer hours, or take on responsibilities not normally under your current job duties. It is all a matter of how well you cope with the changes going on around you. Most companies that need to reassess the way they do business also reassess their employees; their skills set and what they have to offer to help make the company successful. In doing so, the last thing they need is to have employees going against the grain or against decisions being made by management. If changes are happening that you do not agree with or cannot for whatever reason make the changes that are being requested, perhaps this is the time you need to look for other opportunities elsewhere.

Being adaptable shows you want to help the company make a difference. Sometimes the changes that are needed are temporary while other changes may be permanent. Either way, you have got to show you are on board. Perhaps this is also a time that you might be able to contribute to the changes your company needs to make by providing suggestions or taking on additional responsibilities.

Believe it or not, management notices the contributions you make, large or small. It may be that they do not acknowledge every single thing you do, but they do take notice of those employees who are willing and flexible and of those employees who are not.

When a change that the company makes helps to keep them in business or puts them in front of the competition, you can feel good about your contributions.

ALCOHOLISM

Alcoholism is a disease and thus in most work environments treated as such. The best thing for an employee who has this disease is to first and foremost, acknowledge it. Then, make sure you come forward to your manager, Human Resources or Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselor, before your performance starts to decline or an accident occurs where you and/or others get hurt or there is property or product damage. You should find that most companies want to assist their employees who may have a problem with alcohol and will do what they can to help, if the employee chooses to accept the help that is provided.

If you do not take advantage of the services available to you your time may be short with the company as your problem with alcohol may only get worse and eventually impact your employment.

ALTERNATIVE WORK ARRANGEMENTS

In this day and age families are faced with many challenges. Some families need to have double incomes to keep above debt. There are single parent families having trouble with appropriate child care. And families who are taking care of elderly parents. With this said, many companies realize the significant changes that are happening within the family unit and are trying to make accommodations to secure the employment of their valued workers, both men and women.

Employees who believe they can best accommodate the needs of their families by working an alternative work arrangement; be it a different shift, working four ten-hour days, working from home, or part-time should have a candid discussion with their manager to see if an alternative work arrangement can work in their environment. Be prepared and have your homework done. Present to your manager details of how you believe an alternative work arrangement could potentially work with your job.

What I have found is that most individuals who have been accommodated put so much more into their job because they want to be able to continue with this work arrangement. They want to be able to show that because they have an alternative work arrangement that the business is not suffering and that productivity has not been negatively impacted. They want to be able to show that they can continue to be productive employees who add value to the company’s bottom line.

However, because of the nature of some jobs it is almost impossible to have any type of alternative work arrangement. But, most managers are at least willing to have the discussion. You never know when the content of the job may change in the future, so having the discussion will at least let your manager know your desires and possibly lay the foundation for consideration in the future.

It is important to know, most managers when giving consideration to an alternative work arrangement request will take into account your attendance, behavior and work performance. If you have an on-going attendance, behavioral or performance problem, do not be surprised if your manager comes back and says, an alternative work arrangement will not work or cannot be considered at this time. Keep in mind, this type of arrangement is generally at the discretion of your manager.

APPEARANCE—

DRESS (CASUAL DAYS) AND HYGIENE

Everyday is a day for you to be noticed by peers, management and perhaps even customers. The way you present yourself lends a way for others to judge you; good, bad or indifferent. You have to take pride in the way you look, not to say you have to be wearing the most expensive designer clothing. On the contrary, it is important for you to have a sense of style, be clean and neat. Be sure your clothes fit properly, not too small or too large and no sagging pants.

If your company has designated casual days, do not go overboard or become lax in how you dress. In an office environment, particularly where customers might frequent, even with casual days you need to have some sense of professional appearance. Do not come to work in after five shoes, low cut blouses, unbuttoned shirts, sun dresses or mini’s, of any kind. If your environment happens to be in manufacturing or in a laboratory setting where jeans are permitted, be sure the jeans are neat and clean. Never wear torn, dirty or unfitted clothing. You do not have to spend a lot to appear neat, well kept and professional.

Hygiene is equally important. As an adult, this is the least you can do. Be sure that along with your neat and well-kept clothing, you are clean as well. Be aware of your personal hygiene and how others perceive you. Keeping your body free of unpleasant odor, nails and hair clean and fresh breath is extremely important. If you have a tendency to perspire a lot, be sure to bring to work deodorant, powder, lotion or whatever you need to maintain your hygiene during your work hours.

ARROGANCE

It is one thing to be confident, but totally another to be arrogant. A person who is arrogant is a person with confidence gone way too far. They put themselves above all others, stop at nothing to convince others of their righteousness, dwell in the glory of self for the sake of self. All while running the risks of losing friends, colleagues and even customers. Individuals who are arrogant are so into themselves that they generally are oblivious to the needs, wants or desires of others. Arrogance is a behavior that is hard to overcome, yet the individual is totally in control to change this negative behavior. Overcoming arrogance is probably like trying to stop being addicted to nicotine. It is a hard habit to break, but not an impossible one.

Generally, the arrogant person has been told by others in many ways and many different times that he is arrogant. But, because he is arrogant it goes in one ear and out the other. A word of advice here is simple, listen to what others are trying to tell you, even if what is being said is not direct; read between the lines. An arrogant person generally has some smarts about himself so to take heed and listen is not beyond reach.

Although an arrogant person often is successful, it would be amazing to think how much more successful one could be if he learns to control or eliminate the arrogant behavior. Usually, this type of person is one that often runs off and does things that should not be done. The arrogant person thinks, I will just ask for forgiveness later. An arrogant person is like a bull in a china shop and will not stop until he gets what he wants. Arrogance can cause the destruction of everything in sight.

Do not let your arrogance rub someone, who has authority to hire and fire, the wrong way. And do not let arrogance stand in the way of your company getting a deal closed. As you can best believe that the company’s choice would be getting the deal closed with the customer while escorting you to the door.

ASSUMPTIONS

Do not assume anything. Do not assume someone else will do what is your responsibility. Do not assume that someone else will check that the store safe is secure. Do not assume that the memo that went out to the entire company with your signature on it does not have inaccurate information. And do not assume that the financial numbers on the balance sheet are correct.

It is extremely important to know early on in your career that it can be fatal to make assumptions. My recommendation is, do not leave anything to chance. Assumptions are like betting on the lottery that your number will come in; your chances may be one in a million. In a work environment assumptions can be embarrassing and worse yet, very costly. Take time to check documents, check to make sure the store is secure and the alarm is set, and be sure that the correct measurement of chemical has gone into the product. If it means taking a little extra time to be sure, do it. To my knowledge no one has ever gotten into trouble for checking to ensure something is right.

ATTENDANCE

More employees than you can imagine are terminated from companies for not showing up to work or not showing up to work on time. Everyone knows that in a person’s lifetime emergencies or other important situations will arise that may prohibit one from coming to work on time.

But, for those individuals who do not have a sense of time or do not care, this type of behavior will only be tolerated so much by an employer. Managers have a business to run and they cannot do so if employees do not show up to work. Do not fall into this habit. If anything, fall into the habit of being early to work by ten or fifteen minutes. If for whatever reason you will not be at work or will be late, be sure to call and speak to your manager. Know and understand