Employment Tips From A Manager: Becoming a Great Employee

In this episode of the Employee Survival Guide, Mark shares important tips from a manager on how to become a great employee.  These tips are gathered from real life employment law cases Mark has litigated and from his years managing employees at his office.  The tips include the following:

Treat Every Work-Day Like It Was Your First Day on the Job

Bad Habits and Practices Are Always Discovered

It's Still a Privilege to Work for a Company

Don't Discriminate

When Your Boss Gives You a Goal, Don't Assume it is the Ceiling--it may be the floor

You're An Adult, Act Like One at Work

Additional Links to further information mentioned in the podcast:

https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits/

https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Life-Well-Lived-Joyful/dp/1101875321/ref=pd_ybh_a_32?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6APPH8VD2FYF70NP0KMB

https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/fight-or-flight-response/#:~:text=Information%20Handout,body%20to%20fight%20or%20flee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule

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Disclaimer: For educational use only, not intended to be legal advice.

Transcript

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Welcome to another edition of the Employee Survival Guide, where you can learn everything your employer does not want you to know about and more. Now, here's attorney Mark Carey. If you've been around the workplace as long as I have, you can definitely separate out good and bad employee behavior. I've litigated both sides of employment cases for the past 25 years, and currently act as a manager in my office for the past several years, I offer the following tips to keep you moving in a positive direction and becoming a great employee. First Tip of the Day is treat every day. Like was your first day at the job? Do you remember the first day of any new job you started? Yes, that feeling of newness, new colleagues, escape from the old rigid culture of your last job. It was a new relationship. And the honeymoon just started. You went all in, and you're generally excited about your new gig. You felt you belonged in this company and you walked around like you owned it. Fast forward two or three years later, now you're settled in and comfortable in your new surroundings. You have new work friends, and your employer is acknowledging your positive performance. But then something unexpected happened. You've lost that loving feeling about your job, and is just turned into another job where you look forward to time off from work. Overall, you're doing just the right amount of work in comparison to your work colleagues. And you are just getting by what happened? Where did my mojo go? If you are not careful, your ambivalence may get the best of you as employers do notice. It's employers job to take notice of all employee behavior, I suggest you do a reset and figure out what made you so happy about your job when you first started working for the company? are you falling back on bad habits from your prior work history? take a fresh look at your advancement opportunities within the company. And how can you create more equity and more compensation for yourself? If you cannot, then maybe it's time to move on. The second tip, bad habits and practices are always discovered. I have the superpower, I can determine exactly why an employee or executive client was terminated from the last position regardless of the explanation offered by the employer and the client. When I receive a new case from a client, I request a detailed factual narrative about their employment leading up to the termination. Although I only asked for facts, not conclusions, we get a one sided emotion filled story from the client. When the facts are compared to the employers version of the events. You can sparse out the clients with good claims and those clients who maintain bad work habits that eventually got them fired. Bad work habits can be anything from being argumentative, tardiness, insubordination, lack of attention to detail, conducting personal affairs and business time, only doing the bare minimum, not seizing opportunities to market, the company's services, etc. The worst habit is not knowing you're following your bad habits. Why do employees self sabotage? And why can't they see the warning signs and events? I can only offer a partial answer, as part of the problem lies in the psychology of the employee, which is outside the scope of my paygrade we all have habits, good ones and bad ones. Accordingly, good habits are formed over 21 days, that habits are formed over a lifetime and can be changed or unlearned. Try reading Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And I also suggest reading a book designing your life by two Stanford University engineering professors, which is based on the number one class at the university. I've read the book and highly recommend it. Number three, it's still a privilege to work for a company until you are financially well off and lucky enough to start your own business, you have to work for someone else. When you apply for a new job, you're applying for the privilege to work for a company, that privilege is controlled by the employer who can take it away at a moment's notice. Notice I did not say you are quote unquote, entitled to work for your employer, because you're not. But when employees start a new job, they begin this psychological disconnecting process veering away from respecting the privilege to work for the company to an entitlement mentality. I think we all know what I'm talking about here. I see it all the time, especially when the axe falls and the work identity is severed from the individual. Some say that job was my life or how can they do this to me after 20 years of dedicated service and so on. Now, do you see the entitlement ideology that many employees create? It is still a privilege to work for the company. Even after 20 years. Some employees seem to have forgotten this very basic element of the contractual employment at will relationship they have with their employers. It was the same when you started in is the same when you were fired. Wake up in respect of privilege situation you have and throughout the other garbage in your head that confused you that your job was no longer a privilege that it was yours and no one could take it away. As an employment attorney part time armchair psychologist I see the pattern of behavior and many employees. If you hear Simple consideration, you will improve your overall performance. receive more respect amongst your work colleagues and your boss, your individual attention to your job will be enhanced. He may just begin to enjoy your job at a much deeper level. Don't ever lose this focus. Number four, don't discriminate. Need I say anything more? Unfortunately, this issue boils down to human nature. I am constantly thinking about this issue and why some employees engage in unlawful discriminatory behavior. Aside from the existence of real discriminatory bias, this is what I've concluded over 25 years of practicing as an employment attorney. Employees are hardwired for the quote, fight or flight at work and everywhere else. I call it the crazy brain mentality. part of your brain is rational, empathetic, and thoughtful. But the other wild side of the brain only seeks to self promote judge others who appear different than you acting selfishly reacting in a defensive posture etc. This protective layer is cashed out in an effort to protect the employees against some form of harm, they perceive may come to them, what is the solution here? Simple Audi alteram partem, which is a Latin phrase for quote, listen to the other side. Listening means given respect, even though you do not agree with the other person. But the more you listen, learn and digest how the other employee views the same reality. It will cut off your crazy brain from activation and allow your rational side of your brain to become more empathetic, sincere understanding, even though you maintain a polar opposite point of view, the smartest and even most successful position to attain is the one that truly reflects both positions, with rationales for for and against both. With a little bit of the right amount of humor thrown into the diffuse the hostility right now in today's workforce and as an as a society as a whole. Listening to the other side is altogether absent, and were not valued and is intentionally ignored in favor of drama and destructive ideologies based on the color of your skin, your gender or your age. Remember, listen more in react less. Throw a little bit of the golden rule on top of that, and you should be good to go. Tip number five. When your boss gives you a goal, don't assume it's a ceiling it may be just the floor. Goals are important and carefully crafted goals are critical to how and if your team falls those goals. I see many employees only seek to hit the bare minimum and forget that they actually can over achieve a goal. A goal is a floor and not a ceiling. Do not ever forget that your employer is watching you and does take notice of slackers team players and overachievers Which one are you? Remember working is a privilege, not an entitlement. Tip number six. You're an adult act like one. You'd be surprised how ridiculous grown men and women act in the workplace. I personally view the American workplace as a cesspool of male developed psychologies that come together every day with unbridled umbrage over other people, internal fiefdoms, status, money, etc. Remember the playground antics and bullies when you were in grad school? Yes, those memories. Well, all those nasty malcontents are now adults, and no one ever told them how to grow up or nor train them about how to work as an adult. Do me a favor, please follow the golden rule. It will save your job, your career and your sanity. It will also save you from hiring an employment lawyer like myself to undo what you created all on your own. If you enjoy these tips, if you need more information about these tips, please contact Carey& Associates PC on the web at w w.capclaw.com. Thank you and ha e a great wee