Relationships at work and a couple of books that will help
Most relationships in life are difficult at best, but those at work are among the most challenging, as they highlight differences in personalities. I’m in a good place now; working with individuals who view their mission as doing the right things for the right reasons, striving to grow a business, building a new cutting edge concept and placing ego aside, knowing that success is more a product of teamwork and the sum of everyone’s hard work for the better good. At this stage in my career, I find myself being contacted by people I have worked with before, offering me employment and recognizing my skill sets as valuable. The office politics and games of ‘gotcha’ by sinister co-workers is a thing of the past, at least for now!
It has not always been that way in the corporate world and I am sure that applies to the public sector as well. Thirst by employees to advance, be recognized and excel at any cost, including thrashing their coworkers in order to get ahead, is a plague in the workplace in America. Over the years I have come to appreciate people in industry who really know their area of expertise, enjoy sharing that with others and have advanced through the fruits of their hard work. I have also come to despise phony “climbers” who back slap the boss and take every opportunity, at the cost of others to look good.
My philosophy has always been that you should be recognized for your hard work, ability, performance and accomplishments with advancement based on that . My parents always stressed that if you work hard in life, you will be rewarded and be successful. In the 1980’s, that all changed in the workplace and over the last 20 years, the corporate world has turned into a pig pile to get to the top.
Preferences based on affirmative action have stifled the careers of many qualified individuals and although there was a need for some equity in the workplace, it turned too far the other way. I can’t tell you the number of times that I was told: “yes, you are ready for that position and the most qualified but we are promoting Mr. or Ms. X because of equal opportunity law.” I never understood the glass ceiling argument because at least in my industry, it does not seem to exist.
A few years back, I heard of a position for which I was ultimately qualified. I spoke with a recruiter friend of mine who was working as an HR consultant for this ‘progressive’ company based out of Seattle (I will leave it at that). He admitted that I was a perfect fit for the job but stated: “they will talk with you but it will be a courtesy interview as they are only interested in hiring a woman to fill that position”. Substitute “man” for that and lawsuits would have ensued. So, over the years, I have purposely steered clear of companies that overcompensate by being politically correct practicing reverse discrimination.
“Climbers” abound in the corporate world. A few years back, I was hired by a small company and the owners were not very involved in the business. They were thrilled to have me on board as they wanted me to develop systems, procedure, process and best practices similar to those at my previous employer; which was a Fortune 100 company. I reported to a guy who ran the operations for the entire company and he had no interest in new ideas. He barely graduated high school, his vocabulary was limited but he was very street smart as he made the owners so reliant on him that they could not run the company without him.
Over 14 months, I outlined a strategic plan that would streamline operations and cut costs. Oblivious to what was really going on, I would smile as he would roll out new procedures and install controls. I had little contact with the owners but was proud that my ideas were being used. Little did I know that he was taking credit for all of the new ideas and was in daily conversations with the owners, telling them that I was not offering any suggestions of merit. The owners called me in to the office one day to express their disappointment, stating that they had hired me and this guy was coming up with all of the ideas. Being the bigger man, I held my tongue and waited until I could confront my boss.
I voluntarily left that company and soon after my boss was promoted to COO. He once told me that you make your employer so dependent on you that they can never afford to let you go and that his view of the world was that it was “every man for himself”. It would have been fruitless to try to claim credit for my accomplishments and it would not have been worthwhile to stay with a company with such incompetence. For people like this guy, one day it will hit him and he will realize that his success is hollow.
I could go on about incompetence that gets recognized as talent and the backstabbing of co-workers as they poison the well at the workplace. Toxic workplaces exist everywhere and there are many personality types that seem impossible to deal with day after day. One thing for sure is that the quality of the workplace starts at the top and corporations as well as government need to start catching employees doing things…RIGHT! Rewards and recognition, if executed properly could go a long way in controlling workplace behaviors.
I have a few observations that have proven to be true in the workplace:
Those who promote “climbers” were promoted in that way themselves and are perhaps the worst leaders and managers.
Hard work and doing the right things for the right reasons might not always pay off, but at the end of the day, you are more of an expert and have more marketable skills in your craft than those who have circumvented their peers to get ahead. Integrity, honesty and doing the right things are qualities that are rare today and employers should look for in an employee.
Affirmative action aside, success is based on skill, ability and passion, not because of the color of your skin, gender or national origin. Although equality can be legislated, or in the case of Affirmative Action, inequality; ability and talent are not qualiiies that can be mandated.
There are many opportunities in life and numerous roads that you can take without certain outcomes or destinations, but success follows those who are self determined and self reliant.
