Healthy Workplace Cultures

Summary

• Shy people can and do succeed in the workplace.
• Accept yourself.
• Build networks.
• Learn new ways to share your strengths.

Can a shy person excel—or even survive—in today’s competitive workplace? The answer is a resounding “yes,” according to career counselors, psychologists and executive coaches.

Know yourself

• Are you quiet at work?
• Do you hesitate to speak up at meetings?
• When you think you’ve done a good job on a project, do you keep that information to yourself?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, you may be more introverted than extroverted, at home and at work.

Toss out stereotypes

Not everyone understands shy people, especially in the workplace. Because they don’t toot their own horns, co-workers might think quiet people are unproductive, slow, or even disinterested in what they do. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth! 

Shy people work just as hard as everyone else, and sometimes harder. They might not speak up at meetings, but that’s because they want to think before they speak.

“Introverts at work are often quite articulate and thoughtful public speakers when given the correct situation and preparation,” says Steve Langerud, director of career development for DePauw University. “We are socialized to see leadership and success as extroverted, aggressive, and male when, in fact, most of us are not all three and we succeed just fine.”

Acknowledge and honor who you are

No one is totally extroverted or introverted, but it’s important to recognize and acknowledge where you feel most comfortable on the spectrum between the opposite poles of social behavior. If you’re shy, you tend to hold back and stay out of the spotlight, something you most likely learned as a child. Even if you want to, you don’t feel comfortable contributing to a group discussion.  

“If we look at what we learned in our original organization—the family—and see how we have brought that behavior to our current organization—the workplace—we can begin to make the internal adjustments that will give us what we want,” explains Sylvia Lafair, author of Don’t Bring It to Work. 

You may think you can be shy at home but outgoing at work, but psychologist Lafair says that is not the case. You can learn new behaviors to help overcome some stress you’re having at work or in social situations. But, even if you learn new behaviors, you will remain a shy person. Your basic personality will not change, even if you experience less stress than you once did in similar situations.    

“Honor who you are because you won’t change,” advises career consultant Linda D. Henman, PhD. “Be heartened by the awareness that many senior leaders are introverts. They have learned to adjust their behavior to meet the demands of their jobs, but because they have the essentials of leadership—integrity, drive, and brains—they have made it.”

Emphasize your strengths

In general, introverted people are:

• Thoughtful and inclusive in forming work teams
• More focused on process than outcomes
• Able to contribute as much to a workplace as anyone else
• Often strong supervisors
• Calm under pressure
• Reflective and analytical
• Dependable
• Able to “walk the talk”
• Likely to say what they mean and mean what they say
• Consistent 

Expand your network

Job coaches offer the following networking tips for shy people:

1. Establish connections with colleagues or potential employers through online websites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. Internet networking offers you a way to introduce your strengths and abilities to others before an interview or meeting. Through these sites, you can build common ground before you meet someone in person.
2. Look for informal ways to network within your workplace. Volunteer for fundraisers, sports teams, or social programs.
3. Join Toastmasters International to gain practice in public speaking, suggests Robin Ryan, author of Soaring on Your Strengths. Put your skills to work in civic or service organizations before you bring them to work.
4. Work on your written presentation skills. Get training, if you need it, in graphics, photography, or PowerPoint.

Try something new

Don’t hide your personality—turn it into a strength! Milan P. Yager, president of National Association of Professional Employer Organizations, says shy people should focus on their abilities when talking about their work. Say something like, “I’m glad I was able to contribute my research (or strategic thinking, organizational skills or whatever) to Project X.”

Plan what you will say in a meeting or any important conversation, suggests David Levin, author of Don’t Just Talk, Be Heard! When you speak at meetings, use positive, non-personal language. Make sure you are connecting emotionally to colleagues when you speak to them. Use stories whenever you can. Keep the focus off yourself, but on the work at hand.

Watch your body language. Don’t cross your legs or arms, and don’t hide your mouth while you speak, warns Maryann Karinch, author of 16 books about human behavior.

Have more meaningful conversations (in the form of feedback to direct reports, for example) and fewer superficial ones (such as gab sessions at the water cooler).

Although we tend to act one way, we also have power within us to take that pattern and move it to a healthy, positive, opposite one, Lafair says. She teaches a technique called OUT, an acronym for observe, understand, and transform. Here are her tips for changing behavior, but not personality:

• Observe yourself in different settings throughout the day, for several weeks. Take note of times when you feel shut down, intimidated, or uncomfortable for not speaking up. You’ll begin to see where your buttons get pushed.
• Understand. Look back at how you responded in uncomfortable situations when you were a child. When did you hold back your feelings? When was it unsafe to speak up? What made a message dangerous?
• Transform. Take a risk and do something different. If you are in a meeting, speak first, no matter how hard that may be. If your tendency is to please people, practice saying the word “no” out loud. If you always say “yes,” try to say what you really think the next time you are asked.

Knowledge is power. Lafair believes that practicing these techniques will help you change behavior slowly and steadily. Even subtle change can help you cope better in stressful situations.

Whatever you do, be proud of what you are and what you contribute to the team. Despite what you may have heard, introverted people are valued in the workplace. As one job coach said, “You can always count on an introvert!”

Resource

Toastmasters International
P.O. Box 9052
Mission Viejo, CA 92690-0952
(949) 858-8255
www.toastmasters.org

By Paula Hartman Cohen

©2010-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: Linda Henman, PhD, executive coach and author of The Magnetic Boss; Sylvia Lafair, PhD, family counselor and author of Donﾒt Bring It to Work, White Haven, Pa.; Steve Langerud, director of career development, DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind.; David Levin, author of Donﾒt Just Talk, Be Heard! Minneapolis, Minn.; Maryann Karinch, athlete, executive coach and author of Business Lessons from the Edge, Estes Park, Colo.; Robin Ryan, career counselor, author of Over 40 & Youﾒre Hired and Soaring on Your Strengths, Newcastle, Wash.; Milan P. Yager, president, National Association of Professional Employer Organizations, Alexandria, Va.

