Workplace learning most valued by employers

Every workplace provides opportunities for learning if only one is willing to seek them. Read about some work experiences that employers look for in their workforce as well as future employees.

You will be far more useful in production than in human resources, I am issuing a transfer order,” said the General Manager of the plant where I was working 20 years back. I was an ‘HR specialist’ who had just joined this plant after completing my two year specialization in HR from a reputed institute. The transfer order to production department, at one stroke, threatened to wipe out whatever market value I had acquired after doing my specialized course. “If I wanted to be in production, I would not have joined human resources,” I said to myself. However, in those days, it took some time to get an alternate job and while waiting for the right opportunity outside the organization, I had no choice but to move to production. Very soon I was training workmen in the coil making section of high tension motors. In spite of myself, I got interested in the manufacturing process and before long we managed to double the output of coils being produced in this section.

I stayed on with the organization and eventually was moved back to HR, but in one of my next job interviews in a consulting firm, I was recruited, not because of my knowledge in human resources, but because of my cross-functional exposure, which I could leverage in business process re-engineering projects that they did for clients.

What I thought was a professional disaster (transfer to production) turned out to be the biggest investment in my development. If you have worked for some length of time, like me, you too will have many examples of valuable learning that come out of unanticipated and often unwelcome situations. The reality is that you may not be working in a great place to work, but you will still have great learning if you are willing to seek it.

What kind of learning is most valued by the best workplaces in their employees, particularly young employees? Here is what I learnt after speaking to some of them.

Domain Knowledge

On one hand, there is a feeling that industry continues to reward shallow performance in industries like IT and ITeS; while on the other hand, there is continued dependence on the west for cutting-edge scientific talent in industries like biopharmaceuticals. The Intel advertisement that says, “Our heroes are different from yours” is a case in point of an organization communicating the need and celebrating super experts in the domain.

Flexibility to cope with different business situations and adaptability

The nature of products and services keep changing all the time. An employee may join the financial services to sell simple products like savings account, but may have to shift to insurance products due to changes in regulations.

Result orientation and execution ability

A quarter is all that one has today to prove his abilities. Any amount of case study analysis in class does not guarantee actual execution skills. Some MBAs might look at job requirements as the ability to motivate a team and delegate work. Very soon, one realizes that you have to get your hands dirty and deliver.

Understand global business environment

What POSCO, the mining and metals multinational has to learn about local conditions in Orissa; Vedanta, an Indian company in the same industry, is learning in Zambia. This also assumes that tomorrow’s sought after employees will be adept at using technology to navigate the real and the virtual world.

Partners in co-creating future business

More organizations, particularly the best workplaces, will encourage employees to co-create new businesses. There will be many more examples like the Kaya Skin Clinic of Marico and Google products like gmail, which are all created as a result of employee entrepreneurship.

To really build your knowledge and skills in the above areas it is not good enough to be more savvy, and sharper in many ways from the preceding generations. It requires professionalism (keeping commitments) and high ethical standards. It also means more maturity and emotional intelligence. Indeed, if you look at any of the popular “reality shows” on television, you will be forgiven for jumping to the conclusion that the opposite is true!

And above all, it requires ability to manage your physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual health and balance.

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Workplace Predators

Polar bears are known for fierceness and lack of natural predators, although wolves and walruses can kill them. Feeding primarily on seals, the hungry bear featured in a recent episode of Planet Earth, happened on larger prey. Outweighed by the Atlantic walruses, with tusks that can reach three feet long, the Polar bear sought to nuzzle, push and pry his way past a mother to her calf, despite added protection from the walrus group.

Repeatedly, the bear bit the neck and body of the walrus. But grayish-brown skin, up to two inches thick, protected her from the Polar bear's honed claws and teeth. In the end, the bear lost more than that battle. Alone, exhausted and unable to kill any of the hundred or more clustered walruses nearby, he ultimately starved.

This interaction of the bear and the walrus reminded me of workplace predators. You know the ones. Coworkers who knock others down for sport, trivializing successes, throwing stones at accomplishments, and ridiculing initiative as brown-nosing.

Coworker predators celebrate your missteps and failures, offering public jabs as a way to ward off contenders. Their caustic teeth of jealously, and jagged claws of success-envy, can painfully hit their mark in a forum fraught with public scrutiny. Their messages can derail projects, reputations and careers. They tear down others as a way of building themselves up, trading potential substance and significance for sarcasm and snide remarks.

I've encountered my share of workplace predators, attacking, biting, and clawing others to hinder success. They deliver reasons you won't, can't or shouldn't try something, and their negative predictions cast doubt shadows.

