After 10 years at the same job, Marie is getting demoted. And she was told this by Human Resources, not her boss. HR explained they felt it best to be the ones to give her the news … so she could be “fully informed of her rights.”

More likely, so her boss didn’t have to look her in the eye, she thought as she numbly sat in the chair listening. There had been no clue of this possibility that she was aware of. And her first thought, not surprisingly, was to quit.

Why was she getting demoted?

Although she thought of herself as an invaluable employee because she worked hard and knew how to handle things no one else knew, Marie’s department was being reorganized. And a new person was going to head up the department. Some of Marie’s duties would logically go to them.

⇒  ABOUT REORGANIZATIONS

Sometimes they are for real. The result of many months of re-strategizing the way a company operates. But sometimes they are codeword for [Read more…]

So you screwed up at work. Maybe your boss is mad at you. Maybe this will even affect your chances of ever getting ahead where you are. Is your only hope now to use your life savings to buy lottery tickets — and then pray that you win?

Although this is neither a financial advice blog nor a religious blog, I’ll answer both parts of that question for you: NO!!!!!! (Well, one ticket now and then probably won’t hurt,.)

But screw-ups do happen. To all of us. And the real trick is how you handle them.

What I learned about screwing up

[Read more…]

I’ve spent many years working in IT and am amazed how often you hear a programmer call computer users stupid. Granted, sometimes there are users who for whatever reason are slower to get the hang of it. Or maybe don’t try hard enough.

But if your job is to design systems that people can use, then is it the user who fails if the design is too complex or just not intuitive?  Maybe there wasn’t enough training or good documentation. Or maybe the developers missed a few communication steps in the process. It’s at least worth considering that if YOUR users are always stupid!

Working with system users

[Read more…]

Receptionists do a lot more than smile and answer the phone. But you wouldn’t know that by the way many companies value their contribution to the firm. Or the way people think about them. Often, they are treated as “lower class” — even within the firm they work for. So why are receptionists undervalued so much?

When I was thinking about writing this, I googled receptionist and saw that many people wonder why they are so rude. They also ask if receptionists are obsolete. Certainly a very different take than the one I set out to cover here.

Are receptionists really all that rude?

[Read more…]

Got tips to get ahead at work?

Hi Ronnie Ann, I read your blog and it makes an interesting read. I am looking for answers about how to finally get ahead at work. Try as I might, I just can’t seem to get a promotion. And so I hope you can help me.

I have been working for more than 3 yrs in my company. When I joined I was at a fresher level. But I went on to become one of the leads (though not on paper). Just a year and half back I was transferred from my dept and moved to another dept.

I was doing pretty great there and was pinning my hopes on a promotion, which did not happen. Even though I got good appraisals. And as the process was closing down, there was no point on creating a scene about it.

New dept. but still can’t get ahead!

[Read more…]