I’ve worked at small organizations going big, start-up organizations, different sectors, different jobs, and also collaborated and worked with people and companies at different sectors.
Here are 10 things I wish I had known from day one of my career as a white collar employee, heck even before college. Some of them I’ve already instinctively known, some were discovered and experienced along the way. All are my personal opinions, take it or leave it, it is up to you.
1.The company you work for is not your family. Unless your family owns the company.
This “we are a family” motto is an illusion created by either the company execs or the workforce themselves. The executives, because they have an agenda, or are delusional and want to believe it so badly so it becomes their truth; or the workforce because they’ve seen an act of kindness or caring on the company’s part that “slightly resembles a family unit”.
The truth is those acts of kindness are most probably either done by people in position of power, because they can, and the reasons and motivations behind it may vary and different from one individual to the other; or the company does these acts of so called kindness because they want to increase their workplace attractiveness/happiness.
And the reason why they want to increase these “happiness” is because this will decrease job turnover (people coming in and out) and want to use these metrics to attract high quality workforce.
And the reason they want to decrease job turnover is because the cost of hiring new people is much more higher than keeping the existing people.
If the cost of high turnover were much less than low turnover, then this “family” would constantly fire people at the blink of an eye at their first mishap, which is very unlike what a family might do when you screw up when you think about it.
I’m sorry about the ugly truth, no, it is not really about employee “happiness”.
Companies are not human beings, it is not your family and that is why there are legislations in place to protect the rights of the workers.
2. HR is not your friend.
Human Resources is not a department to protect the rights of the employees. It is directed by a person that is generally on the board of directors that actually run the company, they report to CEO directly, their performance metrics are not based on how much higher salary they give to the new hires, it is how much lower they give and save up on behalf of the company, just to give you a gist.
HR is there to manage situations that involve people in a way that is more profitable to the company, much like any other department. And they are not your friend. They could prefer to be your ally in a given situation, if that maximizes the profit to the company (either by increasing turnover or decreasing cost), but that is situation based. Good news is, they are THE most heavily controlled department by law, this profit maximization aspirations on workforce have limits set by the government, so that it doesn’t come at the expense of the employee welfare, such as work breaks, mobbing situations, organizational structure change, etc.
3. You can’t fake it till you make it.
You can’t. No matter what they say. You can play the grey rock, if the company is large enough, and pretend to do your thing whatever that is, and hide in the shadows, but it can’t go on forever. People who have even slightly more expertise than you, such as your manager, know exactly that you are faking it, and this insincerity and dishonesty does not reflect well on your part. And more importantly, every moment you fake, you are wasting your energy to lie to others and more importantly to yourself, and that is a huge crime in itself. Instead, accept you are on your path to learning and obtaining new skills, and you will make lots of mistakes- which is OK, especially when you are young. Use your energy to ask questions when you fall short, this is the ultimate way to self-development. If you don’t develop yourself, you will find yourself at the exact same position ten years from now: faking it.
This is your job. Have some respect for it.
P.S.:You can also not fake the so called communication “skills” you lack, such as assertiveness. Perceptions such as assertiveness are picked up by other people mostly based on your energy and not some precise formula you exercise on the spot that magically hypnotizes the other person into believing that you are “assertive” just because, say you dropped/slipped their names a few times in conversation. I have a whole post on the topic and trust me I have so much to talk about it, but let us summarize by saying this.
People are not stupid. And these rather poor attempts at manipulation needs to stop.
The energy of self confidence and consequently assertiveness comes naturally to you when you become “actually” confident in what you do. You believe in what you say and do, and exude that energy, people feel it in the depths of their psyche.
4. Have a field of expertise.
At the start of your career you should do a bit of everything. You are trying to discover yourself after all. But at some point, rather than being a guy who has a vague work definition and does whatever needs to be done, pick a subject and become an expert on that.
If you don’t become an expert and stay generalized, it means anyone can replace your job, and you will be some person that do the things that don’t really have too much value in themselves, but needs to be done.
