Are these statements true for you?
- ¡°If I am competent enough, I¡¯ll have no problem at all getting promotion.¡±
- ¡°I believe there is freedom of opinion in the workplace.¡±
- ¡°My colleagues are like my family.¡±
- ¡°If I am right, my company would side with me rather than my boss.¡±
- ¡°Since holidays are a time to recharge my batteries, I need to enjoy them fully.¡±
If you say yes to at least one of these, you are in trouble -- at least according to Cynthia Shapiro, a veteran U.S. corporate consultant and personnel management expert. Shapiro is the author of the book ¡°Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn't Want You to Know - and What to Do about Them,¡± which sold some 70,000 copies no more than three weeks after it was released in Korea.
Her guidelines have raised questions. Are they something that holds true only in the U.S. corporate culture? Have corporate yardsticks changed since the beginning of the 21st century? The Chosun Ilbo asked veteran personnel managers with more than 10 years of experience in Korean companies for their opinions. While they varied in the details, there is one thing all of them agreed on: Many eyes are watching you in the workplace, and you have to come up with a strategy for survival.
¡ß Competence and performance aren¡¯t everything
Shapiro stresses the need to evaluate yourself from the perspective of the employer. Korean personnel managers raise no objection. A personnel manager with more than 15 years of experience in the CJ Group says, ¡°Capability and performance are basic things, but you need other things too as you go up the corporate ladder.¡± Among the ¡°other things¡± is loyalty to the company. ¡°It may sound like an archaic idea, but companies increasingly treasure workers who show a good understanding of and strong support for their visions and goals,¡± he added.
¡ß Try to be a core player
Is it true that every company has secret guidelines and blacklists to manage its personnel? Most experts say that there are ¡°closed guidelines¡± based on the owner¡¯s management philosophy. ¡°In a corporate culture like Korea¡¯s where ownership and management aren¡¯t separate, it¡¯s natural to place importance on the owner¡¯s philosophy and personal insight,¡± a consultant with Watson Wyatt says. ¡°And it is all the more important to pay attention to even small interaction in such a corporate culture.¡± That is, all trivial behavior, from drinking habits and ways to release stress to table manners can be judged.
¡ß If you want to be an MVP, give credit to your boss
This does not mean becoming a ¡°yes man.¡± An expert advises that it is necessary to say ¡°yes¡± first when the boss gives an instruction and try later to raise your concern. According to Shapiro, those in power are cold to those who do not obey them, and the company judges you by the way your boss judges you. What successful workers have in common is that they employ a strategy of giving credit to their bosses to make them stand out in the company. Even if you have complaints about your performance evaluation or do not get promoted, you should not express your dissatisfaction to your boss. The moment you do, you will lose whatever favor you enjoyed.
¡ß Mind expense bills, e-mails and appearance
Most personnel experts agree with Shapiro¡¯s argument that expense bills are a secret yardstick the company uses to measure your loyalty. As a result, they advise giving the management impression that you take every care not to waste the company¡¯s money. Another advice from Shapiro is not to use the company e-mail to deal with personal matters. Few workers know that the company can monitor their e-mails. And our experts agree that appearance matters. They say that because employees are the face of a company, it is natural that the company prefers those who are suited to its value in every aspect, from appearance to language use and manners.
Do you reckon this goes too far? Of course, keep the advice in mind only if you work for a perfect company and want to stay forever.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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