Summary

• Technology makes it easier for off-site employees to work together. But it can lead to isolation as well.
• Communicate face-to-face as much as possible.
• Not everyone is suited for working from home.

Today, work is often not a “place” in the physical sense at all. It can be a group of employees and managers working at home or in satellite offices thousands of miles apart. Or it can include a mix of telecommuters and on-site workers. What’s more, people are often in transit while connecting with colleagues. Whatever the setting, the need to foster teamwork and create a sense of community is as crucial as ever.

The good news is that virtual options are better than ever. Messaging, conferencing, and file-sharing tools give everyone the power to meet, share notes, brainstorm, and plan in real time.

There are times, though, when technology can be as much a curse as a blessing. It can isolate people as easily as it brings them together. “We have a strong belief that technology will not be a substitute for good management and good communication,” says project management consultant Martin VanDerSchouw. “All technology does is enable you to get it wrong faster.” Once the communication network is in place, managers and employees need to remember that it is no substitute for personal contact. It takes effort from all to use technology in the right ways.

The good news is that there are ways you can ensure good communication while building a better virtual workplace.

Keep the personal touch

Email is a great way to send information. Yet alone it can’t build relationships and cohesive teams. In fact, VanDerSchouw says leaders should be using three different channels of communication beyond email. A phone call is more personal and often just as easy. And while video meetings may take more planning, they allow people to see as well as hear one another.

Whatever channels you have access to, choose those with the most personal contact. Linda Pophal, author of Managing Off-Site Staff for Small Business, says dispersed workers and managers “still need some face-to-face interaction.” Co-workers need to get together now and then, if only for a holiday party.

Make sure people are working off-site for the right reasons

If you’re a manager looking for employees to fill at-home or other remote jobs, you may get plenty of volunteers. But find out what’s motivating them first. People who want to work at home in order to be with their small children are a bad bet, says Pophal. “One of the biggest misconceptions for employees and probably managers is this idea that ‘I’ll be saving money on day care.’” Working at home requires the same discipline and time management as working in the office. Adding in child care duties can derail both.

Choose self-starting socializers

Employees need to come armed with strong virtual networking skills. People who prefer to be alone and make little effort to connect socially are less likely to succeed. Those who truly want interaction with others—and know how to achieve it—make much better candidates.

In his own hiring, VanDerSchouw says he “looks for people who are engaged in driving their own communication.” They should be using online social-networking tools, he says. And he’d like to see them taking their interaction to the next level with activities such as blogging and forming online social groups. The most effective employees are those who find ways to break down the geographic isolation and bring co-workers together in person, not just online.

Keep traditions that motivate employees

Social and competitive activities designed to boost morale at a conventional workplace work for a dispersed team, as well. You just can’t plan them solely around the water cooler.

For instance, “Employee of the Month” and other recognition awards may be even more important for dispersed workforces, as people off-site may wonder if anyone’s noticing their contributions.

“Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not important,” says Perkett. Her firm names an “MVP Employee” monthly. She says the honor includes an article in the firm’s online newsletter and a small gift—such as a Starbucks® card for a dedicated coffee drinker—that shows “the company knows you as a person.” 

All of these techniques together can help ensure a virtual workplace that truly works—for all.

Employees need to come armed with strong virtual networking skills. They require more thought and initiative by the employees.

Resource

Managing Off-Site Staff for Small Business (2nd edition) by Lin (Linda) Grensing-Pophal. Self-Counsel Press, 2010.

By Tom Gray

©2010-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: Linda Phophal, Principal, Strategic Communications LLC, Chippewa Falls, WI; Martin VanDerSchouw, President and CEO, Looking Glass Development LLC, Denver, CO

Summary

• Carry yourself with confidence.
• Gain more knowledge of your field.
• Find a mentor or role model.

Lack of confidence can spawn a self-fulfilling prophecy: If you believe you’re going to fail, you will fail. Success comes with confidence, and this can prove especially true at work. Only you have the ability to determine whether you meet your career goals. So if you think self-doubt is undermining your chances to excel, try these tips for building confidence at work:

Carry yourself with confidence. Stand up straight—don’t slouch—and hold your head high. Steady eye contact, a firm handshake and an easy smile also are hallmarks of self-confidence. Speak loudly enough so that people don’t have to strain to hear you. Even if you feel a little unsure of yourself, your body language will display control, and can even positively affect your own state of mind. If you want to improve your performance, consider signing up for a public speaking class.

Gain confidence through experience. You can’t become an expert in your field overnight. But you can speed up the process. Read as much background information as you can on your company and projects, and practice the skills you need on the job whenever you can. For example, if you need to know how to operate a certain computer software program quickly, check out a library book about it, watch online tutorials, or sign up for a class that might help. In the process, however, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Rather than shy away from new tasks, learn by trial and error. That can be the best way to learn exactly how and why certain methods work.

Make the first move. Rather than letting fears about others’ opinions sap your confidence, approach them first. Don’t waste time wondering if your colleagues like and respect you. Ask them questions or strike up a chat when you have a couple minutes of free time—circulating will boost your confidence and keep you too busy to worry about yourself.

Break large tasks into manageable chunks. Don’t let the weight of a big job collapse your confidence. Make a list of smaller, individual tasks and set a timetable for their completion. Crossing them off your list will help provide motivation to finish the job.

Find a mentor or role model. Even if that person is a character in your favorite book, learn what makes her successful. Try to find ways to emulate that person’s best qualities and the strategies he used to get to the top. Listening also plays an important role in gaining experience. Have the patience to listen to others’ advice or tips, and try them out yourself.

Seek professional help. If you feel overwhelmed by your lack of confidence, or if your lack of confidence seriously affects your day-to-day functioning, you might want to talk to a mental health professional or even a career counselor. They can help you confront your fears and make progress toward your goals.

Most importantly, remember that it’s never too late to gain confidence. People don’t inherit confidence, they learn how to possess it.

