Getting your player ready...
Dear J.T. & Dale: I graduated last year and landed a job as an administrative assistant. This is not what I want to do, but I’d hoped to move up to a marketing role. I just had my first annual review and assumed it would be a good one. Instead, I was given a list of things to improve. The worst was that they told me I don’t dress professionally and that to advance, I need to reconsider what I wear. How could they let me go a whole year without that feedback? I can’t look at anyone at work, and am looking for new jobs online every night.
– Lara J.T.: Well, Lara, you aren’t going to like me very much, but I hope you’ll consider what I’m about to say: You need to stop the “all-about-me” show if you want to have professional
success. DALE: Ouch! Isn’t a job review all about her? J.T.: No, it’s about her work. And she got an average review, not a bad one. Unlike in school, it’s common for companies to reserve high ratings for only the top 10 percent of their staff. So, Lara, you’ve got room for improvement, and your manager did you the favor of explaining how to advance. I think you’d be nuts to leave this job! You clearly are valued there, and they care enough to want to guide you to success. Trust me when I say that this is something you don’t want to throw away. DALE: J.T. is right, Lara; nevertheless, you’re right to think that you should not go a year without feedback. A good boss doesn’t wait for the annual review, but gives quick doses of advice and encouragement all year. That was the genius of the book, “The One Minute Manager,” by Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D., and Spencer Johnson, M.D., which came out nearly 30 years ago. Even so, there still are plenty of bosses who fail at this. And when that happens to you, you have to go to them and get feedback. At least once a month, go to your bosses and ask how you’re doing and how you could be more effective. Plead for candid advice, not just empty praise. Not only will you become a star employee, you’ll develop a much closer relationship with your managers, who will see you as someone destined for promotion. Dear J.T. & Dale: I am trying to help my brother. He quit his job about three years ago because of back pain. He was close to being fired, and instead he just quit. He was told he could not file for unemployment insurance because he’d quit. He’s been trying to get disability ever since, and is still waiting for another appeal. He will be homeless within three months, age 50, and he doesn’t know where to go for help. What can he do? – Sophia J.T.: I’m so sorry to hear about your brother’s situation. The sad reality is that had he waited to get fired or laid off, he could’ve gotten unemployment. Also, had he stayed and applied for disability before quitting, he might have had a better outcome. I am so very sorry that I don’t have any good news for you. DALE: This is one of those cases where bad news is better than no news. Rather than continuing to wait for yet another appeal, I hope you’ll urge him to just decide that help is NOT coming. He has to figure out what work he can do and get moving forward.
J.T.: Without knowing your brother’s skill sets, it’s hard to get specific about jobs he could pursue, but if he has good clerical or computer skills, he could apply via job sites such as Elance.com and Guru.com, where some companies hire contractors who work at home.
DALE: If your brother isn’t qualified to do computer work, maybe he could do sales. He might have to start in telemarketing or collections, but the important thing is that he quits waiting and STARTS. He may discover a prosperous new career. You might pass along a line from Ogden Nash: “People who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up.”
– Lara J.T.: Well, Lara, you aren’t going to like me very much, but I hope you’ll consider what I’m about to say: You need to stop the “all-about-me” show if you want to have professional
success. DALE: Ouch! Isn’t a job review all about her? J.T.: No, it’s about her work. And she got an average review, not a bad one. Unlike in school, it’s common for companies to reserve high ratings for only the top 10 percent of their staff. So, Lara, you’ve got room for improvement, and your manager did you the favor of explaining how to advance. I think you’d be nuts to leave this job! You clearly are valued there, and they care enough to want to guide you to success. Trust me when I say that this is something you don’t want to throw away. DALE: J.T. is right, Lara; nevertheless, you’re right to think that you should not go a year without feedback. A good boss doesn’t wait for the annual review, but gives quick doses of advice and encouragement all year. That was the genius of the book, “The One Minute Manager,” by Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D., and Spencer Johnson, M.D., which came out nearly 30 years ago. Even so, there still are plenty of bosses who fail at this. And when that happens to you, you have to go to them and get feedback. At least once a month, go to your bosses and ask how you’re doing and how you could be more effective. Plead for candid advice, not just empty praise. Not only will you become a star employee, you’ll develop a much closer relationship with your managers, who will see you as someone destined for promotion. Dear J.T. & Dale: I am trying to help my brother. He quit his job about three years ago because of back pain. He was close to being fired, and instead he just quit. He was told he could not file for unemployment insurance because he’d quit. He’s been trying to get disability ever since, and is still waiting for another appeal. He will be homeless within three months, age 50, and he doesn’t know where to go for help. What can he do? – Sophia J.T.: I’m so sorry to hear about your brother’s situation. The sad reality is that had he waited to get fired or laid off, he could’ve gotten unemployment. Also, had he stayed and applied for disability before quitting, he might have had a better outcome. I am so very sorry that I don’t have any good news for you. DALE: This is one of those cases where bad news is better than no news. Rather than continuing to wait for yet another appeal, I hope you’ll urge him to just decide that help is NOT coming. He has to figure out what work he can do and get moving forward.
