The Crow

Recording Coworkers to Bust Them: Bad Idea

 

Image courtesy Joe Howell, Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joehowell/2314400543/

Latest Quora question I decided to answer revolved around something along the lines of "I want to rat out a fellow employee who is talking trash about our CEO, can I record this person?"

Tempting as it may be, I would never recommend recording someone without their explicit permission. It's generally considered unethical. And sometimes illegal. Unless you are the CIA. I always think the best solution is to first try speaking directly to the offender, regardless of what the issue is, to let them know their rants make you uncomfortable.  That usually takes care of the problem. Most people don't want to be boors, even if they are "that guy".

Failing that, if a situation really is untenable and you're not just being a whiner, you should enlist the help of your HR person or manager, as they may be able to help you address the matter effectively without making it seem like you are tattling. This approach holds true for almost all issues you will encounter in the workplace.

What kinds of issues make you wish you could illegally record someone to bust them?

tracy c

P.S. The Quora post is here: http://b.qr.ae/qId4YT

Going Postal...

How America Went Postal, Documentary

Traci A. thought I should do a post on this. Probably because it was too depressing for her but too juicy to ignore. 

It is worth noting that the term “going postal” has become a verb. Why do people do it? Go nuts in the workplace, hurting colleagues, sometimes people they never even interacted with? Because they are pushed to the brink.

You get it, I know you do, even if you don’t want to. It’s like all those people living in homeless camps next to the river. You are probably only 3 paychecks away from that, so…empathize. Not that I am comparing the two. Just saying, we are all just that close to the edge. What are the warning signs?

Well, when it’s about someone else…I’d say, trust your gut. Do what you can to raise the flag. Get the person some help. Do whatever you can. Talk to your union rep, your HR person, your manager or maybe your manager’s manager. Better to be slightly paranoid than sorry.

What if it’s you? Are you starting to fantasize about throwing things out the window? Worse? Living in Barbados? That’s when you know it’s time to pick up a copy of “Who Moved My Cheese” and realize it’s time to find a different environment.

Don’t be that guy.

tracy c.

Up in the air: Who should do the firing?

_{Map of Switzerland courtesy: http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/527.gif}

In the unfortunate event that a decision is made by a company to part ways with an employee, a common question arises: Who should tell the employee their services are no longer wanted? This practice varies – a lot – from company to company, based on the philosophy of the leadership and the most senior HR person.

IMHO, managers should do the dirty work themselves. Ideally, the HR role is that of an advisor and coach to the manager, and a point of escalation for the employee.  If the employee has no internal person to turn to with questions or concerns, inevitably, they’ll turn to an external resource, which costs everyone valuable time and often, money.

Most managers need HR’s guidance to ensure emotions are kept in check, and that terminated employees are allowed to exit the company with dignity (after all, you never know when this former employee could become a client or a source of employee referrals or, gasp, lawsuits). 

Too many HR people fall into the bad cop trap, and that is a waste. It leaves the employee no one to turn to internally, and creates a rift between employees and company leadership. HR must be the bridge. HR should be an 11 letter word: Switzerland.

What do you think?

tracy c

Lose the Bong, Get a Job

  From Davin G's photostream on flickr

I got a call the other day from someone at a very well respected publication, looking for insight into how agencies bring on interns. I love that. Being asked for my opinion, that is. Because I have an opinion on just about everything! As I thought about it, my advice for interns isn’t much different than advice I might give to other candidates. Here are a few things to think about when trying to score an internship or a job:

1.       Be excited about the opportunity. There is nothing more annoying from an interviewer’s perspective than trying to interview someone who fails to exhibit any amount of enthusiasm for the role, opportunity, or company.

2.       Think beyond the classroom, or your usual space. Have an opinion about what the company does, and what their competitors are up to.

3.       Be prepared. Make an effort to understand how things work in the industry or field you are interviewing in. If you want to work in an ad agency, do some research and try to figure out what the roles look like in your potential department. Don’t just walk in and say, “I’m creative, so I want to work in creative!” Not impressive. Cliché and lame. And yet, alarmingly common.