I am working for a consummate professional now with whom I worked for at two other companies. He is a great leader and cuts through the games of self serving personalities. Best of all, he sought me out to build a new concept and rapidly growing company, because, I too believe in success through a “minimum of bullsh*t and consistency with results”.
When all is said and done and we come to the end of our working years, I wonder how the “climbers”, those who were advanced through preferences and the nere-do well game players will feel about their careers and accomplishments.
Will they be able to hold their head high and say, “I advanced through my hard work, dedication and ability and was successful doing the right things for the right reasons”? Only time will tell, but I think many will have a hard time facing the reality that they did not do it on their own and trampled on many good people, as they reflect on whether or not they really made a difference!
Don’t despair; following are two very good books that will help you with jerks at your workplace. Both books are not only entertaining but explain how to deal with self serving, toxic peers:
WORKING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE by Muriel Solomon-In this book, you will find almost every person you work with and you will probably find yourself. A fun read and written in sections that list the different characters at work. Solomon gives you phrases and ideas on how to turn the tables on those impossible co-workers.
SINCE STRANGLING ISN’T AN OPTION by Sandra A. Crowe-In this book, the author groups personalities providing uncanny comparisons to anyone’s nemesis at work or in your personal life. Crowe provides some great common sense (if that still exists) approaches to dealing with personality types.
You are right on the mark!
Tracy,
You are right on the mark with your comments, thanks for replying.
My dad is 85 now but growing up he was the foremost authority of his trade in the United States; a trade he practiced on the side of his regular job. Major manufacturing companies in this field would call him in to repair their machinery when no one else (including their star engineers who designed it) could fix it. One company courted him to come work for them and travel all over the world. They asked him where he went to college and he stated that he had attended only one semester at Keene State. The interview ended there and that was in the late 1950's or early 1960's.
A few years ago, I hired a graduate from Johnson & Wales College and he thought that he knew everything about his field. He was so incompetent that I let him go. He started and at $40,000 right out of school and he felt he was underpaid.
College education is great and everyone should strive to have one but it qualifies your for NOTHING!!!! The colleges indoctrinate students and convince them that they are qualified to do things that only practical hands on experience teaches you to do.
They indoctrinate students that they can earn "$X,000 per year because they are so well educated. A degree is just a piece of paper and I have one. I can tell you that I have never used any of the courses that I took in college. Everything I have learned is through experience and college never helped at all; except to get me in the door.
I have seen what you are talking about and I have experienced it taken to the next level where you are not advanced because you went to a state college rather than Tufts, etc. It is sad that so many qualified people are passed over due to a lack of a degree.
The cost of education today is excessively high and it is not worth it. Take a look at the professors in our University System. I can guarantee there are some who are tenured and they are terrible teachers. Take liberal arts, what does that qualify you to do? I know that career educators and the culturally 'elite' will say that an education is about self improvement and desire to become more aware of the world and a thirst for knowledge. Really though, the world does not work that way and you need to position yourself for the workplace.
All of your points are right on the mark and I appreciate your candor. Unfortunately, not many people would have the courage to respond to my points as they have probably benefitted at one time or another from being that butt kisser. I have a friend (if you want to call him that) that thinks this is all 'sour grapes' because I am either unable or unwilling to 'play the game' in the corporate world. He infers that you can't buck the system and you can't change it.
My reply to my "friend" is that we determine what kind of a work environment we are going to participate in. If everyone just refused to feed into the politics and game playing, it could be changed. At the end of the day, you have to take a long hard look at the situation and at yourself and be able to know, in your heart and head that you did the right things. I know to many climbers and agressive personalities that seems naive, but I respect that quality above all others in people. Unfortunately today, the words humble, honest, truthful, thoughful and decent are scoffed at by those who feel they know best. That is the real problem with this world.
Hang in there and don't let anyone tell you that you are not as smart as or as qualified as a person with a hollow piece of paper! It IS just a piece of paper and it does qualify that 22 year old for NOTHING or at least nothing more than entry level.
Taking time off
I have become very intrigued by what you have written Bill, and your response to Tracey's comments.
In the past, I took time off from working to center myself after a life-altering experience. This was one of the best things I ever did for myself. It allowed me to center myself and do a lot of work on what I wanted from my work environment, what satisfaction I wanted from my job, and what my priorities were. It has led me to a totally different career from where I started (I was in media, I'm now in construction), and I'm a more focused, better working individual than I was previously. I'm now in a industry which constantly fascinates me, and where the opportunities are endless.
Good Stuff
Thanks for reading the blog entry and thanks for your reply.
I am glad to hear that you had a second chance at a career. Opportunites are the most important thing in anyones career and it is far better than dog eat dog politics of an office or company where the chance to advance means compromising principles.
I like to hear success stories.
