Survive and Thrive in the New World of Work Free To Grow May - August 2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED COPYRIGHT The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the Fasset’s. SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN THE NEW WORLD OF WORK The world is changing rapidly. Many of the changes have a profound effect on the world of work. In the “old” world of work, achieving success was fairly straightforward – one studied, worked hard, and success usually followed. But today globalization, technology, changes in workplace structures and the nature of work, cultural diversity and the growing need for a work/life balance amongst other things calls for a new set of skills if one is to achieve career success. To survive and thrive in the new world of work it is essential that one adapts to the changing environment by acknowledging that things are changing, accepting change as an inevitable part of life, and aligning one’s attitudes and behaviours to exploit the changes to one’s benefit. A number of skills are required to achieve career success in today’s workplace: 1. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS Three sets of skills are required for career success, cognitive/analytical, technical and personal/interpersonal skills. The latter are often overlooked, yet many research studies find that the ability to work with and understand people is the most important requirement for career success. In the words of Paul Getty: “It doesn’t make much difference how much other knowledge or experience an executive possesses; if he is unable to achieve results through people, he is worthless as an executive.” One has various workplace relationships with many categories of people e.g. one’s seniors, colleagues, subordinates and customers. You may not like everyone, but achieving career success requires building and maintaining positive relationships with all parties. Productive relationships are not the result of luck but of hard work and developing sound relationship skills is therefore an essential prerequisite for achieving success in the modern workplace. Building rapport and communicating openly, yet appropriately, are the key to this. 2. DIVERSITY Diversity makes good business sense. In a corporate context it is a vital resource benefiting all. Diverse people in an organization add value - they can complement each other with their different skills and approaches to things. To maximize the benefits of diversity for oneself and one’s organization, it is essential to accept, respect and value others, creating an environment where all feel welcome, valued and fully utilized. In diversity there is usually a strong focus on people’s differences, but what is often overlooked is that no matter how diverse, people also have much in common. To build productive relationships with diverse people and reap the benefits of diversity, make the effort to find commonalities. Take time to get to know people personally. This will help you form bonds with others necessary for productive relationships and to avoid the pitfalls of passing judgments on people who belong to categories different from yourself. 3. HANDLING INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT No matter how skilled you are in dealing with people, inevitably there will be times of conflict - it is part of life and part of any relationship. If handled effectively, conflict can Survive and Thrive in the New World of Work 1 bring many benefits to relationships and the workplace. For one, there is a relationship between conflict and performance levels. Both low and high levels of conflict impact negatively on performance, the former resulting in low levels of innovation and involvement and the latter in a destructive and negative work climate. Medium levels of conflict however can enhance performance, by e.g. generating fresh ideas, facilitating constructive criticism and self-analysis. However, inappropriate handling of conflict can have dire consequences. To manage it effectively, one needs to know when to use the different conflict handling strategies i.e. Withdrawing strategy – appropriate when neither the goal nor the relationship with the other party are important Forcing strategy – useful when the goal is more important than the particular relationship Smoothing strategy – the exact opposite of the forcing strategy i.e. useful when the relationship is more important than the goal Compromising strategy – appropriate when e.g. time is tight and a solution is required, but both the goal and the relationship are important Problem solving strategy – appropriate when both the relationship and goal are of high importance and time and resources allow for problem solving 4. ASSERTIVENESS Closely linked to interpersonal conflict is assertiveness. Inevitably there are times when one’s ideas, goals, opinions etc will conflict with others’. Some people handle such situations by being submissive - by just backing off and not in any way make their needs or concerns known. Others behave in an aggressive manner and try to intimidate the other party in order to have their needs met. Both of these approaches are equally detrimental. Assertiveness is the ability to express yourself and your rights without violating the rights of others. It is the skill that you will require to impact on others in a selfconfident manner, exercise leadership and deal effectively with criticism and resistance. How to assert yourself: Try to understand the other party and where he/she is coming from. Explain exactly what it is that is offending or concerning you, being careful not to attack the other person. Be specific about the problem behaviour. Do not make assumptions about the other party’s motives, stick to behaviour you can observe. Try to avoid absolutes, such as always or never. Use “I” statements. This consists of a description of how you feel and an indication of the conditions under which you feel that way. It takes this form: “I feel (your emotions) when (under what condition) because (providing the Survive and Thrive in the New World of Work 2 reason). “I” statements are much more effective than “you” statements. They do not put down, ridicule, blame or judge others. Negotiate ways to address the problem and state the consequences if the problem/concern is not addressed. 5. STRESS MANAGEMENT The new world of work places enormous demands on people to produce and perform at very high levels. Working environments are increasingly stressful which makes for potentially high stress levels for employees. To survive in today’s stressful world it is essential that people: 1. Understand what stress is and how it works – stress is not the situation or demand but how we respond to it. People differ in their responses - a situation may be stressful for one person but not for another. Like conflict, there is a relationship between one’s stress levels and performance. Too little or too much stress negatively impact performance, but optimum stress levels (Eustress), can stretch and stimulate one to enhance performance. Key to dealing with stress effectively is to identify what causes you stress and then learning how to manage it within optimum levels. 2. Understand the effect stress has on you – the body responds physically to stressful events as part of its survival mechanism. The long term impact however of too much stress can be dire and includes e.g. ulcers, heart attacks, high blood pressure etc. Watch for the physical, emotional, and other symptoms of stress to avoid burnout. 3. Are able to identify and manage their stressors – stressors are the actual situations or demands one experiences as stressful. Identify your stressors and change the way you look at them. Do not focus on what you cannot control and influence - this leads to frustration. Instead focus on what you can control and influence. This will leave you feeling more empowered, hopeful and in greater control. 4. Are able to employ stress management techniques – there are a variety of useful techniques including: maintain a healthy lifestyle e.g. eat balanced meals, get enough sleep, avoid excessive alcohol etc exercise – this reverses the physiological processes built up when the body experiences stress and helps to control long term impact of too much stress relax regularly – this can take many forms e.g. hobbies, music, journaling, deep breathing and muscle relaxation exercises etc build and maintain a supportive network of friends, family and colleagues control your thoughts – negative self-talk works against you, but positive selftalk can help significantly to manage stress levels Survive and Thrive in the New World of Work 3