What You Should Really Be Looking For From Your Next Place Of Employment August 29, 2016My CareerOff

It’s only natural that an employee gets to know all about you and whether you’re a good fit for the workplace. However, you should never be so desperate for a job that you neglect to notice whether or not they have all the signs of a great workplace. Just doing a job that you like isn’t enough. Any new employer should be able to offer you more. If too many items off these lists are missing from your next workplace, it might be worth reconsidering how much you want to stay there.

Concern for your well being. The very first thing that you should be concerned about if how the next workplace is going to be affecting your health. There are a lot of different ways to look for it. First, you need to look at the potential long-term risks of the work environment. The best offices provide chairs and tables ergonomically designed to reduce the risk of RSI. The office should also be bright and well-lit to avoid eyestrain. Furthermore, the employer has a responsibility to reduce the risk of injury as much as possible. Regardless of how dangerous the job may be. If an employer fails in these duties and you end up suffering as a result, you may need to ask yourself “am I eligible for work accident compensation”

Fewer new employees. The employer should also show concern for how fairly and well they’re treating their employees. You want to look out for places that aren’t full of new recruits. You want to be able to spot plenty of employees who have been satisfied with their place of employment for several years. Otherwise, it means the workplace has difficulty retaining their workforce and a high level of turnover. This could be because there’s a high risk of termination or the workplace has failed to provide for many of their previous employees. That fact doesn’t bode too well for how likely you are to be satisfied working there. Of course, it may be that the workplace has recently scaled up its operations, but it’s worth keeping an eye out.

The opportunity to meet people. Being stuck in the same place, day-in-day-out, meeting the same people might sound like a regular job for some. But the truth is that your job should be offering you opportunities to get out there. To network with new colleagues or people from other organisations entirely. It’s even better if you’re given the opportunity to visit conventions and events as part of representing the company. Networking is always important for your future career. If your new workplace doesn’t offer you many opportunities to network, you’re going to have to spend much more of your own time to make up for it. This is just one way you can see whether or not your employer takes any stock in your career.

Development opportunities. No-one wants to be ‘stuck at’ a job or a role. Similarly, your employer shouldn’t want you to be stuck in one position, either. Whilst battling high turnover, they should also be encouraging their employees to learn and proceed on their own career track. There are a few different ways they can do this, too. See whether your employee invests in training opportunities for the team often. Or if they keep personal development plans for individual employees. Pay attention to how many opportunities for vertical or lateral career progression appears internally. An employee who offers no opportunity for development isn’t always being neglectful. They may seek to intentionally keep you in the same position for as long as possible.

Good communication. The cornerstone of any good business is the communication between the employees, as well as with the employer. Good communication not only keeps employees in the loop. It also gets them involved and engaged. You should be asked for your opinion and to contribute to topics. Even asked proactively what changes or suggestions you might have for the workplace to implement. Signs of bad communication are things like finding out changes after they have been implemented, not before. Indirect communication or withheld information are glaring warning signs of a toxic work environment. Bad communication fosters a workplace full of mistakes, poor motivation and even hostile workplaces. We’ll cover more on the latter point later.

Solid organisation and stability. Sometimes, a workplace has to undergo a bit of restructuring. The company may be scaling or adapting how they do a certain process. It’s best to not be too alarmed if there’s some reorganization going on. However, if you find that the composition of your work day is changing every month or every other week, then it’s time to be concerned. A confident, forward thinking business owner or manager does not reorganize too often. They think ahead, create a plan and stick to it. Frequent changes to the office is a sign of an unstable employer and unfocused planning. It won’t be a very productive workplace nor will it give you the opportunity to develop your career very much.

Reputation. Your employer is going to do plenty of research on you; you can be sure of that. So you should feel free to do plenty of research on them, too. Not just as a fact-finding mission to help you score some more points on your interview, either. You want to learn more about the reputation and the brand of the company. You might even be able to look up the kind of experience past employees have had at the business. Some businesses have a reputation so bad that it can be a black mark on your resume to have worked for them. Of course, you should also look for businesses with reputations that can be particularly good for you. Look for accolades in particular as a trustworthy indicator.

Company culture that fits you. We all have a certain style of work that best fits us. A certain pace and approach that we’re just much more comfortable in. The same can be said for a whole company, too. This is the essence of what makes up a company culture. Some people prefer an environment where they’re left in peace to handle their workloads. Others prefer an environment that is aggressively inclusive and open in communication. Corporate culture is definitely something that you should dig about. First, looking through their site and details on employees you can find. Then you should even bring it up in the interview. Finding a workplace that’s a cultural fit for you can make you significantly better at your job.

Good benefits. Besides wage, there are other benefits you should be concerned with. Some businesses will go over the top and offer what can be considered extreme perks. Things like free childcare, lunches and even a place to nap. Most employees, however, just want a business to be a bit more responsible in helping them get through life. The basic perks, such as good medical insurance, including dental and visual. Life insurance and retirement contributions. Paid vacation time, sick time and a degree of flexibility in their scheduling. If an employer offers none of these, then you can be sure that they don’t take the well-being and security of employees all that seriously. Employers have a position of power over their employees. They should use it to be responsible for them, not just demand their work.

No overt restrictiveness. Similarly, you don’t want an employer who is going to be intent on shutting down your means of working flexibly. Moonlighting is a sensitive subject for most. It’s easy to understand why employers aren’t thrilled about someone holding a second job. At the same time, you should be free to build your wealth and work towards your future as much as you can. That’s why you should firmly decline any places of employment that have no-moonlighting policies. They have no right to dictate your right to earn. Similarly, you shouldn’t work for anyone who will deduct from your payroll. You get paid for your work and your time. Making a mistake shouldn’t change that.

Good people. Perhaps most important is the kind of people that you’re working with. Corporate culture and how communication is handled will play a role in that. But there are some workplaces that just have people that are a toxic influence on the office yet don’t get dealt with. No-one should tolerate a hostile workplace. So learn to recognize one as quickly as possible so you don’t have to deal with it for too long. For example, oppressive silence can be a damning sign of it. We all have periods where we get our heads down and say nothing for maybe an hour or so. But if people are afraid or don’t want to talk at all, that’s a bad sign. Some of the more obvious ones, of course, include screaming and shouting.

Nowadays, it can be easy to feel the pressure to get any kind of consistent place of employment. Don’t undersell yourself, however. Working in a bad workplace will only make you miserable in the end.

Photo by Deborah Kolb | Shutterstock

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