Interesting...having an
Interesting...having an education gets you nothing but the expectation of a big paycheck???? I'd like to know just how many companies out there will even interview someone without that useless piece of paper. If not the piece of paper, they want the person with experience. No wonder the work place ends up being filled with so many "incompetents". Three times I had the very good fortune of working for companies (granted not fortune 100 companies) who were more then happy to hire someone with merely a liberal arts degree and no experience.
No experience...big paycheck?
I am sure that plenty of companies hire people with liberal arts degrees and that is not the thrust of the argument. If a person is truly talented, they should be given the opportunity but experience counts as well. Too much emphasis is placed on a degree.
Companies that will not advance people because they do not have a degree is the real issue. Bill Gates never graduated from Harvard, dropping out to start Microsoft. If he left to join a computer company, would he be where he is today? Who knows, but his chances would have been far less that they would have advanced him in another company without that piece of paper.
It is the value that companies put on a piece of paper and lack of value that they place on practical experience.
I once worked for Taco Bell and if you did not have a Bachelor's degree, at that time, you could not be in the management training program...at Taco Bell!!! Why? Because college graduates led the charge to only hire college graduates. I had friends with no college degree that could run circles around anyone that ran a Taco Bell. There is a false value to education in many instances.
Now, education in technical fields and medicine, etc. qualify you to practice those skills right out of school (albeit internships, etc.). But even then, does an engineer who has been song the job for years need to step aside for someone just because they took classes in theory or practical book instruction? It makes no sense.
Everyone should want to attend college for many reasons but it qualifies you for an entry level opportunity. It does open door in employment and does open your greater world view up to many viewpoints, etc. It does not always get you a bigger check and is only on par with hands on, practical experience in many industries.
I half wonder whether it's
I half wonder whether it's so much the indoctrination of colleges telling young adults they're worth X amount of dollars than it is perhaps general ignorance. I'm not long out of college and I don't recall ever being told how much I should be requesting for an entry level job.... I had no idea what I was worth, and I hadn't the foggiest clue whether I was asking for too much or too little. I remember when I started applying to jobs, if salary requirements were required in the cover letter, I'd pretend like I didn't see it because I would agonize too long over what my salary requirements ought to be. Sure, there probably are some arrogant people who come out of college thinking that they're all that and a bag of chips and ought to be paid top dollar, but I don't think that's the majority...
Another thing that's I found troubling when I was searching for a job a year ago was that when a job listing said "entry level" it didn't always mean entry level. I don't know how many placed I looked at that were listed as such but wanted a bachelor's degree with five years of experience. I don't exactly call that entry level....
Entry Level
I think you make a couple of legitimate points but the original point was that a college grad comes into a company at a higher wage because they have a college degree.
Tracy makes the point that a college graduate is valued as worth more in $$$ and actually in general. If her father in law, indeed, is better at his craft then why are entry level recent college grads earning more when they start? Does a college degree automatically mean that you should make more money? After all, you are unproven.
As far as what college graduates are told about what they are worth. It may not happen in all majors but it sure happens in business schools, etc. I have done alot of hiring of entry level candidates and they all have lofty expectations based on what they have been told they should make for a salary.
You are absolutely correct that companies advertise 'entry level' and want 5 years experience. Why they do that, I do not know. I feel your frustration as I experienced the same thing after graduating from college. Then, I would get the experience and they would want 6-10 years to interview you for a job.
The hiring process is another blog entry, perhaps two. I can tell that you have been through the drill of applying for jobs. You were right to ignore the salary requirement part of the application process...that is awkward for me to this day.
Thanks for the thoughts!
For the record, I'm not
For the record, I'm not disputing the unfairness of the wage disparity between experienced self-taught folks and their college educated peers. It's a huge problem, particularly so in electrical and computer engineering fields.
I can certainly see what you're saying about business majors as being true though... My experience with the people my age that just graduated with a business degree is that they have lofty expectations and an unrealistic view on the way the world works.
As for my background and the perspective I'm looking at this from, I majored in Computer Engineering Technology at NHTI. So, in my response I was mostly looking at what's going on related fields to that.
Not currently having a bachelor's degree myself, and working in the open source web development sector, where pay scale tends to be based more on what you've given to the community than what piece of paper you have, I have a lot of empathy for the older engineers like Tracy's father who got into the industry their in before the proper paperwork was required, and I worry at times that eventually someday in my career I'll be in a similar position if I don't go back for my bachelor's somewhat soon-ish. Yet, the discouraging part is I've heard an overwhelming response from classmates I graduated with that going for your bachelor's feels like a waste of two years of your life because they don't end up teaching much more than you learned in your first two years in a tech school.... but you have to do it because the associates degree has been so greatly devalued by the "diploma mills" that no one will look at your resume without it.