Early in my career, I was cowered by the seeming strength of workplace predators, retreating into more neutral positions or second-guessing my thinking. The thinness of my confidence skin, soft and vulnerable, was an easy target for them. Their attacks made me question my abilities, direction, and contributions, at times feeling like they might even succeed in breaking my spirit or pushing me from the environment.

But I finally realized their attacks came as a result of my competence, success, and achievement. As my confidence grew, so did thicker skin, and it became easier to withstand their attacks.

Workplace predators are not winning at working, since people who are never tear down or attack others, even if their livelihood depends on it. Instead, people who are winning at working are like walruses, developing their protective thick skin in a group oriented approach. They do that through teamwork, results, quality and self-esteem, growing denser skin with each success, achievement, and accomplishment.

Unfortunately, here's the reality - when you're winning at working, you're going to have to deal with workplace predators. So, get yourself ready. Develop behaviors that repel and weaken their antics. Grow the thickest skin possible by your consistent performance, trust, integrity, and achievement. Cement your strength with persistence, determination and passion.

Then, when they strike, practice Thomas Jefferson's words, "Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances." Remember, unruffled walruses starve bears.

A Sense of Humor in the Workplace Is it me? Or, was that not funny?

When I was first initiated into Corporate America, I had a sense of humor that went unmatched by any mortal soul. I was quick-witted, smart, sharp, and knew every gag and joke available to humanity. Most of it, I learned in college. But, college never really did teach the fact that having a sense of humor in the workplace is different than 'jocularity.' After a few brushes with career-chaos, I realized that the definition of 'corporate humor' deals with how one handles oneself and not how one can elicit laughter.

Where did this come from?
One of my friends came to Las Vegas last week to visit and relax a bit. He and I went out and checked out some of the local bands. During the course of the evening, he brought up some issues about his current job situation. After some introductory words, we discussed the issue that he seems to get blamed for some of the stupidest things, that he never did, and no one takes him seriously anymore. Then, he cracked some joke about it and we carried on.

Not being taken seriously by your peers is actually a common problem with people who do have a sense of humor. But, funny has no place in the workplace and can easily wreak havoc on an otherwise blossoming career.

So, no more laughter?
Of course, laughter is necessary in life. But, in a professional setting, it becomes a different type of laughter. One situation you will encounter as you move through your career is the seriousness of professionalism. Of course, to some, this is not a problem. But, to those that have a funny bone, this is a big problem and a detriment to one's career.

You have to realize that when your boss asks if you have a sense of humor, he's not asking if you're a clown. What he is asking is whether or not you can accept criticism, deal with difficult people, and gracefully handle mistakes without snapping people's heads off when things get stressful. It is important and considered professional to be able to take criticism lightly as it is sometimes used as a tool of 'turf wars' than an actual personal attack.

Hey, that was funny!
If you begin to crack jokes and make snide remarks, you will eventually not be taken seriously in the workplace. You will be seen as someone who wastes time because every time that someone approaches you to discuss a project or other issues with you, some of that time is spent explaining your humorous comments. Additionally, many corporate-minded individuals do not have the time to analyze comments with hidden meanings and will take what you say as absolute. Therefore, if you make a 'stupid' comment in hopes of eliciting a smile, your comment will be taken as an absolute and a representation of your professionalism in the workplace. Finally, if your comments do have hidden meanings or contain humorous connotations, then anything you say will be taken as unreliable, thus labeling you as unreliable.

Realize that the corporate culture labels you by 'visible change,' not completely by merit. What I mean is, the last way you presented yourself is the way that you will be seen in the workplace. If you are a serious, pleasant, and hard worker, you will be seen that way. If you crack a joke in the middle of a serious moment, from then on, you will be seen as a joker.

Look over there!
One thing to keep in mind is that many people crack jokes and make 'humorous' comments when they are uncomfortable or lack confidence in a situation. If this applies to you, realize that your peers know this as well. Being overly humorous under stress gives off a sign of weakness within the workplace and will also cause you to be ousted from the ranks.

Try to find another outlet for discomfort or confidence issues. Perhaps a favorite ink pen or a small quartz crystal to toy with in such situations will remind you to maintain your professional façade as well as keep you calm.

Watch what you say!
One of the big problems facing corporate cultures today is that, in general, everyone is 'sensitive' to everything. Instead of working together for a common goal, there are individuals that stay on their toes looking for that one thing that they can use to cause some sort of upheaval within the culture. With that, corporate-minded peers are also on the lookout for those who might do or say something to upset those sensitive individuals.

