How to Survive in a Sink or Float Work Environment
When I was 21, just graduated from college and struggling with a shattered California job market in the midst of the Great Recession, I did an internship on public radio and was overjoyed.
Work did not go as planned. There was a culture at the station that valued self-sufficiency above all else, that is, the spirit of “sink or swim” prevailed. When I asked for help with cutting audio, my manager usually complained about the unpleasant level of “hand-holding” I needed. After a while, it seemed that my presence was an obstacle on the way to the big and important work of creating a weekly program about local culture. Six months later, I was fired, and the rest of the interns stayed.
Of course I was very green at the time. But in hindsight, it seems that my managers were actually looking for an experienced radio journalist willing to work for a penny in a crater-ridden job market, not an intern looking to learn a new profession. Thrown into the deep end, I drowned. But it wasn’t necessarily my inexperience that limited my chances of a successful internship. It was the notion that new hires had to acclimatize immediately or look like they could do it, and it sealed my destiny. This belief needs to be changed.
How can you learn if you are not helped?
This is a paradoxical approach to taking on a new job or new responsibilities. If your boss doesn’t have the time to train them, how can you expect employees to understand the needs of their job? Moreover, the belief that training is a one-off exercise shows a lack of connection with the actual learning process, which is exactly the case.
As leadership expert Carol Houtot wrote for LinkedIn in 2016, throwing your new hires into the void won’t help anyone. She noted that managers have questions when people are not trained enough:
How do you know the people on your team are developing the right skills?
How do you prevent them from adopting bad habits and labels from an employee on the periphery whom you want to fire but have not yet had time to?
And if an employee can truly thrive in this “under-trained” environment, why do you think they will stay?
In the absence of a reputable manager, look elsewhere
It may seem counterintuitive to seek guidance in a workplace outside the office, but sometimes it is necessary. Executive Coach and Organizational Consultant Hilary Pearl tells Lifehacker that friends, ex-coworkers, and even parents can be untapped resources. This is especially true if the young worker does not receive the support they need from their superiors.
She wrote in an email:
I invite [young workers] to reach out to former co-workers who could become mentors or who they respect for their ability to listen and show empathy. It is very helpful to just talk about problems with others. If your parents were in the business world, they may have helpful points of view if they are not going to preach. Chatting with friends from a similar industry can be rewarding, and going outside your company can also help build your network.
It’s psychologically destructive
If you feel like every question you ask your boss is an admission of weakness or ignorance, that will not only undermine your confidence, but it will also kill your enthusiasm for learning new skills.
For example, if you were not explicitly told not to do something, would you be blamed for it? Should you ask your boss, or are you better off just not taking the initiative? These blurred boundaries can usually be clarified with a few questions, and employees should feel comfortable asking them.
As Stephen Chisholm said in last year’s Vision Advertising article, asking questions opens up opportunities not only for growth, but for new ideas to emerge and flourish.
He noted some of the positive aspects of an environment in which to ask questions, namely:
Willingness to Learn: Being receptive to new information and ideas is a valuable characteristic of a leader. Office hierarchy should not interfere with learning.
Willingness to participate: By asking questions and listening carefully to the answers, you show that you value your team’s thoughts, which can shed light on some really valuable ideas.
Constant curiosity : Curiosity fosters creativity, and understanding how others think, work, and behave opens the door to inventive ideas and solutions.
This does not excuse incompetence or laziness; Ultimately, everyone must fulfill their responsibilities as intended. But when the very idea of seeking help is viewed as a burden, it is very easy for young workers to feel that their lack of experience makes them unable to succeed in their careers.
Managers also have a role to play
Some managers shy away from any attempt to check with their subordinates, as if making sure that your employees can do their job with confidence, is tantamount to annoying micromanagement, which is inherently ugly. However, the truth is that one of the main responsibilities of a manager is to nurture the talents working under him, young or experienced, because otherwise they slip away.
Pearl says: “The best managers in young people believe in their ability and potential to do great things. They talk openly about how they feel about the ‘big boss’ and encourage young people to speak up. “
Pearl notes that one way to help young employees help their managers, and vice versa, is through co-mentoring. She says that “young people can teach and help the senior boss, while the older generation can provide guidance on how to navigate the policies and boundaries of the organization.”
Potential silver lining?
There are potential benefits to learning on the fly if you get the appropriate support you get when making a new deal. Diving deeper can help you master new skills as your mistakes will gradually become less frequent. “You learn a lot about yourself by making mistakes, marveling at your success, and growing rapidly as a person, manager and leader,” says Pearl. “You build your faith in yourself as you develop your skills.”