Will You Be Chosen for the Promotion?
July 26, 2008
The goal of every HR practitioner should be to get promoted. If it’s not, then our goal should be to get a bigger and better raise. Now, the questions is: How do we do that? Well, I recently read an article by Alison Green featured in “U.S. News and World Report,” and I truly believe that if the HR practitioner follows her advice, we will be chosen for the promotion.
In her article, ”10 Ways to Make Your Boss Love You,” Alison outlines ten things that can be done to get our boss to love us. Of course, we are not talking about the romantic definition of the word, but rather, the definition that means “ to value.” In other words, Green’s article could easily have been titled, “10 Ways to Make Your Boss Value You.” Obviously, if we can get our boss to value the work we do, it will, more than likely, lead to a promotion or a raise.
Here are the 10 habits outlined in Alison’s article:
1. Keep track of everything your boss delegates to you. Our boss shouldn’t have to follow up to make sure the things delegated to us get done. After all, that’s what we are being paid to do.
2. Stay on top of things. In other words, over organized. Can you imagine loosing an employee’s statement crucial to a pending discrimination claim? It wouldn’t be a call I would like to make to my boss! And, it probably wouldn’t be for you.
3. Discuss his/her expectations frequently. Failing to know your boss’s expectations, is like trying to hit the bull’s-eye on a moving target—it will never happen. Similarly, if we don’t know what our boss expects, how can we meet and exceed his/her expectations?
4. When you have a problem, come with a solution. The HR practitioner frequently works in grey areas. Thus, we often have some hesitation when it comes to making decisions that could have such a significant impact on a person’s life and the organization. Now, it’s okay to present the problem to our boss for assistance. However, at the same time we present a problem, we also need to present a solution. Then, seek the boss’s affirmation for our solution.
5. Give him/her all the facts. Many of you have probably heard about the case called the “Cat’s Paw.” In this case, the HR Manager decides to fire an employee she doesn’t know based solely on the information provided to her from the supervisor. Later, it turns out that the person she fires is an African-American. In addition, the supervisor has a history of making racist comments and treating the Whites and Hispanics less harshly. Of course, the supervisor conveniently failed to provide the HR Manager with this information. If we fail to provide our boss with all the facts, the fallout could destroy our career. Don’t be the “cat’s paw.”
6. If you make a mistake, own up to it. We all make mistakes. However, some people start blaming everything and everyone for a mistake that was clearly his/her fault. When we make a mistake, own it, and then, fix it.
7. Learn what’s important to him/her. We all know that it may sometimes be very difficult to figure this out even after our boss has told us what he/she expects. This is frequently caused by a “business brainwash.” In other words, he/she may say that certain things are important, because this is what has been mandated by the organization, but his/her actions suggest something different. Thus, it’s our responsibility to find out what is really important to him/her by paying attention to the questions we are asked and observing those actions that either get praised or get reprimanded.
8. Listen to feedback, and don’t get defensive. I feel that I am very good at giving feedback, because the session usually ends on a positive note, and the employee, or peer, begins changing their behavior(s). Thus, it just amazes me when you attempt to give an employee, or peer, feedback and they get defensive. In some instances, they even attacked me. If our boss takes the time to give us some feedback, appreciate it, listen to it, and incorporate it. Never! Never! Argue!
9. Speak up when you need to, but make sure it’s the right time. I almost always spend the first 30 minutes of my day reviewing my calendar and planning what I am going to do for the day. Thus, if someone comes to me with an issue during this time, I probably seem a little frazzled and probably don’t respond in the same manner I would after my 30 minute planning session. As they say goes, “timing is everything.”
10. Bosses are people too. Everyone likes to feel that they are appreciated, and your boss is no exception. However, make sure it is honest and sincere. Otherwise, you’ll seem like a schmoozer and he/she will probably deem you a looser.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Although this post is about getting our boss to love (value) us, I think it also provides us with a roadmap to effectively manage our bosses in our role as the subordinate. We all know it’s our boss who determines whether or not we get that promotion or that juicy raise. Thus, it only makes sense that we follow Alison’s advice and think of it as another tool in our career strategy cache.
Ethics 4 Everyone
July 10, 2008
About Scott
Scott Airitam is the President and CEO of Leadership Systems www.leadershipsystemsonline.com. A company he founded in 1997. His list of clients include: Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation, Fujitsu, and many others. In addition, he was one of the founding members of Southwest Airlines’ infamous University for People. Scott is also the co-author of the popular book, “Ethics 4 Everyone.” He graduated from Dallas Baptist University with a degree in Management and Sociology.
As the title says, “ethics [are] for everyone.” In fact, if every employee followed the guidelines outlined by Scott and Eric, the HR professional wouldn’t ever have to do an investigation again—wouldn’t that be nice? Unfortunately, we all know that this will probably never happen. Yet, if we could get just a small portion of our workforce to follow Scott and Eric’s suggestions, our job would be a lot easier, and there would be more time to focus on contributing to our organization’s business strategy.
The book is divided into five sections:
1. Knowing What’s Right. There are two types of laws that are applicable at work. They are: “everybody oughta know” and those related specifically to your business, industry and profession.
2. Doing What’s Right. You’ll know you’re doing the right thing if you adhere to the 3 R’s: Respect, Responsibility, and Results. This means that you have to watch the little things (e.g. the commitments you make and keep. or don’t keep).
3. Managing Competing Rights. We may be faced with making a decision between two rights—an “ethical dilemma.” If you are faced with this dilemma, do the following: 1) Eliminate the conflict, 2) Decided what’s “more right”, and 3) Seek Assistance.
4. Everything Counts. There is no such thing as an “ethics buffet.” In other words, you can’t pick and choose when, where, which or how you want to adhere to a personal or professional code. It’s an all-the-time practice.
5. Closing Thoughts. Ethical adherence makes good business sense. When everyone is following a common set of standards, employees tend to be more productive, more focused, and more cooperative. Furthermore, the organization is more respected and more appealing to customers. This, of course, creates more customer loyalty, an enhanced brand, and greater revenue.
I have to say that I have read numerous books on ethics. In addition, I took an ethics class for a full semester during graduate school. However, I learned more about ethics from Scott and Eric’s book than I ever did from all those books and the class I took combined. “Ethics 4 Everyone” is the most comprehensive book on ethics out there. And, if you, like myself, would rather spend time on the things that contribute more to your personal brand than doing investigations all day, than you need to get a copy of “Ethics 4 Everyone.”
If you are interested in purchasing Scott and Eric’s book, click on the following link: www.leadershipsystemsonline.com. Purchasing the book through Scott’s website will be cheaper than purchasing it from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
Also, I would highly recommend using Scott to facilitate an Ethics Training Class at your organization. I attended his workshop, “Ethics 24/7”© and found it to be very insightful, useful, and very engaging. As a former teacher, it takes a lot for a facilitator to impress me, and I have to say, Scott did it.