4.       Show and tell. If you are a creative, have an online portfolio. For everyone else, bring samples of your relevant work, nicely presented, or put together a website. It NEVER hurts.  No matter what level you’re at.

5.       Don’t be too cool.  If you are really tied to your dreads or body jewelry or uber trendy clothes, save as much as possible for Friday night. Dress like a normal person in an interview.  Even if it’s a cool company. If your interviewer is covered in tats, I give you permission to compare notes!

6.       Clean up your social media presence.  Beer bonging or flipping off the person wielding a camera is not considered cool in the working world. No one wants to hire a jackass. Honestly, talking about your political and religious views can also be treading thin ice. Just…Get rid of that shit. People will look at it.  And most of them won't like it.

7.       Be resourceful. Leverage your network shamelessly to get an interview. Neighbors, friends of friends, the guy you met at the bakery. This is how people get internships and ultimately, jobs. Find out via the company site, Facebook or other avenues whether the Company is sponsoring or going to attend any recruiting events…and go! Connect with relevant people on LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter, and strike up a conversation, or ask for an informational interview. Figure out what the company’s email protocol is and get a direct message to the right person.  Don’t just target the HR person. In fact, sometimes it’s better to find a sympathetic manager. HR people get so much of this kind of stuff sometimes it gets missed.

8.       Be yourself. You don’t want to work somewhere that’s not a good fit. It won’t last.

To get a job, you have to do your homework. You also have to create and shamelessly leverage your network .  Good luck.

tracy c

Gift Giving at Work: Awkward

_{Image from m masahara on flickr}

I received a surprise gift this week: a candidate we interviewed once several months ago, who opted out of the process on his own, sent several of his interviewers a very fancy box of candy. It was nice, but it was weird. During the holidays, many people feel the need to give coworkers, managers, and apparently even former interviewers gifts. I suggest thinking carefully about professional gift giving before you do.

Call me Scrooge, but I am not a big fan of gift giving at work during the holidays or any other time. These people are your coworkers, not friends, or family. Granted, some coworkers are actually friends and some family members are not. Generally, I advise keeping it professional at work; as a plus, you can avoid both the stress and expense associated with the whole who gets what exercise.

Every year at this time, managers inevitably ask me for home addresses of employees. I try to be reasonably responsible with confidential information, so I don’t like to give addresses out for this unnecessary exercise. You see them at work! If you must give them something, a card, a gift, whatever, do it at work. When managers ask me for employee addresses, I ask the employee if it’s ok to give it out first. Which I am sure spoils any element of surprise.

Employees never ask me if they can have their manager’s address for this purpose. Which is not to say that employees don’t occasionally give their manager a holiday gift, they sometimes do. Which brings me to part two of this topic: what is an appropriate gift for someone you work with?

From manager to employee, you can never go wrong with a holiday bonus if the company will spring for it, but I don’t consider that a gift, it’s compensation. My husband’s office always gives their employees a nice electronic gadget. Since we are gadget people, it’s invariably something we already have. A lot of employers go with gift cards, which are safe and hard to argue with, although they are impersonal. I see lots of bottles of alcohol floating around this time of year, and while I love to imbibe, it’s not a safe gift unless you know the person pretty well.  I don’t know what employees give their bosses, since I don’t do it. If you are giving coworkers gifts, that gets tricky, because how do you decide who should get what and are you making anyone feel left out? It’s like Valentine’s in grade school all over again.

Even if your heart is in the right place, you should probably put it back where it belongs. But, if you are overwhelmed with holiday spirit, and feel compelled gift give to your colleagues, keep it professional, keep it clean, and keep it at work!

Ho ho ho,

tracy c

Would you fire Tiger?

  No vanity here. Image from Scrape TV News

Everyone is talking about the strange Tiger Woods incident, and the mystery and drama surrounding it. Actually, it’s probably not that mysterious; he had an affair, his wife found out, and decided to let him have it with one of his golf clubs. I’m having a hard time conjuring up any sympathy for him. Some folks want to turn this into a racially charged issue, but I say, if you choose to accept the perks that come with being a celebrity, you don’t get to complain overmuch about the inevitable invasion of privacy.