By Kristen Knight

©2001-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: BBC Online, www.bbc.co.uk

Summary

• Recognize toxic behaviors and intervene early.
• Be clear, consistent and direct.
• Promote a cohesive team environment.

The workplace is filled with opportunities to build networks that foster career advancement and develop social connections that provide emotional support. Among these networks, cliques can develop. As a manager, how you model appropriate boundaries, embrace diversity, and recognize the early signs of toxic clique behaviors can be critical to a team’s success.

Cohesive vs. toxic cliques

While cohesive cliques boost morale and foster team camaraderie, toxic cliques breed workplace conflict and exclusionary behaviors. This leads to distrust among employees and frequent team in-fighting. Examples of toxic clique behaviors include purposefully withholding information, delaying projects, and engaging in negative workplace gossip.

“Cliques can foster alignment with a shared vision and can help break down silos,” says Scott Anderson, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Educators. “The challenge is to ensure that cliquish behaviors do not lead to fragmentation in an organization with reduced employee boundaries and failure to grow.”

Impact of toxic clique behaviors

Even in the most diverse workplaces, subconscious stereotyping or aligning with one clique may occur. While many toxic clique behaviors typically manifest from employee perceptions, management may unknowingly contribute to the problem. Some management behaviors to avoid include:

• Showing favoritism through either verbal or non-verbal cues
• Promoting an employee over a more qualified contributor
• Disregarding complaints about or allowing missed deadlines for certain employees
• Socializing off the clock where business information updates or gossip permeate discussions

If you don’t confront toxic dynamics, exclusionary behavior may become exacerbated, causing turmoil among the team. This turmoil could lead to extreme dissention, decreased productivity, and, ultimately, the loss of top performers who become alienated by peers. When anger and rejection broods, there is an increased potential for workplace aggression and violence.

Early intervention

Damia Tabachow, senior vice president of marketing at StoneRiver-RegEd, recommends direct and immediate intervention. “Although it can be a tough conversation to have, it is best to talk with the employee while the event is still fresh, as he may not realize the impact his actions have on the team.”

Tabachow adds that since conversations are confidential, other employees will not be aware of how you are managing the complaint. “Nip negativity in the bud, report your awareness of the situation, and take measures to address the situation in a timely manner.”

Steps to promote a cohesive team environment

• Offer opportunities for team projects where each employee contributes and utilizes her skills. Empower employees to take manageable risks, and avoid stereotyping when offering assignments.
• Keep employees on task. With a sufficient workload and a healthy work environment, productivity will flourish.
• Be clear, consistent, and direct. Confront rumors, immediately verbalizing that all members belong to the same team, even those in other departments.
• Operate on a zero-tolerance policy to exclusionary, bullying, and harassing behaviors. It is your responsibility to intervene. Gain support from your supervisor and human resources representative when necessary.
• Pair new hires with seasoned employees for training and to build camaraderie.
• Provide performance feedback, even if it is uncomfortable. Behaviors that undermine the team and disrupt cohesion can be a part of performance metrics.
• Check yourself. Are your behaviors contributing to the dynamics of the problem? Worse than an uninformed or under-involved manager is one who perpetuates the exclusionary behavior.
• Contact your Employee Assistance Program for a management consultation on how to proceed with confronting someone who perpetuates poor behavior. Be prepared to make a referral if necessary.

By Wendy McMillan, LPC, CEAP

©2009-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: Liberman, Vadim. ﾓWhen Office Bonds Turn Sour.ﾔ The Conference Board, Inc. Mar/Apr 2007, www.conferenceboard.org

Summary

• Find like-minded people and work together.
• Use an intranet, bulletin boards and other internal communications to start groups with common health goals.
• Contests for wellness can be fun as well as constructive.

Employers everywhere are learning that a healthy workplace is good for business. But, it’s up to the employees to make a “culture of well-being” a reality. Management can set up programs, hold contests, offer discounts, block out time for fitness, or put healthy snacks in the vending machine. That effort is wasted if you don’t take advantage of it.

So what can you do? Take part in the health promotion programs that your company offers. If you need to lose weight and your employer holds a contest to see how many pounds a group can lose, join in the fun. If you can get a health club discount, take it. If your company has a gym, use it.

Healthy activities can also happen at a local level, so here are tips for crafting your own programs. Be sure to get management approval for any effort that uses company property or that goes on during company time.

Start clubs

You’re your own boss when it comes to your health. Strictly speaking, you don’t need someone else to make you eat right or get the exercise you need. But if you need support there’s nothing like a like-minded group to pull you along. Working in groups also is vital if you want to start a culture of well-being, where fitness and healthy eating become workplace customs.

One way to get such a culture off the ground, says organizational development expert Simma Lieberman, is to network with the communication tools already at hand, like an intranet or bulletin boards. Find out who’s game, say, for taking walks. You could start a walking club this way, she says, that “would walk either before or after work or during lunchtime.” To recruit more people, club members could blog about their results or post on social media. They could also ask each member to bring a friend.

Don’t forget that old networking standby, the lunch room. If two or more people there talk and find that they all want to quit smoking or lose weight, they have the makings of a group effort.  

Hold contests for fun and health

As long as management gives the go-ahead, there’s no reason why workers can’t hold health-related contests of their own.

Rick Thompson, a human resources manager at a Chicago-based medical cost-containment firm, says he once worked at a company where workers organized a “group weigh-in” using a 5,000-pound-capacity scale in the warehouse. “They came up with two teams with 10 people on each … and they had a bet to see which team could lose the most collective weight.” The contest was a winning deal for both sides, Thompson says: “At the end of three months, each team had lost over 150 pounds.”

See what local fitness centers (or farmers) can offer

Employees, just like employers, can negotiate group deals at health clubs and arrange to have classes taught at the workplace. Sallie Morgensen, who works in human resources at a small, online bargain-hunting site, says a Zumba teacher from a nearby fitness center comes by to hold after-work classes at the company’s site. She suggests that employees “go on their own to a Y or a gym and ask, ‘If we have so many people, could you give us a discount?’”