If you become an expert, you will be the person that is really good at XYZ and you become a real asset, because:
A- not anyone else have that skill set to do that, so you are not easily replaceable,
B-your work has specific, observable and tangible benefits and it can be compensated accordingly,
C-it implies hard work to attain that level of knowledge and skill which makes your job; therefore you, valued and respected,
D-you can build up a reputation on that and if you leave Company K, Company L will be more than happy to hire your expertise,
E-you could become self-employed at one point, becoming independent of your employers.
This level of freedom only comes, if your skill set does not depend on the company and your job definition and is concrete in itself.
5. Try out new things at the start of your career.
In order to decide what subject matter you want to take on, you need to try a lot of things. My suggestion is to take those generalized jobs at the start of your career, and based on what you like, try to experience a few different sectors as well.
You might not find becoming a say, data analyst at a bank very enjoyable, but you might enjoy analyzing healthcare data and working from home to provide a service to hospitals. Try to gain a wide range of perspective.
Small companies are great for trying out variable jobs, because the necessities of running a business are pretty much the same between a large company and a small company, but the stakes of making mistakes are lower and there are less people to do all those different things, so every person takes on a few different tasks, which would be dispersed to different people and even departments at a large corporation. This means you will have first hand experience on a lot of different topics working in a small company which will become unbelievably useful later on.
Jobs that expose you to various people, jobs and companies in different sectors such as in a consultancy firm or service based other industry are also great places to learn what is going on in the business world.
The worst thing you could do is to start working at a company and never have any experience other than in that company or even that sector. Trust me, even if you rise in the ranks “quicker” by staying at the same company, you won’t have what it takes to fill those shoes once other people with a wider range of expertise arrive and you won’t even have a clue on what you have missed out. It would be like living in complete darkness, pretty much like someone who had never left their little village and thinks that everyone churns butter and rides on horses to go to places.
There is a whole world out there, don’t miss it.
6. Not everyone has to become a manager- nor should you.
It is kind of obvious but out of a team of ten people, only one will become a team lead. And it is OK. Not everyone has to become a manager, (and most people really should not be managers, but this is a whole other topic) especially if they become an expert, which in my opinion is much better than being a manager.
A manager is someone that spends their time and energy in more or less such a fashion:
%70 : Making sure the things run smoothly. Which includes following people who “actually” do the job and see whether everything is going as planned and ( is this part annoying or what) problem solving. From technical issues to interpersonal problems, to employee issues to company problems. If everyone were able to do what they are supposed to, without any issues, I seriously doubt of the need for a manager. Except for below.
%20: Having a higher perspective on the individual parts of the jobs and managing interdepartmental touch points. Much like puzzle pieces, if everyone were to be responsible of a single piece, and let us say ten such pieces make a tree as a team; then the manager is responsible that the tree fits in with the i.e. the house on the right and the clouds up above etc. Someone has to do it, otherwise the tree ends up where the sky should be. But truly, this is the part that takes the least time but is actually very important.
%10: Employee management, hires, fires, trainings, pep-talks, performance reviews, whatever. The most important and directly influential part imo.
Is being a manager for you? It is definitely all work and no play, higher levels of stress due to higher levels of responsibility and lower levels of job satisfaction due to the lack of autonomy on your own schedule. It definitely hinders the expertise path I’ve mentioned above. It could have a higher paycheck, but also the demands that accompany are higher, because well, no one pays anyone more money, unless what they want is more “fill in the blanks for trouble” in return, let alone a company. Insert evil laughter.
Additionally, once you become a manager, it is really difficult to go back to becoming a specialist. The job market has so much positions at any given time for management jobs, as too many candidates that are upcoming are seeking to become managers, so it narrows down your career options dramatically and makes you more dependent on your job and less flexible to move (on).
What I’m trying to say is that, being a manager is not what is hyped up to be.
And I am one, not by design, I assure you.
7. Don’t get comfy.
Imagine yourself having hopped from one job to another and finally found some place you like. It is comfy. You like your work friends, you like your job, you like that you don’t have a worry on developing yourself or learning new things anymore. So you should stay there. Right?