What I wonder, is how will this series of events and indiscretions impact Tiger’s “job”? I had to put job in quotes because although I know it takes a lot of work to do what he does, it’s hard for most people to equate golfing every day with a “job”. Look at it this way. If an executive at your company had an extramarital affair, would they get fired? Probably not. How about, if an executive at your company had an extramarital affair with a colleague? Well, I guess that’s another matter and depends on the situation and the company.

Should Tiger be fired from all is endorsement deals because (gasp) he’s not actually a good role model in affairs of the heart…so to speak? If he shot someone, I would say, of course he should lose endorsement deals. But for cheating on is wife? Well, it may be lame but in spite of his celebrity status, I tend to agree with him, it should be a private matter between him and his wife to sort out. I am not sure it’s fair that we hold celebrities to a higher moral standard than we do other people.

I’ll close this with some insights on the whole Tiger situation from my uncle Shawn...his rant is below. Enjoy.

tracy c

The only Tiger that’s grrrrrrrrreat is Tony the Tiger. And now he’s only gonna pay a $164 fine? Are you kidding? Not only did he crack the hydrant and destroy the tree, it’s now being reported his neighborhood is on “lockdown”! One of the kids in the area tried to go to school and was stopped by law enforcement. Another neighbor was forced to turn over her memory card from her camera to officials!

Tiger can not bury his head in the sand (trap) over this one. Maybe Barack can convene another beer summit to figure all this out. Maybe the $164 could be used for a new GPS system in the Caddy so Tiger could now see WHERE HE IS GOING!

And now we have skanks from all over saying they have had affairs with TW. Jaimee Grubbs (“Grubby” to her friends) now says she too was having an affair with Tiger. Grubby is a cocktail “waitress” (wink wink) and has previously appeared on the reality show “Tool Academy”. Gee, what a surprise- another tramp who wants her own reality show. I think Tiger must have taken Nike’s slogan a little too literally. “Just Do It” in his case should have been “Just do it - but don’t get caught”!

The latest Tiger jokes, puns, etc:
    * Tiger has decided not to attend this weekend’s golf tournament. He’d like to, but his wife still has his nine iron.
    * She did what all the other golfers in the world can’t do- she beat Tiger Woods.
    * News flash: Tiger changes his name to “cheetah”.
    * That was the shortest drive of his career.
    * His wife hit him with a “hate” iron.
    * He can now trade in his green jacket for an orange jumpsuit.
    * Talk about getting the “shaft”.
    * Tiger Woods has new corporate sponsors- Earl Scheib and Jacoby and Myers.
    * What’s the difference between a golf ball and a car? Tiger Woods can drive a golf ball 400 yards.
    * What were tiger Woods and his wife doing out at 2:30 am? They were night-clubbing.

It's all just more proof that golfers aren't atheletes.  Even in a Cadillac he couldn't  outrun a perpetually sunglassed model.  Maybe he was waiting for the Caddy to hand him a club -- a driver, no doubt Anyway… How do you run over a fire hydrant AND then a tree? (BTW- I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. I had to quit- you couldn’t park anywhere near the place!) Well, at least he wasn’t speeding!

Anytime anybody is leaving their house at 2:30 in the morning is a bad thing. Why is he driving a Caddy? Doesn’t he do Buick commercials? (GM= Government Motors). What he should have been driving is a golf cart! Also, he was barefoot, which is (believe it or not) illegal in Florida ! So he can get arrested “fore” that, along with reckless “driving” (not with the clubs!). And he’s refused to talk to officers three times? Wow. Imagine if you or I did that: “Sorry officer, I refuse to talk to you about my criminal behavior”! Yeah, like that would work! This “cover up” should not be allowed! If that crazy trophy model wife of his attacked him, she needs to go to the pokie with balloon boy’s dad NOW!  I think she used that nine iron to make a divot in his head (good chip shot!).   

