Avoid these 6 ways to hurt your reputation in a new job

There are many ways you can inadvertently damage your reputation in a new job. As my former client found out, showing up late on your first day of work is one of those ways. Here are six ways you can sabotage your reputation that you should avoid at all costs:

#1 – Show up late on your first day of work: This is my number one “no-no” when it comes to starting a new job. Showing up late may damage your reputation because it can make you look unreliable and unable to plan for potential obstacles. If you can’t even make it to work on time, do you think your manager will trust you to finish a project on time? Always give yourself plenty of extra time to get to work for the first few weeks so you can get a feel for traffic patterns and how much time you’ll need. Bring a book or magazine to read in case you get there early.

#2 – Wear inappropriate attire, based on the company culture: Wearing a dark suit is not a good idea if you’ve been hired by a start-up company where everyone wears jeans and shorts to work. Similarly, wearing too casual attire to a company where most employees wear suits five days a week won’t work either. Take the time (before your first day on the job) to understand the company’s culture and find out from your new manager or HR representative as to what attire is appropriate. Never wear perfume or cologne to work – leave these for evenings and weekends. There’s almost nothing more annoying as a manager than having to hold a discussion with a new employee because their over-powering

#3 – Refer constantly to how your previous company did things: When you keep referring to things saying, “That’s not how we did it at ABC company,” or “Where I came from, this is how we did it and it worked much better,” you will severely damage your reputation. Why? Because nobody likes an arrogant know-it-all who thinks they are better than other employees or who believes their previous company did things better. I once led a department after the parent company had purchased and merged five companies into one. Ego-bragging about former companies was so prevalent I implemented a fun way of calling attention to this negative practice. Whenever anyone used the name of his or her former company and someone pointed this out, the person had to add $1 to an empty shoebox in my office. When the shoebox was filled with money I used it for a pizza lunch for the team and to talk about the ego-bragging and why it was so detrimental to our newly combined company. After that, the negative practice almost immediately ceased.

#4 – Question the way (and why) things are done: Like I mentioned in item #3, no one likes an arrogant know-it-all. Before espousing your opinions in your new job, take the time to identify all angles of a situation. This means understanding the stakeholders, inputs, resources, processes, and outcomes/results. Once you have this information, you can dig deeper into certain circumstances using terminology such as, “Help me understand how…” and “How does department ABC then use this information to…?” How you word things is just as important as the questions you ask, so think before you speak.

#5 – Ask for time off: You’d think this would be a no-brainer “no-no”, but you’d be surprised at how often hiring managers express their frustration to me about new employees blindsiding them with time off requests. If you receive a job offer in June and your family already has vacation plans scheduled for mid-July, let the hiring manager know immediately (before you begin your new job) and proactively work with them to ensure your vacation will not disrupt the productivity of the department. Surprising your new manager with a personal time off request can damage your reputation because it can make you seem like a deceitful and immature person.

#6 – Spend time “water cooler gossiping” to get the “dirt” on people in the department: Everyone wants to get to know the people in their new company as quickly as possible – but don’t spend time finding out through the gossip “grape vine” around the water cooler or break room. Take the time to get to know colleagues first hand and form your own opinions. Don’t let other’s nasty gossip cloud your thinking when it comes to co-workers.

As my former career-coaching client found out, it can be fairly easy to damage your reputation in a new job. Once damaged, it can take time and effort to repair your work reputation. To avoid having to go through this situation yourself, be aware of the six key ways you can harm your reputation when starting a new job – and wisely avoid them!

Lisa Quast, Contributor

 

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Dos and don’ts when leaving for a new job

 EVERYONE has heard of Greg Smith. After all, it's not every day that a top executive at Goldman Sachs resigned in such a public and high-profile way. He told the whole world, via an op-ed piece in The New York Times, that he could no longer stomach the company culture which he described “as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it”.

Hailed as a hero by many, especially on the social media sites, Smith was nevertheless also castigated by commentators who questioned his real motive. “The reason he's been at Goldman Sachs for 12 years is that he liked the name and probably liked the money,” one wrote.