Because of this situation, there truly is no room in a standard corporate culture for remarks and comments that in certain groups might otherwise be humorous. You have to realize that when you speak within a corporate culture, be concise, be realistic, and do not add comedic breaks or sarcasm. Since everyone is taking everything 'seriously' with a 'sense of humor' for themselves, then whatever you say will be taken seriously and could easily land you in hot water.

To alleviate the chance of being misinterpreted, keep emotion and personal beliefs out of the context of your conversations. Basically, listen closely and be concise in what you say. Not only does this eliminate the problem of having people take you wrong, but it also saves a lot of time.

The Deadly Silence
There are several little games played within the corporate environment to elicit a fatal comment from the unwary. The most deadly game is the 'long pause.' In many cases, you might sit before your boss, or peers, and provide information on a particular subject or project. During the course of the discussion, you notice that your audience appears to be listening to everything you say. Then, at the end of your soliloquy, the audience seems dead or stuck in a mental time warp. This pause can last for as long as 10 seconds.

During this pause, it might seem as though your audience is mulling through your comments, but this is not entirely the case. They are creating an uncomfortable pause for you to begin doubting your comments in hopes that you divulge additional information and demonstrate your lack of confidence and discomfort.

This situation will get you every single time if you're not aware that it is only a game. One purpose of this game is so that the audience can acquire additional information from you that you would have otherwise never divulged. On the other hand, the audience might be trying to acquire your nonsensical traits from your discomfort to use during a future turf war. Again, be concise, and then listen. Wait out the infinite pause without saying a word and you'll see that they were just waiting for you to speak.

What's next?
Realize that you can still have fun and enjoy your work without the frolicking antics of a pubescent employee. One mishap can destroy a lifetime of kudos making it is easier to fall from graces than to repair a reputation. Companies want people they can count on 100% of the time, not just when you're serious and comfortable. Focus, take responsibility, move forward competently, and produce quality results.

If you've already fallen because of your sense of humor, then you will have to work hard to get back into the good graces of the culture. All you have to do is maintain a professional façade, realize that corporate America is 'not personal,' and motivate in your career with confidence.

Is Workplace Romance Really Taboo?

You might have heard the warnings "don't dip your pen in the company ink," "don't go fishing off the company pier," in the U.S., and "don't mix business with pleasure," but for today's worker, that advice is considered outdated. With more time spent on the job, an emphasis on group collaboration and increased socialising with colleagues, today's workplace fosters more personal relationships among employees.

These days, more and more people have been involved in a romantic relationship with a colleague at some point in their career. CareerBuilder's "Office Romance" survey found that more than 55 percent of workers have gone out with someone who worked in the same company.

Vault.com reported similar findings in 2003, when 47 percent of workers admitted to having been involved in an office romance and an additional 19 percent said they would be willing to participate if the opportunity arose.

While the office tryst was once viewed as a no-no, society no longer frowns upon a romance that blooms between colleagues. 75 percent of workers surveyed told CareerBuilder that workers should be able to go out with anyone at work without repercussions. And only 7 percent of workers told Vault that office romances are always unacceptable.

"Not surprisingly, work turns out to be a good place to find someone who shares your interests, aims and ambitions," writes Margaret Heffernan in her book The Naked Truth. "The workplace is full of people who are exceptionally compatible with who we are: they have chosen the same area of work, they share many of our interests, they're often a similar age and driven by similar hopes and goals. And we're spending eight hours a day with these people! It's little wonder, then, that office affairs and marriages are so common."

Are these really one-time flings or are they legitimate couplings? Of those who told Vault they were involved in an office romance, 20 percent said it developed into a long-term relationship. And, in a survey of managers who dated someone from work by the American Management Association, 44 percent of respondents said their relationships led to marriage, 23 percent had a long-term relationship and 33 percent had short-term relationships. Studies show between 50 percent and 80 percent of companies do not have written policies on employees going out with one another.

Be careful: approach any office relationship with caution and check your employee manual to see if your company has a stated policy about employee relationships. At the first sign of flirtation, be discreet and think through the consequences if things don’t work out.

It's critical to remember that people talk, warns relationship columnist April Masini. "People talk. No matter how friendly your colleagues are, or how tight-lipped the object of your affection seems, secrets are almost always shared with someone, whether accidentally or intentionally," she says. On other words say nothing and do nothing that you don't want everyone else to know about.

Almost half of those who told CareerBuilder.com they were involved with a colleague said they tried to keep it under wraps. Some diversionary tactics included flat out denial, laughing it off and even staging arguments. Author and radio presenter Debbie Mandel says although the taboo has lost its stigma, there are some things to keep in mind if you do become involved in a romance at work.