Well, not really, no. You should never stay at a job, because it is comfy:
1. Unless you only have a few more years to retirement,
2. IF YOU HAVE STOPPED DEVELOPING YOURSELF.
You don’t have the luxury to not keep up with the rest of the world for as long as you work, not if you work for a company nor are you self employed.
Companies won’t hesitate to let you go once you lose your competitive skill set, so don’t count on staying there forever in a blissful existence and don’t even think that they owe you anything just because you worked there for say, 15 years.
Getting comfortable in a job is like falling asleep in a snow blizzard. You’ll die in your sleep baby.
8. Organizational growth never benefits existing employees.
Let’s say a small company that used to have twenty or so employees is doing very well and it started growing. What will happen is that the management will divide the job definitions that were once done by the same people and create newer positions. Then they’ll try to hire new people with demonstrated expertise on the fields that they deem most important for creating a competitive edge for the company. Meanwhile they will assure employees, be it when they join as a new hire, or existing ones by telling them that it is a great opportunity to be in a company that is growing because they can rise faster in ranks. Right?
Well, not really, no.
At any given company, there is a top level management.
They stay at the same place, the very top. Regardless of whatever structure arrives. They are the fixed ones. Everyone else takes a position below.
What happens when companies grow is that twenty existing people that used to report to these top management will now start to decrease in ranks and there will be positions created between them and the top management and they will start reporting to these mid-level positions instead of ? Yes, the top management. Is it really a…promotion?
Most of these mid-levels will be hired from outside so that they will bring in expertise, and also because existing people usually don’t have such management expertise, for they usually come from more of a small company mindset- unless they have previous experience elsewhere.
Don’t fall for this promise, if you want to become a manager or even an expert at your new structure. Either negotiate your way up or count your losses and leave if you feel you had been bamboozled and the new hire that you have to report to is less experienced but has the right experience of mid-level management. You company-instead of preparing you for such a position, be it via training or job definition changes inside the organization- opted to dismiss you and go for a new person.
Once dismissed for this position, you won’t be deemed fit again unless you do some serious development, but you still can’t compete with another candidate that has a wider experience instantly. You could see if you could learn from this new person that arrived as a manager, ask for training from your company, ask to move around inside organization and try to make up for the lack of expertise; if, you feel you can stomach this whole thing and hope that they will appreciate your effort when there is another position opening. To be honest, I would leave and get that expertise elsewhere.
9. Your salary increase and promotion depends on your manager and the company budget, not HR nor other people’s performances or salaries.
Companies- especially larger ones work on budgets. Every year towards the end of the fiscal year, such as August to November depending on your company, the managers evaluate performances and based on that, new salaries and promotions are placed in the next year’s budget. Yearly reviews are the norm, even though some companies do these more frequently throughout the year.
HR does not create their budget, the company management provide that to HR, based on performances, new promotions and the company’s general financial situation. If a company tells you that they weren’t able to give you a raise or a promotion because the budget is limited, they are generally not being honest, because the budget is calculated based on expected raises in the first place, and not vice versa. If the company is not doing well, then it is a different story, and the burden will more or less be distributed to everyone.
In any case; you are NOT “not getting a raise because i.e. a fixed budget is distributed and there could only be so many people that could get a raise that year, blah blah” but rather because that budget is calculated on what they WANT to provide you. They did not WANT or deem it NECESSARY to provide you that raise. That is why, if want to discuss a raise or promotion, try to do it around August-September at the latest, so that the “budget” covers that for the next year. There are budget updates during the year, but companies generally reserve those buffers for economic fluctuations, so your chances could be lower.
10. Have a management perspective on assessing any situation, especially when you are making demands.
Just like the above example, if you don’t want to be played or fooled, try and understand how the companies work and how the management makes decisions.
Ask yourself, “if I were in the place of top management or if it were MY company, who would I promote or why would I give someone a raise or what would convince me to invest in that new project that an employee ( i.e. you) proposed?
Then you’ll know, it is not personal. Even those managers are doing their jobs- which is to maximize profit for the company in their respective fields.
And once again, no, they are not your family. Nor are they your friends. Watch out for yourself.
Hope it helps in your personal journey.
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