Hearing about wrongdoing in the workplace can be stressful for many individuals, as they do not always know what to do with this information. Some may fear retaliation from those committing the unethical acts, while others have concerns over how they will be perceived by their fellow employees after they blow the whistle on another worker.
CBS MoneyWatch recently offered some advice to leaders in work settings where unethical behavior has arisen. When the incident looks as though it will have ramifications on their organizations, executives are advised to come clean about their problem, rather than run from it.
If the act of wrongdoing warrants a public apology, then the news source recommended that companies do so to make amends with anyone who may have been offended. At the same time, those who have been hurt by the incident should be allowed to vent, while organizations work to right the wrong they are ultimately responsible for.
In the event that an employee catches wind of an ethics violation that could have serious consequences for an organization, he or she should report it, according to author and consultant Alison Green’s Ask a Manager blog.
If professionals are still unsure of how they should handle wrongdoing at work, they can always take online business ethics courses to find the answers they seek.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Friday, September 30, 2011
Everything I Know about People… (cont.)
Rule #2: Positive Change through Compromise & Cooperationby Merrilee Kittelstad
Being argumentative wins NO friends, no wars (though it might win the battle), and certainly no ‘warm fuzzies’ from management. But, challenging the status quo is often necessary in business in order to promote positive change. So what can you do? How do you strike a balance between just ‘going along to get along’ and being the ‘burr in the saddle’ that facilitates change?
The bottom line is that there is a happy medium. By paying attention to different personalities and different styles of conducting business it is possible to find a compromise between being abrasive and being a catalyst for change.
Here’s the thing: People fear change. So if you’re a ‘change agent’ sometimes you cannot help but foster fear in others, which could then escalate into conflict or alienation. Just remember that creating friction and disturbing the peace is often the only way change happens—the trick is simply finding a way to do it that doesn’t jeopardize a harmonious working environment. Here are just a few quick tips:
• Be an active listener. Give others the chance to speak, and really listen to their ideas and concerns. Even if you don’t agree, it shows you are willing to hear ideas different than your own.
• Take a deep breath. Sometimes it’s best just to walk away and take a breather if a situation becomes too stressful or volatile. That way, both parties have a chance to reconsider and hopefully come to a compromise.
• Accept being wrong. At the end of the day, no matter how perfect your solution sounds, you simply have to accept that it may not be the best for all involved. It’s a tough lesson, but once learned it will make you a better professional.
When everyone works together, one extreme balances the other—and the result is a positive, cooperative work environment.
Until next week,
Merrilee
Friday, August 12, 2011
Everything I Know about People I Learned Last Week … at Work
by Merrilee Kittelstad
Part One - People are Just People
All change is not growth, but all growth involves change. The significant strides we make with our personal progress inevitably happen in relationships—that’s why they are so darn hard. And because we spend so much of our time with co-workers, work becomes a veritable petri dish of personal growth.
Our toughest experiences teach us the most, and often the people in our lives who are the most difficult to endure are the ones who refine us the most. All day long, we are either learning or teaching, and if we can understand what makes other humans tick, we can make those workplace learning experiences (that’s code for those periodic ‘run-ins’ with difficult people or situations) easier for everyone and maybe even enjoyable.
What’s Rule #1? Relax!
People are just people. Let’s be honest—on occasion you feel like everyone in the world is defective except you. How did people get to be so weird and you are the only sane one on this big ball? (Admit it; you’ve thought the same thing.)
I sit in the middle of the sales floor at my job and have a bird’s-eye view (front row seat, if you will) to a lot that happens in my company. I see all kinds of weird behavior—people whispering, people laughing, people gossiping, people arguing etc., and I just shake my head in disbelief at most of it.
People’s differences and peculiarities are what we love and hate about them. Those flaws that give the color to our personalities—are they not the same flaws that draw people to us? In fact, no one likes to be around anyone that is perfect … or thinks they are.
When we understand that everyone is weird it allows us to let our guard down and show our own weirdness. It gives us permission to just be ourselves! Good thing, because we’re no good at being anyone else, anyway. But in so doing we give others the freedom to be themselves—withholding judgment and just accepting them for their peculiarities instead of rejecting them for their imperfections.
At the end of the day, people will never be perfect. They will always disappoint and ‘come up short’. By accepting that fact in others, we can accept it in ourselves, and understanding that can make our interactions with coworkers less stressful and more enjoyable.
Coming next week – Rule #2!
Everything I Know about People I Learned Last Week … at Work
by Merrilee Kittelstad
Part One - People are Just PeopleAll change is not growth, but all growth involves change. The significant strides we make with our personal progress inevitably happen in relationships—that’s why they are so darn hard. And because we spend so much of our time with co-workers, work becomes a veritable petri dish of personal growth.
Our toughest experiences teach us the most, and often the people in our lives who are the most difficult to endure are the ones who refine us the most. All day long, we are either learning or teaching, and if we can understand what makes other humans tick, we can make those workplace learning experiences (that’s code for those periodic ‘run-ins’ with difficult people or situations) easier for everyone and maybe even enjoyable.
