Impressing The Boss

There are a lot of relationships surrounding the corporate setting—from subtle like employees being colleagues, traditional like customer representatives to their clients, and professional like human resource managers to their staff. The give-and-take relations within the organization have contributed to the company’s day-to-day smooth operations. However, today seems not to be the day for a certain type of relationship and that is the employees’ relationship toward their bosses. People seem to forego the idea of showing gratitude or even a greeting as warm as those to their friends, and instead, maintain a distance up to par with restraining orders. In short, people tend to avoid their bosses so not to be called an ass-kisser.

I don’t question those who believe that there must be a distance between them and their superiors. It’s been a long-established norm. There are even bosses who intentionally separate themselves from their employees. For me, this is damaging for the company operations, especially because the truth is, there are a lot of bosses who show themselves as strict, formal, and “far away.” But they actually long and even pray for their employees, or even just one employee, to have the guts to initiate a good relationship between them as employer and employee.

So, how do we actually impress the bosses? Here are some tips I have gathered from actual confessions by some of my colleagues running their businesses:

1. Be on time. Impressing your bosses starts at a very simple task: Get your timecard to that bundy clock before or when it rings in the morning. Observe your company time and abide by it. The only time that this may not matter much is when your boss doesn’t seem to care at all and he himself is habitually tardy. In fact, consider a new job if the leader is like that. But if you see that the boss is on the dot, or even earlier than everyone in the office, then maybe it’s time to avoid the late night binge watching, wake up earlier, leave the house earlier to avoid traffic, and beat the clock.

2. Drop everything and listen carefully. You have a lot of work to do, you’re feeling the stress, and your boss comes over to ask something like what is your opinion if she would be implementing this new scheme. For many employees, this is an inconvenient interruption of their already packed routine. However, have you ever thought about how much work they also have to do? Or it would have been easier for them to just decide and get everyone to do it without hearing as so much as a “nice” or “maybe this to that” from you? Drop everything, listen carefully, and give them your attention. You might be surprised at how your boss can be open to suggestions from employees.

3. Go against the tide if that is the right thing to do. I’ve seen a lot of this—employees going against the decisions of the management like reflex action. I’m not talking about retrenchment. I’m talking about issues like overtime and fast-tracking work or additional tasks and procedures. Before you hit dartboards with the face of your boss on it, re-evaluate the reason why they are asking for those adjustments. Perhaps, there was an unforeseen spike in the demand for your product/ service that pushed them to ask for everyone to work double time. Maybe the new process is actually faster or more secure even if it’s far away from your traditional process. Don’t fall into peer pressure and everyone’s collective opinion. Think for yourself and decide whether or not the decisions of your boss are for the better of the company or otherwise. If you think that it’s for the better, then dare to go against peer pressure, and show support to it. If not, then still show respect and share your views in a courteous manner and be willing to give chance the idea of your boss to work.

4. Show gratitude. Finally, the biggest and most longed for by bosses is being shown gratitude by their employees. Good managers and business owners are constantly thinking of ways to improve the operation that include motivating everyone. This is actually one of the hardest tasks to accomplish, especially in an antagonistic environment where every decision made by the boss is immediately viewed with suspicion. It’s never easy and even close to impossible to please everyone in the workplace. Bosses always long to someday hear someone or see them show their gratitude toward a job well done by bosses. If they give you the chance to be promoted, thank them by not only saying thanks, but actually working your best to show them that it was not a mistake promoting you. If they award you with a unique project, thank them by taking the risk in giving the task to you. A simple thank you actually goes a long way in boosting the morale of the captain of the ship. Give them the reason to continuously make decisions that would better everyone in the workplace.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. C-4, Sunday, November 29, 2015. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.