The Internet is another shopping resource. Thompson says a group of employees at his company went online to find a group discount on Zumba and cardio-kickboxing classes at a local gym.

A group effort can also bring healthier food into the workplace. Thompson says a group of employees at his company “pitched in to buy fresh produce from a local organic farmer.” Groups of employees can pool their resources and save trips to the store by signing up for weekly deliveries of fruits and vegetables. On the Web, search “produce delivery” or “organic produce delivery” and the name of your state or city to see if this service is available where you work.

If you can’t get healthy food delivered from a local farm, bring healthy snacks to work or set up a brown-bag group to try new lunch recipes. 

You can get on the road to a healthier life by involving your co-workers.

By Tom Gray

©2011-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: Simma Lieberman, President, Simma Lieberman Associates, Berkeley, CA; Rick Thompson, Vice President of Talent Management and Administration, Rising Medical Solutions Inc., Chicago, IL; Sallie Morgensen, Human Resources Generalist, FatWallet, Rockton, IL

Summary

• Decide that work should be meaningful.
• Offer spiritual opportunities for employees.
• Consider what may best fit your company.

Are you searching for meaning in your life? How about your career? If you are looking for meaning in life, you are in good company. And your career? Read on to learn about the relevance of seeking more out of your workday.

Searching for meaning … at work?

Think about it: We spend so much time at work. And many of us spend a lot of time thinking about work even when our bodies aren’t at our jobs. We go to school for years to prepare for work. We spend hundreds more hours honing our skills and developing new ones in order to advance at work.

So, if we spend so much intellectual and emotional energy, as well as time, in matters related to work, shouldn’t it be meaningful? Sure, work is a means to an end (salary to pay for needs and wants), but why can’t it be more? What if it were more meaningful to you and to your employees? How would your day be different? What would Monday mornings begin to feel like—for you and for your staff?

So, what’s a manager to do?

Some things may be simple to institute. For example, the management consulting firm McKinsey and Co. found that when organizations offered opportunities for their employees, such as time for volunteer work or meditation, turnover decreased and morale improved. Here are some other things to consider:

• Create an atmosphere of fertile openness that fosters growth, and model what you expect from others. Author Richard Foster’s analogy may be helpful: The farmer prepares the environment for his seeds to grow, and growth happens through no power of his own, but is facilitated by his preparations.
• Consider what may best fit your company, your upper management and your staff. Many experts’ objectives focus on the development of an environment of good, nurturing, and highly trusting and honest relationships between all staff. David Bastone suggests in Ten Principles for Saving the Corporate Soul points such as:
• Keeping your promises
• Hiring a diverse workforce
• Encouraging whistle blowing
• Striving to produce safe, quality products or services
• Minimizing pay disparities
• Sharing equity across all employee levels
• Community service or support
• Mentor your staff. Help them develop the skills they need to work more effectively. Encourage them (and allow for the latitude) to redesign their jobs to be more meaningful, and to make their accomplishments more profitable for the company, notes trainer Tom McDonald.
• Model good behavior. Promote being ethical, honest, non-manipulative, proactive, acting responsibly, being concerned about quality and correctness (accuracy), going beyond minimum obligations, etc.

Prominent business philosopher Peter Drucker once noted that one of the most important lessons he ever learned is that the primary difference you make is the difference you make in people’s lives. So, every so often, think about how you want to be remembered and then think about what you can do to make a difference.

By Chris E. Stout, PsyD, MBA

©2001-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Accept your boss’s authority.
• Talk to your boss if you’re unhappy.
• Understand your value to your boss.

Even though you don’t consider your boss your best friend, and even though you may be a bit wary of someone who has authority over you, you still can get along with your boss. And, getting along with your boss can make you feel more in control of your own productivity and happiness at work.

Accept your boss’s authority

Authority probably is the main issue in how you interact with your boss. Your boss has authority over you in the workplace. Your boss no doubt makes more money than you do, has a bigger office than you do, and has more power than you do. That is because your boss has the job of motivating you, supervising your work, and making sure that everyone in your unit works together to get certain things done. That is what constitutes authority.

Yuck, authority. For you, the word may conjure up speeding tickets, or a snippy authoritarian teacher or a dentist telling you to floss so you won’t get gum disease. Even so, authority exists, and it exists for good reasons.

Once you accept the reality of your boss’s authority, you can move on to your own options in getting along with your boss and, in the process, making your work life happier. If you basically are happy with your job, just accepting this reality may be enough.

Talk to your boss if you’re unhappy

If you have specific things that make you unhappy in your job, though, it may help to have a conversation about them with your boss. Your boss is not a mind reader. Feedback from you is important in helping your boss do a good job. If you know of specific changes or improvements that would make your job more satisfying, and therefore help you do your job better, ask your boss about them. Probably the worst thing that can happen is that your boss will say no.

If you decide to have this conversation, focus on solutions instead of just raising problems. Try to think through, ahead of time, what you would like to have that you are not getting. Go in with the attitude that whatever the differences between you and your boss, there must be some agreeable compromise.

In presenting your thoughts or ideas, it usually is effective to use “I” statements. This is nothing more than stating your own experience—how you feel about something in the office situation—instead of suggesting that the boss is doing something wrong. Here’s an example: “I feel undervalued when you ask us what equipment we need to do our jobs, and I circle things in the office-products catalog and they don’t get ordered.” Now compare that to: “You never order any equipment I ask for.” OK, so this might not be the exact conversation you had in mind, but you get the point. Talk about yourself without blaming your boss, if possible.

Change your perception

It also may help to shift your point of view from “I am a slave laborer and must do anything my boss asks” to the more balanced, “My boss needs me as much as I need my boss, and if we get along we can make each other’s work life more satisfying.”

This may not be apparent, but—assuming you are doing a good job—even though your boss has authority, you have some power, too. Think about what kind of jam your boss would be in if you quit. Think about how much of your boss’s time would be required to hire and train the next worker in your position. Chances are, your boss really does need your work and collaboration.