What’s Rule #1? Relax!
People are just people. Let’s be honest—on occasion you feel like everyone in the world is defective except you. How did people get to be so weird and you are the only sane one on this big ball? (Admit it; you’ve thought the same thing.)
I sit in the middle of the sales floor at my job and have a bird’s-eye view (front row seat, if you will) to a lot that happens in my company. I see all kinds of weird behavior—people whispering, people laughing, people gossiping, people arguing etc., and I just shake my head in disbelief at most of it.
People’s differences and peculiarities are what we love and hate about them. Those flaws that give the color to our personalities—are they not the same flaws that draw people to us? In fact, no one likes to be around anyone that is perfect … or thinks they are.
When we understand that everyone is weird it allows us to let our guard down and show our own weirdness. It gives us permission to just be ourselves! Good thing, because we’re no good at being anyone else, anyway. But in so doing we give others the freedom to be themselves—withholding judgment and just accepting them for their peculiarities instead of rejecting them for their imperfections.
At the end of the day, people will never be perfect. They will always disappoint and ‘come up short’. By accepting that fact in others, we can accept it in ourselves, and understanding that can make our interactions with coworkers less stressful and more enjoyable.
Coming next week – Rule #2!
Part One - People are Just PeopleAll change is not growth, but all growth involves change. The significant strides we make with our personal progress inevitably happen in relationships—that’s why they are so darn hard. And because we spend so much of our time with co-workers, work becomes a veritable petri dish of personal growth.
Our toughest experiences teach us the most, and often the people in our lives who are the most difficult to endure are the ones who refine us the most. All day long, we are either learning or teaching, and if we can understand what makes other humans tick, we can make those workplace learning experiences (that’s code for those periodic ‘run-ins’ with difficult people or situations) easier for everyone and maybe even enjoyable.
What’s Rule #1? Relax!
People are just people. Let’s be honest—on occasion you feel like everyone in the world is defective except you. How did people get to be so weird and you are the only sane one on this big ball? (Admit it; you’ve thought the same thing.)
I sit in the middle of the sales floor at my job and have a bird’s-eye view (front row seat, if you will) to a lot that happens in my company. I see all kinds of weird behavior—people whispering, people laughing, people gossiping, people arguing etc., and I just shake my head in disbelief at most of it.
People’s differences and peculiarities are what we love and hate about them. Those flaws that give the color to our personalities—are they not the same flaws that draw people to us? In fact, no one likes to be around anyone that is perfect … or thinks they are.
When we understand that everyone is weird it allows us to let our guard down and show our own weirdness. It gives us permission to just be ourselves! Good thing, because we’re no good at being anyone else, anyway. But in so doing we give others the freedom to be themselves—withholding judgment and just accepting them for their peculiarities instead of rejecting them for their imperfections.
At the end of the day, people will never be perfect. They will always disappoint and ‘come up short’. By accepting that fact in others, we can accept it in ourselves, and understanding that can make our interactions with coworkers less stressful and more enjoyable.
Coming next week – Rule #2!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Knowledge is Power – Applied Knowledge is WISDOM
by Merrilee Kittelstad
Everything I need to know about dealing with people, I learned last week.
Education is the cure for everything—the ‘pill for every ill’. Every problem, every challenge dissolves when we learn our lesson; we only grow through learning. Sometimes it’s a new skill or a new way of relating to something or someone, a new way of acting, figuring out what to do and what not to do, what to say or not to say, what’s important and what isn’t. Any progress, any accomplishment, any strides or changes we make only come through learning.
Smart vs. Wise
How many times have you seen someone—maybe yourself—make the same mistake over and over and over? When we finally learn our lesson and break the pattern, that’s when we take what we learned and actually use it…and that is WISDOM.
Nowhere is this pattern more evident than in the workplace. Knowing how to treat people, manage people, read people, even endure people makes for a peaceful and more productive work environment. Knowing why someone acts or reacts the way they do and knowing how to respond diffuses tension and restores peace to the office. In fact, the better one’s people skills, the more highly he or she is paid, and the quicker the individual moves into a leadership role (Note: I didn’t say management).
Hard-won Wisdom
The truth is, this post actually started as a tongue-in-cheek tirade in my journal about the events of the last week in our office, hence the subtitle. Not one, not two, but three run-ins with co-workers had me reeling with anger. Each encounter could be justified (from my point of view) and I was absolutely sure I was right in each situation. But, looking back on the week I saw a pattern—a pattern of me not remembering some basic truths about people and instead letting myself get carried away into complete unprofessionalism.
Over the next few weeks I will share with you some of the ‘tried and true-isms’ I forgot last week and few more. These are surefire ways to improve your people skills and become a more valuable employee. How did I come to have all this wisdom? Just a long, hard process of elimination. So remember: Smart people learn from their own mistakes. Wise people learn from others’.
Until next time!
Education is the cure for everything—the ‘pill for every ill’. Every problem, every challenge dissolves when we learn our lesson; we only grow through learning. Sometimes it’s a new skill or a new way of relating to something or someone, a new way of acting, figuring out what to do and what not to do, what to say or not to say, what’s important and what isn’t. Any progress, any accomplishment, any strides or changes we make only come through learning.
