I often talk to workforce development professionals and hear advice about how to succeed on the job. Some of the best tips are short and to the point.
Here are five of my favorites:
1. Show up on time.
2. Work hard.
3. Do what your employer asks you to do.
4. Ask questions.
5. Come with the right attitude.
Following these tips will build trust in you and your capabilities. They are a good place to start and it is wise to practice them every day.
THE CONNECT! Coalition, an Anne Arundel County, Maryland, group of organizations dedicated to promoting the importance of essential workplace skills, conducted a survey this past summer to find out what soft skills should be included in trainings for current and future workers.
Survey participants included business owners/employers, supervisors, HR professionals, parents, educators, and representatives from nonprofits and government agencies.
The top ten skills in order of priority were:
Other skills frequently mentioned were the ability to exceed expectations, willingness to admit mistakes, dressing appropriately, and helping others.
How often do you demonstrate these attributes? As you look to 2010, determine which skills you lack and pledge to work on them. Practicing them daily will help you build an outstanding reputation.
Happy New Year!
Nancy LaJoice, the membership director of the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber, brought up an interesting point the other day.
She said, “Why do employers spend time and money celebrating a person leaving the company, (i.e. good bye pizza party), and do nothing (not even a verbal mention) for an employee’s yearly anniversary? Many companies make this mistake.”
I think this is an excellent reminder to acknowledge the good work of employees who daily contribute to a company’s success. A simple thank you goes a long way.
As I watched the Roddick vs. Federer 2009 Wimbledon Men’s Final this past weekend, it was interesting to see the resolve each showed during the competition. Even in the fifth set as they matched each other game for game, both were determined to give it their all.
Later that day, Tiger Woods showed the same conviction as he faced challengers throughout the final 18 holes. He consistently exhibited traits he would need to win, which he did by one stroke.
Those characteristics – showing perseverance, giving their best all the time, and getting the job done – are exactly what make employees shine in the workplace.
It is a pleasure to watch such excellence in sports. Employers value workers who demonstrate that same excellence.
How do I shine and get ahead without arousing envy of others?
Rather than focus on how you may be arousing envy, demonstrate that you are trustworthy to your supervisor and co-workers. You accomplish this by doing what you say you will do, being positive, always being on time, being helpful and listening carefully. Your boss will notice these types of behaviors and your co-workers will come to know they can count on you.
You need to demonstrate these attributes every day. This is the way you shine.
For the last two weeks I had the great fortune of vacationing in France. My husband and I traveled by car, train and the metro seeing all the sights we could and enjoying the wonderful food and wine. I was interested to see the differences in culture and how people approached business.
Not speaking French very well, I had been concerned before we left about how we would communicate and if we would come across as Americans who hadn’t bothered to learn the language. Nearly everyone we encountered knew enough English to talk with us and was gracious as we attempted to decipher menus, directions or purchase souvenirs.
Since my interest is soft skills, I was very impressed by the skills they do particularly well. Specifically, we were greeted with a smile when they said hello and heard a cheerful good-bye and thank you. This was not the case when we traveled on the metro, but when entering an establishment, without fail they said, “Bonjour.” When leaving it was “Au revoir” even if you didn’t buy anything. In restaurants, we heard “Bon appétit.” There were several “merci’s” from them as well as from us.
I loved our trip but it is always great to come home. I’d just like to see the common courtesies we experienced abroad being demonstrated more often in the United States.
Recently I spoke with Leonard Raley, who is the President & CEO of the University System of Maryland Foundation, Inc. We were talking about the type of employees he wants. I loved what he told me:
“When thinking about the type of employees I want, I start with attitude, aptitude and altitude. In other words, I want people who convey positive energy, demonstrate an intellectual curiosity and dare to dream big. I look for colleagues who are flexible, problem solvers and innovators. It’s important that people show up when they say they will, are respectful of others and their opinions, and most importantly have a passion for delivering high quality customer service.”
How are your attitude, aptitude and altitude?
A group of organizations in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, has come together to form a coalition to promote the importance of essential workplace behavior skills. Reputation COUNTS is a proud member of CONNECT! and our goal is to eliminate negative workplace behaviors by helping workers understand and practice the skills employers expect.
The coalition will provide training to a variety of groups, including students and underserved populations such as public assistance recipients, out-of-school youth, older workers and offenders. While academics, technical and occupational skills are critically important, the lack of soft skills is the reason most people lose their jobs. Since employers tell me all the time that too many of their workers are late, dress inappropriately, complain or resist change, bringing more attention to the relevance of soft skills can only help workers be more productive, thus helping companies prosper as well.
One of the most gratifying programs in which I’ve been involved this past fall is a pilot program Reputation COUNTS has created called Career First Steps. Along with guest speakers from the South Anne Arundel Rotary Club and other businesspeople in Maryland, I have been identifying specific workplace behaviors employers expect and telling business students at Southern High School why they matter. The Rotary Club is sponsoring the program and purchased copies for each student of my book, Jumpstart Your Job: 12 Simple Ways to Shift Your Career into High Gear, which describes the specific behaviors we are teaching.
Each session features a soft skill, such as smiling and being positive, and students participate in activities to learn the specific behaviors. For example, during the discussion about the importance of saying thank you, students wrote notes of appreciation to the teacher of their choice. The notes were then given to teachers who had no idea they would receive them. Several sent emails back expressing their surprise and delight. I read many of the teacher comments anonymously to students so they could see firsthand the impact of saying thank you.
Demonstrating soft skills is clearly important but not everyone understands what they are. We have been giving students simple behaviors to practice one at a time and this is the approach we are testing. Constant reinforcement from teachers, parents, employers, and the community at large is needed so that these skills become habits. The pilot concludes in January 2009.
My goal for 2009 is to help more and more people realize that soft skills are critically important to employers and to their personal success. As one manager told me, “I don’t even want to see you if you don’t have these skills.”
These days you really need to be careful about every email you send. A couple months ago I wrote a message to an acquaintance requesting the last name of a woman I would be meeting in a few days. I remembered being verbally told the name and was somewhat embarrassed to be sending the email at all.
When I received the response, I was unpleasantly surprised to see that this person had been copied. My immediate reaction was one of discomfort and the belief I should not have been put in that position.
I believe my acquaintance displayed a lack of good judgment in this situation. She obviously did not realize that I could be potentially embarrassed by this.
Employers value workers who understand the impact of their actions, however small. This is why emotional intelligence is so important. It can give you an edge in the workplace.