We all learn, from day one, that we should never burn our bridges when we part ways with our employers. After all, we no longer live in an era where we serve only one employer throughout our working life.

Rolling stones do gather a lot of moss these days.

So while employers do understand when we move to greener pastures, they are unlikely to be sympathetic to you if you decide to badmouth them on your way out.

And bosses do talk to other bosses, more so if you work in a niche industry where everyone knows, well, everyone.

A Goldman Sachs sign is seen above their booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in this January 19, 2011 file photo. A Goldman Sachs executive director published a withering resignation letter in the New York Times, saying the investment bank is a "toxic and destructive" place where managing directors referred to their own clients as "muppets." - REUTERS

 

As much as I salute Greg Smith for his courage to place his resignation letter in the public domain, I think the rest of us mortal souls will prefer more down-to-earth advice on how to quit a job.

I am no expert on this but here is a short list of dos and don'ts which may be useful.

1. Don't bash your boss, or your company, on social media or anywhere else

It is amazing how people on FaceBook share so openly about the goings-on in the office, including all the nasty stuff about the bosses. Hello there! If stupidity is an acceptable reason for you to lose your job, the boss will show you the door straight away. Sometimes, even private conversations in public places, like restaurants, can have ramifications beyond your control.

Someone who intends to hire you may have second thoughts as chances are if you say bad things about your previous boss, you are more likely to say the same about him. A good principle to follow is: Don't say anything about anyone in private what you would not say in public.

2. Don't play poker with your offers

After you get an offer, you may be tempted to check if your boss would make you a counter-offer. The people who play poker with their offer letters are those with huge egos who think that the office cannot run without them.

Although some employers may play along and give you the raise you demand, you can be sure that the relationship will never be the same again.

3. Do keep your options open

It has been said that no one leaves a company but a boss. So, while a situation may arise where you no longer find it easy to work with your immediate boss, always remember that circumstances may change which may make it possible for you to return to the company in the future.

So you may have to eat humble pie if your exit remarks are vicious and harmful to the reputation of the company. I can't imagine Greg Smith getting a job at Goldman Sachs again, unless he buys the company.

4. Do be professional to the last day of employment

All of us have to give notice before quitting. It's not as dramatic as what we see in the movies when you are immediately told to pack up and go. So from the time you give your notice until the official last day, conduct yourself with full professionalism. If there are things to pass on, do so in an orderly manner. Say your goodbyes without being too emotional about it.

5. Do stay away from your old office

I got this advice from a friend many years ago. He said it is natural, when you move into a new job, that you will actually regret having made the move. In a new environment, you suddenly yearn for the old job where you are comfortable with friends.

Many make the mistake of going back to hang out with their former colleagues and this only adds to their frustrations. His advice: Make a conscious effort to keep away from your former colleagues for at least six months. Concentrate on your new job and build up new relationships first. Then hanging out with old friends after that won't be so traumatic.

Deputy executive editor Soo Ewe Jin is glad that a new column, Talking HR, is now available on StarBiz every Tuesday. All of us in the working world will benefit from the good advice given by the professionals. 

How CEOs Can Build A Better Work Team In 2012

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By Deborah Sweeney, Forbes Contributor, West Coast CEO who knows small business and entrepreneurs.

 

 Truly a Lightbulb Moment

Got a resolution for 2012 at the workplace yet?

Or better yet, what are the resolutions that your employees have for the company next year?

These resolutions could be lofty. Nab every sales call, land the biggest accounts, open offices in every major city overseas. They could be set on a smaller scale too. Leave earlier in the morning to avoid getting caught in traffic, ask for more beverage options in the kitchen, delegate tasks to other department members more often. All good goals for any team to work towards, but difficult for a CEO to process when they don’t know what their staff resolves to work towards, if they plan on working toward anything at all.