Think of yourself as a free person who has elected to put a certain number of hours into a certain job and who wants to enjoy doing that job. You do have the ability to leave your job, and remembering this truth often can allow you to construct a situation at work where you enjoy your choice to work and feel you are of value to your boss.

By Rebecca Steil, LICSW, MPH

©1999-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Pursue more training in your field.
• Expand your job responsibilities.
• Enjoy your work.
• Find a mentor.

Are you making enough money? Does your boss’s boss know your name? Are you a candidate for promotion? Have you been formally complimented on your work? If you answer “no” to any of these, then you might not be receiving the job recognition that you deserve, and that may sap your motivation to do your best.

Whether you have been working for two years or 20, you can advance your career and raise your self-esteem by earning positive attention at work. If you have the energy and ambition, here are some strategies to jump-start your career:

Get specific

First, decide exactly what sort of recognition you want. Remember, there are lots of kinds of recognition. Do you want a raise? A bonus? A promotion? If you are happy with your salary, but would like your boss to acknowledge the extra effort you put into a recent project, request feedback on your performance. Jot down your career goals for this month, this year and the next five years, and then brainstorm ways to achieve them.

Pursue training

Take advantage of every training opportunity offered by your company, regardless of whether it relates directly to your job. You may want to attend evening classes to bolster key computer or management skills. Let your supervisor know when you have completed a course or learned a new program.

Ask for a challenge

Inform your boss if you would like to expand your job responsibilities, and schedule a short meeting so that you can discuss options. Explain that you would like to take on more challenges and are looking for opportunities to use new skills. Make some specific suggestions that address your company’s particular needs. If your supervisor does give you extra responsibility, write a memo a few weeks later describing your progress.

Use numbers

If you can describe your achievements in numbers, let your boss know in an email, memo, note, or formal report. Have sales increased 50 percent since you joined the department? Have customer complaints decreased by 30 percent? Quantify your success and others will take notice.

Enjoy your work

Enthusiastic employees almost always receive more recognition. Even if you do not love every aspect of your job, stay positive about what you do enjoy. Your supervisor will genuinely appreciate your upbeat attitude.

Get visible

Look for ways to increase your professional profile. Offer to write for the company newsletter, come up with some ideas for the website or suggest a departmental charity drive. By becoming more visible, you will be more likely to win recognition.

Find a mentor

One of the best ways to improve your prospects is to find a mentor—someone you admire both personally and professionally who might be willing to provide career guidance. A mentor can be a source of invaluable advice and information. If you know someone who might be a good mentor, ask if she would be willing to take on the role.

Whenever possible, let your boss know about your goals and ask for suggestions on how to achieve them. Increase awareness of your valuable contributions, and get the recognition you deserve!

By Lauren Greenwood

©2000-2021 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: www.Monster.com; The Wall Street Journal online http://online.wsj.com/

Summary

Trust means:

• Doing what you say you’re going to do
• Communicating openly
• Creating a positive environment

Trust is so key to a properly functioning workplace that it can best be illustrated by picturing what happens when trust is absent.

What lack of trust can do

When co-workers don’t trust each other, problems are not communicated. That means issues small and large go unaddressed, and the bottom line is hurt by missed deadlines, mangled projects, angry clients, and staff turnover.

When trust is not there, people start acting out of fear and defensiveness. They start guarding their turf and not sharing the knowledge needed to get the job done. People become more interested in making themselves or their department look good—and they stop focusing on company goals.

Without trust, suspicion, anger, hidden agendas, manipulation, and hurt feelings bloom.

Lack of trust also puts a curb on initiative and innovation. People become afraid to express ideas and take measured risks—the ingredients for growth.

What does “trust” in the workplace mean?

“Trust” can mean a number of things to different people. For many, it means that you can count on people to:

• Do what they say they’re going to do
• Communicate problems and issues as needed
• Fulfill promises and contracts
• Keep private what needs to be kept private
• Be honest
• Not lie
• Make a positive environment in which all can be effective, responsible, and innovative

People have to earn trust, and even then trust is a calculated risk. But at the same time, it’s important to risk trust rather than be the type of person who distrusts everyone and everything. The latter person is building walls that will limit her experiences, her network, her relationships, and her access to ideas and opportunities.

How to be trusted

• Show trust in others. That doesn’t mean being gullible or naive, but it does mean making sure you are not suspicious of others without cause. To be trusted you must communicate clearly, regularly, and honestly with co-workers, bosses, and clients. If there’s a problem, let the right people know.
• Make sure people can come to you and let you know if there’s a problem. If you always react with rage or hatred, people are going to avoid telling you bad news. That doesn’t help solve problems. Instead, thank people for pointing out the problem, and then work as a team on a solution. You will gain in the long run by stopping issues before they get out of hand and by creating an atmosphere of trust. These open-communication rules should be stated upfront and in writing and reviewed often.
• Don’t over-promise and then under deliver—but always deliver on time and fulfill expectations. It’s much better to give yourself a longer deadline and then bring the project in on time and in good shape, then promise big and come up short. If problems come up that affect your deadline, tell the person right away, set a new and realistic due date, then meet it.
• If you mess up, take responsibility and move on. If someone else messes up, forgive him and move on.
• Become familiar with workplace rules and regulations, and don’t violate them.
• Do not indulge in gossip and negative talk. If you’re cornered by someone who is gossiping or ranting, you can:
• Walk away
• Say you’re withholding judgment until you have more facts
• Find something positive to add to the conversation
• State a different opinion

If you’re a manager

• Give people responsibility and then don’t hover. Let them make some key decisions.
• Back your workers up if there’s a problem, only if they have earned that level of trust.
• Don’t spy on staff and divert energy trying to catch them taking a longer lunch, coming in late, or wasting time. If it gets out of hand, then you can deal with it. The trust you build by giving people some flexibility and allowing for human weaknesses will benefit the company more than if you start acting like a paranoid Big Brother.
• Make sure office policies are fair and apply to low-level and senior staff alike.

By Amy Fries

©2008-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Control your emotional response.
• Stay focused.