Do your job efficiently and creatively. You cannot let your work ethic be compromised.

Be a team player and readily available to help others. Don't give people a reason to think you are only working with your sweetheart.

Stay clear of public displays of affection. Don't be demonstrative in public; leave that to lunch breaks or after work.

Remember that people do break up. Make sure you remain professional and don't burn bridges.

Unwritten rules of the workplace

When you first started school, nobody handed you a rule book with a list of dos and don’ts to become familiar with. But by observing your surroundings and watching how your peers behaved you soon learned that if you wanted to ask a question, you would have to raise your hand in the air instead of shouting out loud.

The same principle applies to the office where there are written and unwritten codes of conduct that exist to ensure the harmonious coexistence between colleagues.

So what are the things that you need to be aware of which don’t feature in your employer’s staff handbook?

Mobile phones
If you have your phone at work try not to leave it on the loudest setting - the sound of different ring tones going off can be extremely annoying to others. Instead, set the alert to ‘vibrate’.

Avoid making personal phone calls at your desk. Even if the nature of the call isn’t personal, find somewhere else to talk and avoid disrupting your colleagues.

Don’t take your phone into meetings with you. Regardless of whether your phone is on silent or not, if you receive a call or text you may be tempted to check to see who it is from. This is not only rude, it is a clear signal to your boss that your mind isn't 100 per cent on your job and all calls can wait until your meeting is over or until there is a break.

And don’t use the phone in the bathroom. Your voice is 20 per cent louder in a bathroom compared to outdoors due to the acoustics and most people find it extremely annoying - you never know who may be in the next cubicle.

Using the internet
Policies on personal internet use differ from office to office with several UK organisations banning their employees from using social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace due to potential time-wasting.

The general rule is to do use the web in moderation and limit your internet usage to non-working lunchtimes.

The internet has it’s uses – maps, timetables, dictionaries – but just as many distractions. If your screen is displaying the Sky Sports homepage every time your boss walks by, you’re not going to be seen as a hard-working member of the team.

Smoking
The main criticism levied against smokers is the perception that they take more breaks than non-smokers during the working day. It not necessarily true, but nonetheless don’t take too many breaks because if you do, you may be perceived as being lazy, selfish and inconsiderate by others.

Making sure you don’t have an overpowering smell of tobacco on your clothes when you get back from your break is also a way to ensure you’re not alienated by your co-workers.

Keep the decibels down
Workplaces that rely on creative thinking often allow staff to sit their desks all day listening to their own music on headphones. But this can have the same annoying effect as hearing the tinny sound emanating from the headphones of the person next to you on the train into work.

If you want to keep your iPod in one piece, then absolutely no singing, whistling, head bopping or banging the imaginary drums is permitted.

Five Ways to Beat Workplace Stress

"After all the highways, and the trains, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive," said Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman."

Do you no longer feel that you are getting satisfaction from your job, or are you questioning whether you are in the right job? Are you contemplating looking for a new position? If so, you are probably suffering from burn-out and not necessarily from a bad job.

It is caused by the way that you react to both positive and negative stress in your job. Stress is part and parcel of any job, so it is important to be able to identify the stress -- causing factors and turn them into positive experiences.

Here are some suggestions on ways to eliminate burn-out and stress.

1. Remember the good times
Think of the times when you felt a sense of professional achievement and identify the factors that contributed to that success, such as selling the big deal you had been working on for so long, winning promotion or creating new ideas.

2. Avoid negativity
Henry Ford said: 'If you think you can or you think you can't, you're probably right'. Using positive language creates an image in our minds that the subconscious soaks up. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania interviewed 350,000 executives and discovered that the top 10 per cent performers held a higher sense of optimism.

So, instead of looking at your new sales target and saying, "That's unrealistic." It is better to say, "If I break this down into manageable, smaller targets I can see how I will achieve this."

Backbiting colleagues, gossips and office politics can, given time, have a negative effect on you. Counteract negativity by focusing on the positives aspects of your work -- the "neg-heads" will soon realise that you won't entertain their bemoaning.

3. Get out more
Allow time to get out of the office and go out for lunch or coffee instead of sitting at the desk where you spend so much of your day. Turn off your phone, Blackberry and laptop and take some "me-time" away from work. These may seem like frivolous acts but you will return to work feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

4. Change your daily routine
The monotony of performing the same tasks daily can be frustrating. Take a different route to work, reorganise your desk or ask your boss for a new challenge -- perhaps taking on the responsibility of running the next team meeting or training new starters.

