As employees across the country head back to work during the COVID-19 pandemic and restaurants and bars open up, so too does the opportunity to socialize with your co-workers outside of work hours. However, although socializing can be a great for your career, there can also be pitfalls if you aren’t careful. Here are the good and the bad that come with socializing outside of work.
Some days are great, others less so
The world is full of a variety of bosses. These include great bosses who appreciate their employees and their time and controlling bosses that can sometimes be hard to work with.
Understandable that you’d want to keep working for a good boss and quit working for a difficult boss, right? But the world isn’t black and white. Some bosses are a mix of good and bad depending on the day. The good days can be great, and the bad can hard to work through.
Luckily, there are a few ways to deal with a difficult boss. Let’s dig in!
You’re proud of the work you put in while on the job. But one day you walk by the breakroom and hear a co-worker say you frequently miss deadlines, come into work late, or steal their ideas for presentations.
Office gossip can be incredibly demoralizing, especially if you’re new on the job. Someone is spreading lies about you, but it’s their word against yours; is there really anything you can do about it? (more…)
Nearly half (49%) of employees are unsatisfied with their jobs. It could be due to a bad boss, lack of work/life balance, or simply that they don’t enjoy the work they do.
If any of that sounds familiar, it might be time to quit your job. But that means the uncertainty of a new job, a change in pay, and plenty of other complications. A solid plan is one way to cut down on those concerns.
And why does it matter?
We all have bad boss stories. Maybe you had a boss yell at you every day, never show up for work, or take credit for a project you completed solo. Or perhaps your manager just didn’t really care or acknowledge you at all.
All of those bosses are lacking one key trait—empathy.
In a recent study, Businessolver® found that 91% of CEOs “believe empathy is directly linked to a company’s financial performance, while 93% of employees say they’re more likely to stay with an empathetic employer.”
However, while 92% of CEOs think their organizations are empathetic, only 72% of employees agree.
To find out whether your boss is empathetic, look for the following qualities.
Keep your brain healthy and strong.
Work is hard. In addition to normal job responsibilities, you also have to deal with other people. And sometimes stressful conflict can pop up with co-workers, bosses, vice-presidents, and even higher up the chain.
Occasionally those interactions go swimmingly. And occasionally they don’t.
As defined by Merriam-Webster, a mental health day is “a day that an employee takes off from work in order to relieve stress or renew vitality.”
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? If you find yourself dreading driving to the office every morning, bringing work home with you (either physically or mentally), or flinching every time your phone rings, it’s time for a mental health day.
Here are a few signs it might be time to rest the ol’ noggin. (more…)
Stay positive and dodge the drama.
Humans like to gossip. It’s fun to talk to your co-workers about managers that might be less-than-perfect, or project members that just aren’t carrying their weight. You get a certain buzz from feeling like you’re “in-the-know” on a juicy situation.
It’s something we all do. But there are plenty of reasons to minimize gossiping in the workplace, especially if you want to grow your career. Let’s dig in.