How can you keep your cool and maintain productivity when working in a pressure-cooker environment? Try a combination of strategies that help manage both acute and ongoing work pressures.

Dealing with acute pressure

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re dealing with competing priorities or a fast-approaching deadline—particularly when “surprises” that come up steal your attention away from the task at hand.

These ideas will help you handle immediate crises:

Bust that stress: You might feel like you don’t have time to let off steam. But doing so will help you stay calm and be sensible in your approach to the high-pressure situation.

Quick, stress-busting techniques you can do at your desk include deep breathing, guided imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation.

Control your emotional response: Your thoughts can determine the emotions you experience. So, if you take control of your thoughts, you can control your reaction. For example, self-defeating thoughts such as “I’m never going to get this done” or “I’m not good enough” will serve to delay and hold back productivity.

Stay focused: Give your full attention to one thing at a time. If you are interrupted by something that will take you two minutes or less, take care of it right away.

To help you prioritize and stay focused, ask yourself these questions:

• What is really important in this situation?
• If I could only do one thing, what would it be?
• What does this situation need of me that only I can contribute?
• Can somebody else handle this?

Managing ongoing work pressure

Consider these ideas for keeping stress at bay:

Get organized and clear your head: It’s hard to be productive when our minds are “full.” When you have many deadlines, priorities and to-dos— both at work and at home and of varying levels of importance—you have a steady source of mental stress that interrupts and hinders your productivity at work.

Although there is no single “right” way to get organized, find a system that works for you so you can be a top performer while keeping track of it all.

Maintain work/life balance.:Simple habits such as getting enough sleep and eating right can make a big difference to how you face the workday each morning.

Also, giving serious thought to what renews your spirit—such as spending time with your children—and carving out time for these priorities can reduce job pressure and keep you productive.

By Christine P. Martin

©2007-2021 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity by David Allen. Penguin, 2001; Crunch Point: The 21 Secrets to Succeeding When It Matters Most by Brian Tracy. AMACOM, 2006; Making Work Work: New Strategies for Surviving and Thriving at the Office by Julie Morgenstern. Simon & Schuster, 2004; Anxious 9 to 5: How to Beat Worry, Stop Second-guessing Yourself, and Work With Confidence by Larina Kase and Joe Vitale. New Harbinger, 2006; The Relaxation and Stress-reduction Workbook by Martha Davis, Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman and Matthew McKay. New Harbinger, 2000.

Summary

• Compete with yourself to improve your own performance.
• Use another’s success to motivate you.
• Work with others to turn competition into collaboration.

Competition in the workplace is a double-edged sword. Used correctly, you can get results; used ruthlessly, you can kill morale.

Old-school competition

Consider the famous scene from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Glengarry Glen Ross,” in which a tough sales manager tells his team: “We’re adding a little something to this month’s sales contest … First prize is a Cadillac … Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.”

This old-school approach to competition might fit a war zone and certain do-or-die sports philosophies, but it doesn’t fit today’s diverse workplace with many personality styles and cultural differences. In fact, this style of competition can terrorize employees and cost the company in turnover and lost productivity.

Nevertheless, competition continues to exist both formally and informally in the workplace—formally in terms of contests, and informally in terms of rivalries.

Challenge yourself

Some people despise and fear competition, and some managers can misuse it. But, if viewed correctly, a healthy dose of competition can keep you on your toes, make you ratchet up your game, and inspire growth. In other words, competition can challenge you to “be all that you can be.” And competition as part of a team can help you learn to work with others to succeed.

The trick is to compete with yourself to do better.

Seeing someone else succeeding at a higher level or producing work of greater quality doesn’t have to lead to envy or jealousy. It can inspire you to grow, to explore, to learn more, to try harder. This is positive competition in action.

Instead of feeling bad because someone may be doing better than we are, we can up our game because we feel inspired and motivated. Sometimes we’re inspired and motivated out of fear—fear we may lose our job or the account. And sometimes we’re inspired and motivated because we admire quality and the rewards of success and want to produce quality results as well. 

It’s the “run your best race” philosophy. And in order to run your best race, you need to be in top form. You need to continually challenge yourself to improve and not get complacent.

Try to learn from someone achieving more than you. Maybe they could mentor you. In that way competition melds into collaboration and then you and your company will see the benefits.

Things to remember

• Learn from your competition’s achievements as well as their mistakes. Don’t see him or her as the enemy. Remember, there may be a time when even the fiercest of rivals need to ally to face a bigger battle.
• Differentiate between outside competition (other companies that you compete with) and inside competition (the workplace). Keep internal competition healthy by using another person’s success to motivate you. Don’t follow a “destroy” your competition philosophy because then you’re “destroying” a co-worker, and it takes many people to make a company successful.
• Look for mentors to challenge you to better your performance, and be a mentor to others.
• Focus on the big picture and view getting results as being good for your department and company, as opposed to being good only for yourself.
• Keep an up-to-date record of your achievements and be able to communicate your overall value.

For managers

• Be careful of prize systems in the workplace, especially if your company requires teamwork to thrive. These kinds of incentives may work in certain sales jobs, but they also can lead to bitterness and burnout.
• Keep contests short, focused, objective, and fun for everyone, with a variety of rewards. Contests need to be about the long-term benefits for the business, and not about anointing someone “king of the hill” for the day.
• Be aware of how different ages, genders, and cultures respond to various styles of competition.
• Foster an environment and rewards system in which people compete with themselves. For example, challenge individuals to compete against past performances and goals, not with the person sitting next to them.

By Amy Fries

©2008-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Take small breaks, stretch and readjust your sitting posture
  
• Find recreational outlets outside of work that keep your body toned.

You’re sitting at your computer, deep in thought, preparing a report for this afternoon’s meeting. One hour passes, then two. You’re concentrating so intently that time flies by. You almost miss lunch. As an all-too-familiar ache starts to creep through your back, you suddenly realize that you’ve been bent over your computer for hours without getting up. No wonder your body’s starting to protest.