5. Finally, ask for help
There is no shame in asking for help, we are all human beings not human doings. All of us go through tough periods and you will earn the respect of your managers and peers if you ask for their advice and support. In my experience, what comes around goes around -- one day you may be the one that someone turns to for help.

To use a cliché, knowledge is power. Now you know what you can do when you are burnt-out and avoid letting things slip out of control like Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. It is not the situation that you are in now that matters; it's what you do about it.

Morale and Motivation in the Workplace

Why do the simplest things seem so hard sometimes? The way to improve Morale is to ask your staff what they need in order to work more effectively. This is not asking "What do you need in your life?" or "Who drives you up a wall?" or "How can we make you glad to be alive?" Rather, it's asking "What tools, resources, clearer communications and expectations, rewards and workplace norms do you need that you are not getting now? How can we help you fulfil your part of this bargain to be effective, efficient, optimistic, and a good team player?"

Managers can do this on their own or get some help with the task. If you ask these questions yourself, the advantage is that you don't have to involve anybody else and risk having your office laundry hung out to dry. The disadvantage is you'll seldom get the whole truth that way.

Having a trusted colleague or external consultant ask these questions and prepare a summary for you will make the exercise much safer for your folks. They should do this without attribution -- that is, get you the information you need, but strip the comments of any identifiable content. This way, your staff will be more willing to give you really useful information.

Similarly motivation in the workplace when it works means there's seldom much need for disciplining people. It's unfortunate that military-style thinking is so common with people trying to lead, because the emphasis on strict discipline, crucial to success in combat, is often so disastrous to morale in civilian work teams.

Motivation is about joining with the people who report to you (knowing them, listening to them, and valuing them for their particular contributions and potential) so that they feel moved to join with you in meeting the challenges you're facing

And so it is. Whole people come to work each day, not just brains and Right arms. They bring with them their hopes, dreams, talents and hang-ups. The manager, who genuinely likes people, finds their foibles at least somewhat humorous, and who believes that there's a way to reach almost everybody, seldom has trouble with either discipline or motivation. It could be said, in fact, that the two are related this way: When your people start needing to be disciplined by you, it means you'd better upgrade your motivational skills.

People will be shocked that you're willing to hear both good and bad news, and even more surprised when you set out to do something about the suggestions they've made. That shock will turn into greater commitment to the job, a renewed interest in working together, more willingness to collaborate, and greater permission to be honest with you and each other. Now, if that isn't the definition of high morale, I don't know what is. So start listening, and get ready to do a little learning and changing yourself. That's the first step to better morale!

How to make your workplace greener

Have you ever walked through a business district at night and wondered why there were so many lights on in the high-rise offices? In most cases it’s not down to an army of workaholics putting in a late shift – many companies make a conscious decision not to flick the switches when the last person leaves.

It may sound like a minor issue, but thousands of offices across the country running up unnecessary electricity bills on a daily basis will not only make the light bulb manufacturers very happy, but contribute heavily to the ever growing environmental issues we face.

Unless you’re an Office Manager, there’s little you can do personally to change this apart from mention it to whoever is responsible, but it does raise the issue of how you can reduce your workplace carbon footprint.

Technology has gone a long way to helping the paperless office become more of a possibility – emails, instant messages, PowerPoint presentations and USB sticks have made printers almost redundant. Many offices have even removed their fax machines in an effort to reduce paper use.

Even within Internet companies like Monster, there are still certain individuals who aren’t totally comfortable not having a printed record of their work.

To help those slightly less engrained in the electronic age, easily accessible recycling bins are a must and a whole industry has grown up around the issue. Many collection companies are so concerned about our wasteful nature they operate on a not-for profit basis to encourage companies to sign up for their service.

Another way to help out is to make sure you always shut your PC down fully. That includes switching off the monitor, not just leaving it to go onto standby mode.

According to the National Energy Foundation, “PC screen consumption can often represent a third of the electricity consumption in a modern office. Most of the wasted energy is given off as heat, and in an air-conditioned office, half as much energy again can be used in getting rid of this waste heat in summer.”

There is an argument that regularly switching your PC on and off actually uses more energy than leaving it on. It’s really just a question of frequency – downtime at evenings and weekends does have a benefit but there’s no need to turn off for your lunch hour or a long meeting.

So that covers what you can do at work, now let’s sort out your journey there and back.

Public transport is the obvious way of reducing individual impact, with car-pooling an ever more popular option. Choosing to cycle or walk will bring health benefits along with environmental brownie points.

And finally, it’s worth considering if you even need to go into your workplace at all. Many companies now encourage their employees to work from home, not necessarily for ‘green‘ reasons but it would certainly have an impact if millions of us could eliminate our commutes.