Everyone has to start
Everyone has to start somewhere and there are plenty of incompetents in the world we live in. Does being incompetent make you worthless? I've been incompetent. I've been less then perfect. Former employers gave me the opportunity to learn on the job. Learning on the job often included more schooling. There is a need for education. I work for doctors, and am glad that doctors are required to continue their education throughout their career in order to keep their licenses.
I agree that a college degree shouldn't guarantee a bigger paycheck. I know there are people like Tracey's father in law who are getting the shaft, but having been one of the lowly peons that has never had a "career" or worked in the corporate world, I can only speak from my own experience. My experience is that there are people in the working world who are competent, cable and willing to be trained, happy to have a job that will pay the bills if not make us rich, and proud of the work they put out. There are also idiots who never learned a lick of common sense, or realize that there is more to life then their "career" and a fat paycheck. I spend 8 hours a day with people I can't stand being near. Does that make them less valuable in the workplace? Their input is just as valuable as mine. Those who are so incompetent that they can't improve eventually disappear. That is the reality of working in the lowly peon positions.
I must thank you for joining us here at blogsNH. You give much food for thought. I look forward to reading more.
Thanks Terri and Nicole
Thank you Terri and Nicole for adding perspective to the blog.
Nicole, it sounds like you have your act together and have a bright future ahead.
Terri, I could not agree with you more on most of your points. I think that medical professionals have to get that education and keep it current. I especially liked the "I spend 8 hours a day with people I can't stand being near." I have been there and although I am not there now, things seem to come around again; I can empathize.
Thanks for your welcome and although you may not agree with all of my blogs, I will be writing alot about many subjects including my travels and hopefully I can infuse some humor and useful information into this blog.
I look forward to ongoing discussions about many issues with all of you!
Bill,
I think it's wonderful that you would bring up such a touchy subject. Having worked in Corporate America for several years before the birth of my first child, I too have seen exactly what you speak of. Some of those back stabbing individuals you speak of, do what they do because they haven't the experience to get ahead, so they resort to cheating their way up. However, one of the most horrible aspects of ‘getting ahead' in the work place that disturbs me the most, is, educational discrimination! At least that's what I call it.
A perfect example of educational discrimination is my fabulous father-in-law. Here is a man who works in the electrical manufacturing industry and has done so for more years than I can count. He is an engineer as says his job description, but when it comes to raises, he is salary capped because according to the suits; he doesn't have an engineering degree. Of course they don't mind working him like a diploma decorated engineer, and no matter the technical problems, it is my father-in-law who is sought out to get it fixed right. And he does, he keeps going, working like a machine. In the autumn of his life, with a daughter in college and a ridiculous New Jersey mortgage and property tax, he certainly can not attend a degree program now. And what would be the point, really?
As sure as the sun shines, there will always be a young gun fresh out of the collegiate shoot who will command a salary to start at a rate twice what my father-in-law has worked years for to earn. So, I ask; does ‘young guns' education automatically make him a highly experienced hands on performer? They surely pay him like he is. In my opinion, it is a terrible discrimination against those whose years of experience and absolute know-how are shoved under the rug because they lack a piece of paper. A very expensive piece of paper, I might add.
Education doesn't always equal excellence. Believe me, I have seen some young guns walk into a place and have no clue at all about what they are doing, but you can almost guarantee their will be an old timer there who can and will effortlessly get the job done. And chances are good that the old timer is a hard working middle class person without much education to speak of, but life and experience has made him a genius at what he does. Chances are good that ‘old timer' should probably be running the company!
I remember my boss saying to me one day, "You know Tracy, you are incredible with numbers, and you should go to school and work on becoming an accountant." Now why would I waste time and money on something I am already good at, naturally, instinctively? A degree wouldn't change the fact that I could easily read every tax law book out there and with my natural aptitude for numbers, still get the job done. The difference is that even though I would be good, darn good, no one would hire me because certain letters do not follow my name and a framed diploma doesn't hang on my wall.
I feel very sad for all of those hard working people out there who for whatever reason couldn't have an education, but are incredibly knowledgeable at what they do. I feel an even deeper sadness for all the youngsters who are told to go to college or never amount to anything. Even with a degree there is a chance that some of those educated college grads will turn out to be nothing more than wet behind the ears but heavy laden with a fat paycheck. Talk about sacrificing ones integrity. While ‘young gun' is getting educated, ‘old timer' is busy adding another four years to of hands on experience to his already fifteen year work history.
Educational discrimination is an abomination in the work place and in my opinion probably the number one reason people do or do not get ahead. Even the biggest butt-kisser can't get ahead if he doesn't have a degree, in most cases.