I wonder if the car has Onstar? “Hello, Onstar? According to the National Enquirer, I just got caught screwing some skank named Rachel who also was with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in the past, my wife confronted me about the affair, and then beat the crap out of me with my favorite putter, so I ran out of my mansion barefoot, jumped in my Escalade, and now I’m stuck in my car after hitting a dog urinal and a giant elm. Oh, wait, here comes that crazy bitch now- she’s breaking the back window of my ride! Oh, the humanity! I guess I’m “in the rough now”! I’ll have to buy her a “ Kobe special”!

Regarding the nosy neighbors who placed the 911 call, the Adams Family (yes, I’m serious). They’re creepy and they’re spooky. All together kooky. Did Uncle Fester place the call? Gomez? Wednesday? Morticia? Lurch? Thing? And these winners have an attorney now. WTF? Why do they need an attorney? Are you kidding? The only reason for this is they want attention, and, as has been reported, their own reality show! And you thought it couldn’t get any worse than “I Love New York ”! What’s next- Reverend Wright with his own reality series? That would be “par” for the course!

P.S. I hate golf- I always get stuck in the windmill! 

 

Liar, Liar!

The images of Ralph Lauren’s obviously digitally altered model Filippa Hamilton pissed me off. Why do advertisers continue to promote images of emaciated women as a standard of beauty?  It’s no wonder so many women have body image issues (never mind the box of Krispy Kreme donuts in my kitchen).  Much has been said on this subject, and still, it continues to happen.

I am guessing that if you were inclined to think about it, this trend might annoy you too. No one enjoys an outright lie. And yet, so many people are tempted to do just that on their resume and during an interview.

We all understand why they do it…because the job is a prize and some people will do anything…anything…to get it, leveraging acquaintances of acquaintances to get a foot in the door, and unfortunately, in the pursuit of the perfect job, some will lie about their skills and experience.

The sad thing is, sometimes it works, at least for a while. The white lie about total comp nets a higher salary at the next job; fudging on a title or two nets a better one the next time around; exaggerating skill sets nets a bigger role. Temptation is easy to succumb to. I get it.

But, besides the fact that karma will in fact find a way to catch up to you, this is not a good strategy for long term success. If, as a candidate, you misrepresent yourself in some way, the truth will come out one way or another, usually in terms of leadership’s disappointment in your performance. They thought they were getting someone they weren’t. This doesn’t really do you any favors in the long run.

The best strategy is to be honest. Yes, edit your resume to be flattering! Use action words. Emphasize your strengths and accomplishments. After all, it is ok for models to wear makeup, maybe even some shapewear, we all expect it.  And when you do land a job, it will be the right one.

Meanwhile, I’m going to have a couple of donuts as my own private FU to Ralph.

tracy c

Go Ahead Eat that Donut

Do people really think that people are born that hot? I thought the Dove's campaign for Real Beauty was great at revealing the truth about how much work goes into making people attractive.  We all know that Hollywood, magazines and strippers aren't real, right?  I mean they are spackled, airbrushed, fake tanned, nipped, tucked and plumped. And we love it.  

Interestingly enough, the French government may be taking steps to reveal the ugly truth: she's not that skinny. According to PopSci.com, they have proposed a bill that would require magazines to label any portraits that have been digitally altered. The bill states:

"The publicity photographs of people whose physical appearance was altered by software image processing must be accompanied by the words: 'photograph retouched to change the physical appearance of a person."

The goal of this bill is to combat anorexia, but I'm not sure labeling a photo is the best solution. Do people really want transparency?  Don't we read the fashion mags to escape? Do we really need a warning label saying that this isn't real? 
 
I propose the following labels for the obvious:
1. The action in this film was choreographed, no actor was touched, blown up or burnt in this production.
2. The words spoken in this political speech were not necessarily the truth.
3. The man in this romantic comedy isn't really that caring, witty or romantic.

What warning labels would you like to see?

Kari Girarde

Originally posted on ThreeMinds