If you’re stuck in a place where the progress forward looks cloudy, this is the time to work on building a better work team for 2012. A team that is roaring and ready to go and certain of how their place in the company can lead to its eventual success. Building this team takes time, talent, and creativity. Sometimes it requires hiring new people and firing those who aren’t doing their part. More than just shooting off a couple of emails and hoping for the best, your team for 2012 will rely on you to think outside of the box as well as inside at some of the common sense bits that get overlooked. From new hires to clones, here are my tips on the building for the better within your company team.

1. Look Beyond Business BAs and MBAs

Not every person who gets hired for your business needs to be strictly all about business. Who will handle the legal division of your firm, the public relations aspect of your brand, the IT work for when the computers suddenly crash? A grad degree in business is attractive on paper, but not useful in every setting. Look into hiring candidates with backgrounds in other studies like communications that you would typically pass over.

2. Don’t Hire A Clone Of Yourself

Great minds think alike, but a greater mind will want to work with a team that expresses a slew of opinions and ideas across the board. Working with a team that is just like you won’t challenge your company to grow in a new direction if you all agree on the same things all the time. It’s easy to want to hire someone just like you, but more rewarding in the long run if you get someone to offer what you cannot to the table.

3. Allow Employees To Be Involved In The Hiring Process

Get an idea of whether or not a potential employee will be a good fit within their department by inviting the managers and senior staff members to the job interviews. They may have questions and concerns related to their field that you won’t touch on that decide whether or not a future hire is the best decision to make



4. Explain Company Culture To Your New Team Members Early

Welcome to the team! Beyond just your employee handbook, there are rules to the game of working within the company. Some work teams are much more by-the-book in terms of how to conduct yourself and may be much more quiet and soft-spoken. Others are willy-nilly and a lot more extroverted and open to embracing new ideas with members encouraged to leave their shyness at the door. A new hire needs to know the company culture early on so this isn’t so much of a shock to their system.

5. Answer Questions, Communicate Often

Future goals and upcoming projects will have a series of questions that come with them, especially if a team member is new. Hold plenty of open discussions and meetings to provide insight into what you’re working on. Keeping communication lines between all team members and yourself is key to the success of the project and the overall organization as a whole.

6. Hire People With Different And Complimentary Personalities

Much like not having dozens of clones of yourself, don’t do a similar thing with your favorite employee (and don’t play favorites either). It’s cliche to say it, but your team needs to have the snowflake effect where no two think or behave exactly the same despite having similar strengths in their field. Personality goes a long way and can work to give your company the face and voice it needs if it doesn’t already have a defined one.

7. Hire Milliennials

They are young, eager to please, tech savvy, and well educated. And if you treat them well, they will stay with your company (though not forever which is to be expected). Interview the bright young things and bring them on to see what they’re made of. You might find yourself to be pleasantly surprised.

8. Pay Your Interns

It isn’t a practice that every company commits to or can commit to, but at the very least offer a stipend if you decide to bring in seasonal interns.

9. Don’t Outsource Your Social Media Team

Gets kind of hard to create a voice for your online persona if the person creating it has never visited your office or interacted with your employees before doesn’t it?

10. Offer Flexible Schedules

This is a rule of thumb for both new hires and longtime employees. Circumstances do arise where not every member of the team can be there to make a meeting. If multiple members can’t do it or aren’t ready just yet, offer to reschedule the event. Employees with additional commitments outside of work like family or school will also appreciate a flexible schedule in being able to accommodate their lives and still work.

11. Encourage Employees To Pursue Outside Interests

Beyond just being a CEO, you may serve as a mentor to some of your staff. And your staff isn’t here solely for the company itself. They may be actively pursuing acting on the side or writing or engaging in other hobbies that could turn into their next career move later on. Have lunch with your staff both new and old to see what they’re all about on the side of their full-time job. Encourage them to share their published work with you or invite you to the opening of a gallery they have a painting featured in. Your acknowledgment of what they are truly passionate about is worth more than you think it might be.

12. Create Jobs Based On Valuable Skills

Want to a hire a new employee, but have nowhere to put them where you know they will really fit in at? Create  a position based off of their skill set. You may even wind up creating an entirely new and much needed department!

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