Working at a desk or computer for hours is a physically demanding job. But that doesn’t mean that pain must accompany a 40-hour workweek. It’s definitely not part of the job. If you learn to set up your workspace to fit your body, how to sit and work at your computer using good posture, and take breaks that incorporate physical activity, you can avoid many aches and pains that come from long hours of sitting.

Are you comfortable?

Ergonomics is the science of arranging and adjusting your work environment to fit you and your body. Ergonomic experts recommend taking an inventory of your workspace to be sure that your chair, computer, and documents are at the proper height and angle. Here’s what they recommend:

Check your chair

• The right chair height helps relieve cramping and stiffness in your legs. It also helps to prevent stress and tension in your neck and shoulders.
• Place your fingers on the middle row of your keyboard, with your upper arms hanging comfortably at your sides. Your forearms should be parallel to the floor. If they’re not, adjust your chair height.
• A properly adjusted backrest reduces pressure on your spine and supports your lower back. Sit at your workstation and lean back slightly with your back firmly against the chair. The backrest should fit snugly against your lower back. If it doesn’t, adjust the backrest until your lower back is fully supported.
• If you can’t adjust the backrest, use a small, thin, firm pillow or rolled-up towel to support your lower back.
• Move your feet forward until your knees are at a 90-degree to 110-degree angle. Your feet should rest firmly on the floor with three inches to six inches of legroom between your lap and desk or keyboard tray. If you have less than three inches of legroom, adjust your desk or keyboard tray height.
• If you can’t adjust your chair height and your feet don’t reach the floor, use a footrest or wedge-shaped item to support your feet. A 3-ring binder should do the trick.

Monitor your monitor

• With your lower back supported and feet firmly on the floor or footrest, hold your head upright and look straight at your screen. The top of your monitor should be at or below eye level.
• If it isn’t, adjust your monitor until it is at a viewing height that will allow you to maintain your head in an upright posture.
• The screen should be 18 inches to 30 inches from your eyes, or at about arm’s length.

Position your keyboard

• The proper computer keyboard height can help keep you from bending your wrists while typing. This improves the comfort of your hands, wrists, and forearms, and helps you avoid injury.
• Place your fingers on the middle row of your keyboard. Your wrists should be straight and relaxed.
• To help keep your wrists relaxed, try a wrist rest or padded support.

Eliminate glare

• Make sure your computer screen is free of glare from light coming through outside windows. Adjust the angle of your desk lamp to aim the light at your documents instead of your screen.
• To help improve viewing comfort, you may also need to adjust your computer screen’s contrast and brightness.

Take small breaks

Throughout the day, it’s important to take small breaks, stretch and readjust your sitting posture. The best thing you can do for yourself is get up and walk around. Get away from your work mentally and physically. It’s good for the circulation and it relieves the pressure that naturally builds up in the back when we sit, thus reducing the accumulation of pressure in the spine over time and decreasing the risk of back pain and injury. The exercises below can help energize your body and relieve muscle tension.

Find recreational outlets outside of work that keep your body toned. Get plenty of sleep and maintain a healthy diet. By learning to take care of your body, you can successfully meet the physical challenges of an office job.

Rest your eyes

• Lean your elbows on your desk. Cup your hands and place them lightly over your closed eyes.
• Hold for a minute, while breathing deeply in and out. Slowly uncover your eyes.

Squeeze your shoulders

• Put your hands up, with your forearms raised.
• Push your arms back, squeezing your shoulder blades. Hold for a few seconds.
• Relax and repeat three times.

Stretch your back

• Sit up straight and imagine you have a cable attached to the top of your head.
• Feel the cable slowly pull you up higher and higher. Hold for a few seconds.
• Relax and repeat three times.

Shake your arms

• While seated, drop your arms and hands to your side.
• Shake them out gently for a few seconds.
• Relax and repeat three times.

Shoulder circles and shrugs

• While standing, lift your shoulders toward your ears. Hold for two seconds.
• Let them fall and release completely.
• Repeat two to four times.
• Still standing, move your shoulders in a backward arc five to 10 times.
• Repeat several times a day.

By Rosalyn Kulick

©2001-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Toxic cliques take exclusivity to a harmful extreme.
• Healthy cliques can be supportive and ignite ideas.
• To join a healthy clique, show respect, identify common interests, and give something of value.

Feeling left out? If so, you’re likely to be dealing with a near-universal reality of workplaces: cliques.

Small, tightly-knit groups of friends can form anywhere. They’re a natural part of social interaction. They form in work environments as well, but there they can be problematic. They can forge bonds that are healthy and a positive force for productivity. Or they can turn toxic. When they do, the employees who are left out may be the ones hurt most directly, but the whole organization can eventually suffer as well.

Signs of a toxic clique

Experts advise being on the lookout for behavior that takes exclusivity to a harmful extreme, such as bullying, discrimination, or the withholding of information that people need to do their jobs.

Corporate trainer and speaker Marlene Chism says cliques can do damage by creating a “tribal mentality” or blind spots toward outsiders. Management consultant Jean Houston Shore says cliques can sometimes poison relationships when one member has undue influence on others. “Let’s say A, B, and C have a strong relationship, and A has a problem with D,” says Shore. “B and C didn’t have a problem with D, but out of loyalty to A they do now.”

Robert Van Arlen, a consultant and motivational speaker, identifies “dragging cliques” as the problem. These are groups occupied by gossip and complaining—“just there to drag energy out of anybody,” says Van Arlen.

Cliques can do good

But there are good cliques, too. Van Arlen says “supporting cliques” form among people who share interests and values and give each other encouragement. These tend to be more focused on social interaction than on the work itself. But, he says they are a positive influence if they aren’t overly exclusive and if they don’t get in the way of work—by excessive partying, for instance.

Another type in his clique classification is the “igniter clique,” which is work-focused and attracts the “go-getters.” These are people who want to “take each other to the next level” of skill and knowledge important to the organization and to their careers. These tend to be constructive too, he says, as long as their goals are aligned with those of the larger team and its leadership.

