A good level of intelligence is a prerequisite for surviving in the world- professionally, as well as personally, but what kind of intelligence is more important for succeeding in your life and workplace? Is intellectual intelligence enough, or is there more? To answer these questions, you must first understand what emotional intelligence is. [Read more...]

If you have ever been in any large or medium sized corporate office, you would find that gossip is one of the most active trends in that office. Whether you like it or not, gossip is a part of almost every corporate office. Water cooler gossip or coffee break gossip between employees about their superiors or other employees is something that you have to deal with very sensitively. Here is a look at some great tips to keep a check on gossip in your office.

Know which gossip is good and bad

• As a manager or supervisor, dealing with gossip is an important part of your job. Gossip about you or other employees is bound to happen, but you need to know what is acceptable and what is not.

• Employees always gang up and gossip about what is happening on the latest television programs or what the status of their latest assignment is. This kind of gossip is pretty harmless and absolutely unstoppable. Taking action against such gossip can ruin your relation with your employees and consequently affect the performance of your team.

• However, when you find employees complaining about each other or about you behind your back, you may need to do something about it. Such gossip can be extremely damaging and can create a lot of friction among your employees.

Take the right steps to curb bad gossip

• If you find yourself facing some damaging or hurtful rumors about yourself, or if you see certain employees being the target of distasteful gossip, it is time to step in and get rid of it. Such gossip can create a bad impression of you among the team and also cause resentment among the targeted employees.

• The best thing to do when you find yourself in this situation is to clear the resolve the issue in front of your entire team. Talk to your team and address the matter directly. Most employees have misconceptions about the stability of the company or their paychecks. Your employees would appreciate it if you cleared their misconceptions.

• If resolving distasteful gossip requires you to have an open discussion with one of your employees, you need to be ready for it even if the discussion may go sour.

Prevent bad gossip from spreading in the first place

• The old adage of ‘prevention is better than cure’ holds true in the corporate world as well. You need to make sure that you maintain a gossip-free environment in your office. Innocent gossip among employees would always be present, but controlling dangerous gossip in your office is under your control.

• You can arrange open meetings with your entire staff on a regular basis. Make sure that you talk about important issues or clarify any nagging doubts in the minds of your employees in these meetings. Employees would feel much better in an open environment where all their doubts are resolved. They would not feel the need to spread false rumors in this kind of an environment.

Transparency is the key in all the three tips mentioned above. Gossip is a lot more controlled in a transparent office where everyone knows what is happening around them. If you are able to reduce hurtful gossip in your office, you can be guaranteed of a happier and more efficient team of employees.

Dress codes are a very old but active part of any corporate workplace. Many companies small and large have strict dress code policies in place for their employees, but what purpose does a dress code policy serve in a company? What can you get by implementing a dress code policy in your own company? What type of dress code policy do you really need to put in place? Let’s look at the answers to these questions-

What can you achieve with a dress code policy in place?

If you are working in the higher rungs of the corporate world, a dress code policy makes all the difference. Clients and co-workers can work better with people who follow the right dress code since they view them as serious professionals. It builds a great reputation for your company when people see your employees following a certain dress code in your office.

What purpose does a dress code serve?

A dress code policy is a great way to create a sense of discipline among your employees. It creates a positive image of your company and your staff among your clients and stakeholders, which translates into better business relations.

A lot of companies don’t follow any dress code policy, but that can raise issues when employees sometimes wear things that may be inappropriate. This can hamper the performance of other workers in the office as well. Thus, if your company’s performance depends on team performance and interactions between clients and other co-workers, it is better to have a dress code policy in place so that everybody is comfortable.

What type of dress code policy do you need to implement?

Dress code policies differ from one company to another, and what type of policy you put in place depends on your own company and what vision you have for it. In corporate offices where client meetings and big decisions are made, the dress code policy can be extremely stringent. Everyone from the intern to the president would have to adhere to the dress code every day of the week. In fact, people in the higher management would have a stricter dress code policy in place.

When it comes to small corporate offices, the dress code can be a lot more flexible. A lot of offices have a dress code policy that includes casuals on Fridays and formals during the rest of the week.

When you do set up a dress code policy, make sure that it caters to the comfort of the employees and remains up to date with the latest trends in formal wear. You also need to keep in mind the climate in which you are working. Employees would resent wearing clothes that make them uncomfortable, especially during inclement weather or a hot and humid climate.

A dress code policy still holds importance today, and it is important for you to recognize what kind of dress code is required for your company and how integral it is for your employees to follow it.

Article contributed for Singapore Business Review. 2 Aug 2011

http://sbr.com.sg/hr-education/commentary/remember-post-you-wrote-about-me-facebook-you%E2%80%99re-fired

A lot of employees today complain about not being in the right place, not being treated or paid properly, and many other issues. Most of these problems stem from the management, since it is their responsibility to maintain a positive atmosphere and motivate their employees to work better. However, blaming the management is nothing short of passing the buck on to someone else. An employee needs to be a source of motivation as well, and you may find unmotivated co-workers to be the main source of a drab and underperforming office.

If that is the case, what can you do to motivate your colleague and get rid of the source of negativity in your office? Let’s look at the answer to this seemingly straightforward question.

1. Motivation is never one sided. You cannot motivate a person by showering him or her with positivity. For a co-worker to be truly motivated, you need to instigate the positivity within the person. To do that, you need to find out why he or she is feeling unmotivated. The best way to do this is to have a heart to heart conversation with the person. Take some time to talk to your colleague privately and ask him or her if there is any problem.

1. Sometimes, people can lose their motivation on the job due to some problems outside the office. Everyone has bad days, and people feel much better by simply talking about them to others. Your colleague might feel a lot better by just talking to you about it, and you may see a huge improvement in performance once you have a good talk with your co-worker.

1. If you are not very close to your co-worker or if you don’t share a good rapport with him or her, it is best to avoid the person as much as possible. Working with an unmotivated co-worker can not only push back your performance significantly, but also make you feel unmotivated.

1. Your colleague may be going through a tough phase or just be having some bad days in the office. In such a scenario, you may give him or her some time to recover and get back into work mode. Your co-worker may bounce back and become motivated once again in a short time, so it would be better not to raise a hue and cry about it immediately.

1. If your colleague has remained unmotivated for a very long period of time, and has been unresponsive in all the above scenarios, it is time that you inform your superior about it. An unmotivated employee can hamper the long term performance of the company, and in that case, your management needs to know the source of negativity. Talking to your superior about the cause of negativity may also instigate the management to set up or revise the system to give more rewards and recognition to the workers and motivate them. This can not only help your co-workers, but you as well.

Motivation is an important part of everyone’s work life. Without motivation, you can never aspire to grow in your workplace or in your career. You cannot put the blame on the management either. Motivation must come from within you, and you must spread it to everyone around you. That is the key to a happy workplace and a successful career.