In the RewardMe Work Environment: Coworkers, Superiors and Janitors

In the work environment, you could say everyone is an existing contact that is relevant to RewardMe. Or can you? So many times people just think about coworkers as “the guy that sits across from my cubicle” and only know that they are lazy and talk loud on the phone. They’re not regarded as people. They’re viewed as the environment, the setting, the job title.

Out of 35 coworkers, many people only know 3-4 personally. Maybe you just get along with 3-4, but does that mean the others aren’t people? Does that mean they’re not worth caring for? You should maintain good relationship with everyone you work with. Have a little friendly chat every once in awhile or simply just a hello. Smiling is a very useful tool here in this environment, where everyone works under boredom or stress and would rather sit on a beach or just watch TV.

It’s the same concepts that apply with your superiors and people who work under you. Don’t be scared when talking to your superior. Be confident and smile. Apologize with respect of what you did wrong.

Don’t be arrogant when you talk to people who work under you. Be confident and smile. Apologize with things that you did wrong. Would you work harder for a boss that apologizes to you? People who work under you might feel the same way.

Do your work the best you can. Don’t slack. Do more than you need. Instead of complaining about your lack of responsibilities and promotions, prove that you deserve them. Your boss that sees you being more capable of your work will give you more work (ah, something that many complain about again), and when you do it well without more pay, he/she’ll give you a position that justifies your ability. In fact, you should ask for more work! People who are under you who see you are hard working will also feel the culture and become more hard working. That helps you get your projects done on time. You can push them, but always remember to care about their feelings, and set by example. They need to be willing, not pushed. In the work place, just like everywhere else, attitude is everything.

People with similar positions as you need a little more work. They might think you are a suck up and dislike you. However, in many cases, if you always maintain a good relationship with them, and they will know you are hard working in nature (hopefully also one with integrity), more often than not they will be fine with it. They see your work ethic and know that they chose to not put in the effort you did. This works out well when you often have a sincerely smile and ask them if you could help them with anything.

Most of all; don’t be phony. Don’t pretend you have a good work ethic. HAVE a good work ethic. People at your work place are more often jealous of those that are hypocritical and pretend to be someone else in front of superiors.

If you did all of that, and people still dislike you, it’s their personal flaw and you don’t need to worry about it. Let their unjustified jealousy choke themselves.

You can even give coworkers advices on working harder too so they don’t need to complain about their position anymore. Again, think of the analogy of the pit. If you help your coworkers become your superiors (even though you would most likely succeed instead with the right mind set), then you would have a superior who appreciates you and would present you other opportunities every time there is one. He/she’ll write the best references for you to his superiors or your new employers. If you do that often, you’ll likely end up where you were aiming for, and you are in good terms with those around you. Now you have accomplishment and peace in mind (and great connections!). Don’t try to lower other people, try to raise yourself and others. Competing is for short-term purposes; helping is for long-term achievements. You can decide which one is more important.

Janitors are important too. Shock! Is that possible? Janitors are people too. And people have infinite possibilities. You never know what that person will do tomorrow or is doing today! They for sure know some people that you don’t know and some things that you don’t. You can even help them to do something great and we end up back into the pit analogy again. That nice thing is that, janitors are easy to be friendly with, as they don’t expect a lot from you. You simply need to smile, say hello, and ask about how they are doing to make their day better.

Think about this scenario: maybe one day you will be sitting in office in a bad mood. The janitor who you have been friendly with regularly sees it and asks if there is anything wrong. You explain to him your problems. There is chance that he may say, “Oh yea, my uncle is an expert in this field and might be able to help you out! I’ll go ask him for you.” That could turn out to be valuable resources and connections.

You should care for all, because maybe one day you would like one of them to care for you.