Pointers to Employees – to keep yourself and your boss happy

These are just my immediate thoughts from delving into my experiences to-date,  regarding things that employees could think about, to ensure optimum performance at their jobs, both in the short-term as well as long-term, which in turn ensures happiness and satisfaction at work, both for the employee, their peers, their sub-ordinates and their boss.
Love to hear comments & suggestions from all…
Before You Even Join a Firm

1. Before you join a firm, ensure that you understand your own career goals and that you research well about the company you are considering joining and specifically, about the roles that are being offering you – ensure that they fit well, with your overall career goals and interests.
2. While salary is certainly an important factor it’s not everything, when making your decision to join a firm.

Understand Yourself in Relationship with the Firm You Work With

3. Try to understand the big picture to the extent you are able to.
4. Try to identify your roles (and others’ roles) and where you fit in with the big picture.
5. Specifically, be aware of your KPAs (Key Performance Areas) and what exactly is expected of you. Quantify these expectations, as much as is appropriate to the extent possible. Remember, you cannot measure what you cannot quantify.
6. It’s always best to promise little and deliver big – never the other way around.
7. Be aware that you are getting paid to be a professional – therefore, do produce results that befit a true professional, not an amateur.
8. Pay attention to the smaller and finer details in everything you do – they are important and of course, they do get noticed and they do make a big difference.
9. Be dependable and punctual, with regard to everything you do at work.

Using Company Resources Appropriately

10. Make sure to not abuse company resources such as the internet – unnecessary internet browsing, spending significant time (or perhaps, any time at all) on personal emails, personal Facebook page updates and such.
11. You cannot steal any company property, electronic, intellectual or otherwise, in any manner whatsoever. However, it gets a bit tricky perhaps, when speaking about intellectual property – the kinds of knowledge gained from actually working at a firm for some time, vis-à-vis how this can be used at a later point in time can be quite varied for various situations. For example, when a person working for a soft drinks firm, acquires knowledge about exact chemical composition/process used to prepare the product, he/she may not be able to use/divulge these exact details, when moving to another firm. However, knowledge/experience gained about programming in Java for instance, can certainly be used after moving to another software firm.
12. Make proper use of meeting times. Ensure appropriate participation in meetings called/headed by others. For meetings called by you, make sure to have an agenda prepared and made known to all participants in advance as well as to have meeting minutes (where applicable and feasible), prepared and distributed to all concerned, including all action items discussed, allocated etc.

Follow Proper Ethics and Etiquette

13. Be aware that each company has its own corporate culture vis-à-vis, its own set of rules and etiquettes (dress codes, flexible times, leave/holiday rules, documentation requirements such as timesheets, status reports and such), etc. Make sure to follow all the rules and etiquettes, as long as you are a part of this firm.
14. Make sure you understand proper business email etiquettes, for email sent during work.
15. Be aware of all the rules and regulations (and specific do’s and don’ts) pertaining to your industry and specifically to your work.
16. Do not bad mouth your firm or its employees at any time (during lunch, tea etc) or even outside work area and outside of work hours. This holds good for face-to-face discussions as well as on any forum on the internet, during the time you are with a firm and even after you have moved on to another firm.
17. Do not speak ill of any of your past employers. Do not burn bridges.

Keep your Knowledge Current

18. Keep abreast of latest technologies and happenings in your field…read relevant newspapers, magazines, books
19. Attend industry recognized training programs periodically, and keep your relevant certifications current, even if cost for these are not reimbursed by your firm and even if they are not specifically required by your firm.
20. Be a part of technology/interest groups within your work area as well as some other important related areas, to the extent possible…do attend seminars and group meetings/get-togethers
21. Keep abreast of happenings at other firms in the same industry as yours – details such as kind of clients, projects, hirings, salaries at other firms in your industry, will give you an advantage and leverage within your own firm. But, this should never be misused to “black mail” HR in your firm.
22. Of course, you also need to be aware of and follow rules/details regarding company secrets and proprietary material, which cannot be divulged or discussed during these meetings/discussions.

Be Aware of How to & What to Contribute, to Your Firm

23. Try to be a Solutions provider (which is quite a positive thing), not a person who brings up various problems all the time and certainly not one, who keeps complaining about things all the time (which will obviously paint a very negative image about you to everyone).
24. However, if there is a problem that you cannot solve quickly, communicate this to your boss, as soon as possible. He/she may be able to help you correct/solve the problem yourself, or he/she may be able to bring in others to help, or he/she may be in a better position to prepare the firm and/or the client appropriately.
25. Remember, the sooner errors are trapped and corrected, the lesser the expense to correct them. Consequently, the later they are trapped, the costlier, and more embarrassing and more difficult, they become, to correct. Also, it is easy to trap and correct errors if they are caught and corrected within your firm, than if the error is caught by people outside your firm, once the product/service has left your firm.
26. If after all this, you do realize you have made a mistake, own up to it…don’t try to pass the buck – speaks volumes about yourself and your personality.
27. Make sure that whatever you do specifically on a day-to-day basis (and over time), contributes to the company’s business. It’s best if you are able to quantify your contributions, to the extent possible/appropriate. If you are working in a Project Management function, it’s good to know how your projects are doing – if your clients are benefiting from your project and specifically their feedback and if these projects are being overall profitable for your company etc. If you are working in a HR function, are your able to aid in making hires that are a good fit with personnel requirements, are your firm’s employees happy – specifically, does your firm have good employee morale in general and an acceptably low employee turnover etc. If you are in a Sales/Marketing function, then, how many leads have you made and how many of these have been converted to clients for your firm and how many products/services have you sold and what revenues have they made for your firm etc.
28. Don’t be shy or afraid, (or tardy) to ask for regular feedback from everyone (your superiors, peers and also your sub-ordinates) about your performance. You don’t always have to wait for formal performance appraisal processes, to do this.
29. Do also provide constructive, quantifiable and periodic feedback to those working for you.
30. From meeting various people within and outside your firm and industry, get to know about best practices of work functions related to your work and to your industry in general, and suggest/apply the same in an appropriate manner.
31. Represent your firm well, to everyone within your firm and especially to those outside your firm, at all times.

Take Good Care of Yourself

32. Be strong and fit – devote time to exercise…will help keep you fit for life and will definitely reduce stress in the short and long terms. Also, eat healthy and get enough sleep every day. Do avail your vacation times in an appropriate and planned manner.
33. Understand that there is a life outside work (family, friends, socializing, vacationing etc), and maintain that aspect of your life too, in a healthy, robust manner.

Relationship with Peers, Superiors & Subordinates

34. While it is acceptable (indeed expected) for you to be competitive, it’s ok to offer a suggestion or even perhaps a helping hand at times (to the extent appropriate), when someone really needs it, at work – remember, you may have to endure a similar situation yourself, at some point in your career yourself, and at that time, you can surely use someone else’s suggestion/helping-hand then.
35. Maintain good communication with team members, (peers, sub-ordinates and superiors, both within the firm you work with and outside) – need to be pleasant with everyone, yet strict when it comes to following rules, and when setting and attaining goals etc. within your firm.

Your Outlook in General

36. A positive outlook about everything in general
37. Maintain a sense of urgency at work (not to be confused with feeling desperate, tense and uptight all the time)
38. Be flexible in your outlook to things in general and be open to learning anytime, anywhere and about any and all things. These will certainly aid in you becoming a better person and a better employee. Also means you cannot be prejudiced about anyone or about anything.
39. Enjoy your work and be passionate about it – results will show automatically.

Time Management

40. Learn to manage time properly – you certainly can manage all the above (and more) if you can manage your time properly and prioritize.