Smart vs. Wise
How many times have you seen someone—maybe yourself—make the same mistake over and over and over? When we finally learn our lesson and break the pattern, that’s when we take what we learned and actually use it…and that is WISDOM.
Nowhere is this pattern more evident than in the workplace. Knowing how to treat people, manage people, read people, even endure people makes for a peaceful and more productive work environment. Knowing why someone acts or reacts the way they do and knowing how to respond diffuses tension and restores peace to the office. In fact, the better one’s people skills, the more highly he or she is paid, and the quicker the individual moves into a leadership role (Note: I didn’t say management).
Hard-won Wisdom
The truth is, this post actually started as a tongue-in-cheek tirade in my journal about the events of the last week in our office, hence the subtitle. Not one, not two, but three run-ins with co-workers had me reeling with anger. Each encounter could be justified (from my point of view) and I was absolutely sure I was right in each situation. But, looking back on the week I saw a pattern—a pattern of me not remembering some basic truths about people and instead letting myself get carried away into complete unprofessionalism.
Over the next few weeks I will share with you some of the ‘tried and true-isms’ I forgot last week and few more. These are surefire ways to improve your people skills and become a more valuable employee. How did I come to have all this wisdom? Just a long, hard process of elimination. So remember: Smart people learn from their own mistakes. Wise people learn from others’.
Until next time!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Hard Work is Overrated. All You Have to Do is Focus!
By Merrilee Kittelstad
Some days we come to work and simply don’t feel like working. Sound familiar? And then there are those other days when we feel on top of the world. Maybe we’ve landed a big sale, solved a difficult problem, saved the company some money or even saved a life. No matter what business you’re in, there will always be good days and bad. What I find interesting is how our moods can change with the weather, so to speak—how we can go from ‘hero’ to ‘zero’ and back again on any given day at the office.
But while feelings may seem fickle, it helps to remember that the laws of the universe apply in the workplace too. There is perhaps nothing truer than the phrase, “We always get what we deserve.” If we show up at our job, give our respective tasks our full attention and work with focus, we accomplish amazing things. Working with focus is completely different from working hard, however. Working hard involves expending a lot of energy, while working with focus means harnessing that energy to a particular outcome.
So how do you stay focused in today’s work environment? How do you filter out everyday distractions and interruptions? Here are a few tips to help you get started:
• Ignore Distractions. Distractions are not things that happen around us; distractions are things we choose to focus on instead of the task at hand. It really is as simple as choosing what is worth our time and attention.
• Set Achievable Goals! This can be as simple as “I am going to accomplish task #1, task #2, and task #3, and then I’m going to take a break.” Be realistic about what you can accomplish, and you’re likely to be less stressed and more productive.
• Reward Success. Always reward yourself for accomplishing even the smallest task.
• Remember to Visualize. What we focus on, we draw to us. As we take baby steps and successfully focus, accomplishing tasks gets easier and easier. It’s like any other skill—the more we use it, the better we get.
Don’t misunderstand—I’m all for hard work, if that’s what you’re into. But if you want results, if you want to finish tasks quickly and efficiently, if you want to excel, try working half as hard with twice the focus. You’ll be amazed at the results!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Not all Change is Progress, but all Progress is Change
by Merrilee KittelstadBusinesses are living organisms and evolve like any other living thing. That evolution is change, and it affects the employees of a business as much as it affects the business itself. How we, as employees, adapt to the change or resist it is all part of the evolution.
In order for a business to thrive and meet the needs of its employees, the needs of the organization must come first. Then, everything else falls into place. Naturally everyone resists change; it takes an educated and open mind to embrace change and not resist it—especially when it is imposed upon us rather than us choosing it ourselves.
I recently found myself in that very situation. Change was inevitable within my job. My role had to change, my duties had to change, my supervision had to change, and as much as it was needed I resisted it, nonetheless. The change was difficult to embrace.
The words of the sales manager rang in my ears: “The company’s needs come first. We take care of the company and everything else falls into place.” I firmly believe that the universe does not orchestrate events to benefit one to the detriment of another. Better put, what is good for one is good for all concerned, even though we as individuals don’t always see it that way. After time and in retrospect, typically we can see the brilliance of how things unfold, change and evolve—even though looking back before the change we couldn’t see or even imagine it.
As employees we have to understand that the company that employs us—if it is to survive in any economic climate—must change to grow. And that change will affect us. Sometimes it will appear to be to our benefit, sometimes to our detriment; sometimes it will not affect us at all. But, in order to be an integral part of our company’s future, we need to embrace the change as progress.
This change can be anything from moving your desk across the room, to being promoted or demoted, to even being fired. If we can see things from a larger perspective, if we can understand that nothing stays the same and change is inevitable, we can thrive—the alternative being that we resist the inevitable and make ourselves and everyone else miserable in the process.
No one is immune to the change of the organization that employs him or her. But, with a shift in perspective we can all change, all evolve, all thrive.
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