Coping with a toxic clique

How you as an employee cope with cliques will depend on your own needs and the nature of the cliques. Not all people require the same degree of social interaction and bonding at work. Some meet their relationship needs mainly outside the workplace; others hope to make plenty of friends on the job. You should look at your own personality to see which type you are.

In any event, don’t bother trying to join “dragging cliques” or other toxic groups. And if people in these groups do things that genuinely make your job difficult, such as withholding information that you are expected to have, you should share your concern with them first. Going to your boss should be a last resort, and even then the complaint must be over something specific and clearly harmful to your productivity. It’s not management’s job, says Chism, to make sure you get asked to join the group for lunch.

Joining a healthy clique

As for the healthier social groups, they should be easier to join if you’re patient and make an effort to reach out to people in them. After all, the good cliques are good in part because they’re capable of accepting new members.

But newcomers should not expect to be instantly accepted. As Shore points out, they are trying to change established social relationships, and such change takes time.

She also advises against getting too obsessed with the presence of cliques and the fact that you’re not in them. “If you allow yourself to exaggerate the extent of your isolation or to magnify the desirability of being in the clique, you’ll only make yourself feel worse,” she says. And don’t take it personally if you’re not instantly included in a group.

Part of every newcomer’s social job is to watch and learn for a while to get a sense of the existing social network. This is a time to get to know people and their interests, because you may find much in common. Van Arlen notes that you may find ways to make yourself appealing and valuable to others. People in a “supporting clique” may turn out to share the same interest in music that you do, and you might have some concert tickets to share. You may have some business or technical knowledge that piques the interest of an “igniter clique.”

These are just a few of the ways to ingratiate yourself with a group by giving it something of value—putting “the principle of reciprocity to work,” in Shore’s words. Shore has other advice along these lines:

• Show respect to the group (and don’t complain about being left out).
• Identify common work-related goals as well as personal interests.
• “Give to give.” That  is, don’t just do things to get something in return, she says, but “do as many good things that you can for the workplace.” In that way, says Shore, “you will have built your reputation as a good and generous person.”

Painful as it may be, a little self-analysis also may be in order. If you’re ostracized, it may not entirely be the fault of others. “People hang around with people with whom they feel comfortable and trust,” says Shore. “If you complain, people don’t like being with you, if you gossip, people don’t trust you.” In other words, don’t expect to be part of a social network if you can’t be sociable.

By Tom Gray

©2008-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: Marlene Chism (ICARE Presentations, Springfield, Mo.), Robert Van Arlen (Robert Van Arlen LLC, Phoenix, Ariz.), Jean Houston Shore (Business Resource Group, Roswell, Ga.)

Summary

• Emotions are contagious in a workplace. Make sure you are spreading positive ones.
• Small acts, such as smiling and saying hello to co-workers, can go a long way.
• Be aware of the emotions you bring to work.

You can’t do much about the economy or the state of the world. But you can make your workplace a little happier—maybe a lot happier, if others follow your example.

The secret to such power lies in what social scientists call the “contagion effect” of emotions in groups. Your emotions not only affect those around you. They also can spread to total strangers. In one study tracking 4,739 residents of Framingham, Mass., for 20 years, researchers James H. Fowler and Nicholas A. Christakis found “clusters of happy and unhappy people” in the town’s social network. “The relationship between people’s happiness,” they said, “extends up to three degrees of separation (for example, to the friends of one’s friends’ friends).”

The typical workplace is far smaller than Framingham, and the impact of one person’s mood or behavior can be much more obvious. So what can you do to set a positive tone? Here is some advice from management experts and psychologists.

Small gestures count

Smiling and saying hello to co-workers takes little effort and could have a big effect. Sigal Barsade, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, says such small gestures can be like “striking the match in the workplace—the match toward positive.”

One person’s body language and facial expressions also can affect a group’s emotions, as Barsade found in a laboratory study. Being nice to other people also helps develop a culture of reciprocity, where everyone tacitly agrees to return the help and emotional support they receive.

Barsade admits that it is easier to create a positive atmosphere if you’re not acting alone, but if you don’t start the process, who will?

Curb your negatives

You can spread negative emotions as easily as positive ones, especially if you are not conscious of your effect on others. “Try to understand how your behavior makes experiences” for others, says Purdue University psychologist Howard Weiss. “A lot of the time, we create negative experiences in other people because we behave in ways that we know are wrong but we can’t control ourselves,” he says.

Weiss suggests replenishing your “regulatory resources” by taking time off from the emotional effort of self-regulation. Getting away from the workplace during the day can be useful. Barsade says a short “time-out” can be helpful when you find your mood sagging and don’t want to bring others down. Even just stepping outside for a few minutes of reflection can do the job.

Watch what you bring to work

If you start the work day grouchy, chances are you will end it that way. In a study of call-center employees, Wharton professor Nancy Rothbard and Steffanie Wilk of the University of Ohio found that the mood people brought with them to work had a stronger effect on their day (and their performance) than anything that happened at the workplace. (They also found, happily, that positive moods have a more potent impact on productivity than negative moods do).

Such research makes the point that there’s no sharp boundary between work and the rest of life. “You don’t enter some sort of cloister when you go to work,” says Weiss.

But you can work to soften the impact of your mood when it’s a bad one. “The first thing is to be aware of it,” says Barsade. “This goes a long way toward diminishing it, because at least you’re paying attention.”

And if you come to work cheerful, so much the better for your co-workers—as long as you don’t hide the positive emotion that you feel.

By Tom Gray

©2010-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: Sigal Barsade, professor of management, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Howard Weiss, professor of psychological sciences, Purdue University; James H. Fowler and Nicholas A. Christakis, “Dynamic Spread of Happiness in a Large Social Network: Longitudinal Analysis Over 20 Years in the Framingham Heart Study,” British Medical Journal 337:a2338, Dec. 4, 2008, http://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a2338; “Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Desk: The Effect of Mood on Work Performance,” Knowledge@Wharton, Aug. 6, 2006, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/waking-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-desk-the-effect-of-mood-on-work-performance/