Whether seeking a promotion or just simply trying to stay under the radar from your boss’s mood swings, learning how to stand out from other employees can make the workplace more enjoyable. The following are some the best ways I’ve seen to keep the boss off your back while simultaneously increasing your chances for advancement.
Attendance
Always be early for work. Not half an hour but I would say about ten to fifteen minutes. This keeps you from possibly running late and pushing the limits of local traffic laws. If you plan to be at work just barely on time then you will be late sooner or later, there’s just no way around it.
Don’t miss work. Even if I’m sick I still go to work and if the boss has a problem with that he or she can send me home. I’d rather show my commitment to the job than to be another employee that’s not showing up today for some reason or other. Besides, I can feel just as bad at home accomplishing nothing as I can at work getting important things done. An employee who shows up to work sick can be counted on. This will be remembered when your supervisor performs a performance review of your work habits and ability.
Appearance
Always dress properly for work. It’s a good idea to out dress your colleagues just a little if possible. Now don’t over do it! You can go too far with this. For example, you wouldn’t show up an hour early for work because that’s just simply strange and is likely to get you the wrong type of attention. Dressing for success entails the same principle. If you sell cars at a dealership don’t show up in a tuxedo. A nicer pair of shoes, the right socks, an impressive belt or tie will suffice. Incorporate just enough style and charm to lead the pack.
This is just one more area where you can stand out from the average employee. If you care about always being on time and always looking sharp – your boss may begin to ask what else you may be convinced to care about, like more responsibility.
Know your business
You should constantly educate yourself about the industry you are involved in. For example, if you work at a car dealership you should strive to learn all that you can about not only the product you’re selling, but the internal affairs of corporate headquarters, the products offered by your competition, any potential problems associated with your vehicles, any new legislation pertaining to the auto industry, etc. etc..
One can accomplish this by reading industry magazines, newspaper articles, watching television broadcasts, and laboring through research using internet search engines. Keep an eye on what other companies in your industry are up to. Some businesses are profitable while others aren’t. They may have the same type of store, sell the same products, facilitate the same employees and uniforms, but one store is profitable and the other store closes down because they couldn’t survive. Maintaining knowledge on successful companies in your industry will pay off. The boss may strike up a conversation with you about profits or a lagging product line. The more knowledge you possess about such subjects, the more you will be regarded by supervisors and other staff members.
Be a problem solver
I can’t stress this one enough. If you want to become a valuable asset to your boss as well as other employees, then learn to solve problems. Let’s start with a very basic example. The copy machine isn’t working and in fact hasn’t been working for the last three hours. The copy machine repair man has been contacted and will come by your office as soon as he is finished with his current customer. The copy machine says ‘paper jam’ and when asked, George (the new office supervisor), says he pulled out the paper tray and everything looked normal. Since you’re a problem solver, and this failed copy machine is causing real problems, you decide to take a quick look at the machine yourself. You open the paper tray and remove it entirely. Looking inside the copier you can see the end of a piece of paper hanging down from inside the feed. You unplug the copier, grab the paper and slowly pull it out. When you plug the copier back in all is back to normal. Not only can copies be made but you saved the office money by not having to employ the skills of a professional copy machine repair man.
Although this is a simple example it’s the preface that’s important to remember here. As a valuable employee you take the extra steps necessary to correct problems that other people are too lazy or too preoccupied to correct. This is what separates you from the average employee. This concept is not only applied to machinery but people as well. Try and solve problems among employees when possible. People problems often cause companies a much greater loss of profits than broken machinery.
Work smart
You don’t have to out work all the other employees if you know how to work smart. My old boss used to have a very wise saying “Planning Precedes Performance”. This is probably the most applicable phrase ever uttered to lead a person or group of persons to success. Do you have all the supplies you need to fulfill your day without having to stop and find more supplies? Do you have all the information you need to fulfill your day? Did you bring your lunch or will you have to send an employee out to attain food for everyone later?
These are the types of questions that an employee who is working smart asks themselves. Imagine there are two employees working in an office writing code for a company that manufactures software for medical information databases used at hundreds of medical centers across America. The company has a deadline of October 2nd to deliver a viable software update to corporate headquarters. The supervisor only has enough resources to allocate this work to two employees, so she gives each employee what should be an equal amount of work and plans on monitoring both employees progress to guarantee that the deadline is met. The boss explains the needs of the company and the deadline to both employees. Today is Monday and this project must be completed by Friday at 5:00 pm.
The first employee (Andy) treats this week just like any other. He comes in late on Tuesday, takes a longer than usual break on Wednesday, and by Thursday is obviously not going to complete his portion of the work. Now imagine Sara, who is working smart. Sara is a few minutes early each day, she doesn’t go to lunch but has brought a sandwich so she doesn’t have to leave. Sara made a little list showing each day of the week and what she should have accomplished at the end of each day to make the deadline. By Thursday morning Sara has finished her work, and helps Andy finish his work so the deadline can be met. Which employee do you think is likely to be promoted?
Communication
Learning how to talk at work is an important skill. In How to Say It at Work author Jack Griffin describes how to communicate with your boss. On page 78 Griffin lists ‘words to use with your boss’. Some of these words are create, delighted, encouraging, expertise, great, innovative, positive, potential, resolve, thrilled, workable.
Let’s compare that list to his ‘words to avoid with your boss’ on page 83; afraid, blame, cheap, fault, hopeless, overloaded, stuck, unworkable. I hope it’s easy to see the difference. A positive attitude is essential in being highly regarded by your boss. Griffin continues with ‘phrases to use with your boss’; minimum risk, our company, our department, sink out teeth into it, take the ball and run with it.
Now let’s compare that list with ‘phrases to avoid with your boss’; afraid to do it, beyond repair, bombed out, can’t ask me to do something like this, can’t be done, give me a break, I really don’t deserve this.
When it comes to the way you communicate with your boss, you can easily provide a negative answer without sounding negative. So instead of saying “we really blew this one” you just might say “at least we learned to how not to do this, next time we’ll get it right!”
Buy your boss a birthday present?
This one may seem a little strange to you but I can promise it works. Granted you could be viewed as sucking up to the boss. That’s alright with me if the boss leaves me alone when they are on a tirade. We had a gentleman cleaning the carpet in the lobby of the business I used to manage. This man owned the cleaning business and was very successful, making over $100,000 per year just for himself. He had one employee. His employee had been with him for years and the owner was telling me that he had just fired the guy.
While discussing with me the reasons why he let the guy go – the fact that this employee never bought him a birthday present had really bothered him. He said “He didn’t buy me a birthday present, not a gift, not a six pack of beer, I mean nothing. And after employing the guy for ten years that’s the least of thanks he could give me.”
This conversation really stuck out in my mind because I’d never heard a boss mention receiving gifts from employees. My boss at the time loved fine wine. So on his next birthday I bought him a $100 bottle of Opus One. He was surprised, impressed, and gave me a $25 per week raise within the next month.
Your boss is just like everyone else. They like it when someone does something nice for them. Buying your boss a thoughtful birthday present is a great way to get on their good side.
An employee who truly impresses their boss will most likely have attributes found in each of the subjects I have discussed in this article. Try and implement a combination of each of them.
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