Spots of trouble are things we can all find ourselves in. We’re taught from childhood to try and sort things out for ourselves, but a lot of the time it can be made easier when we contact other people and reach out for help when we most deserve it. So that means we need to lay out possible solutions to make them easy to read and get on with.
The workplace is somewhere that should revolve around hard work, skill, and polishing off the talent that got you into that position (even if you think it’s a small matter!). Yet, sometimes we don’t get that in reality, so we definitely need to make sure we know what to do when it comes to experiencing any kind of trouble in the workplace. So here’s some tips on your open options when confronting a situation you don’t want to be in and you don’t know what to do about it.
Know about these Possible Troubles
The best thing to do is to read up on and make sure you know of what can happen in the workplace, such as derogatory comments or behaviours from people you work with, or people you work for. With this preparation, we won’t be walking into something with an incredibly naive point of view.
Similarly, if you’re a parent and have helped your child to get their first job, make sure you talk to them about possible troubles they could experience, as well as the expectations they will most likely have on them. Make sure they know their rights and who to go to if something goes wrong and they’re not at fault.
Some common troubles are: the idea you’re not allowed to discuss salaries, despite this often pointing out that you’re not getting enough, as well as an employer telling you you have to work off the clock.
Look for Advice
Sometimes what we feel is unfair treatment can unfortunately be legal in the eyes of the law, but this mostly applies to our employers rather than co workers. That means we need to get relevant advice from trusted sources on what to do and how to navigate these kinds of waters. But who are these sources?
They could be someone you know who has experience this kind of thing in the past, as first hand experience from someone you trust on a personal level is the best kind of information to listen to. You can also head to advice agencies for professional help and representatives if a tribunal comes up.
You can also head to your trade union if you are actually part of one, or if your workplace has a representative board for one. This is where the majority of help can come from as they’re local and often more readily available than anyone else on this list.
Open a Dialogue
The first thing to do is bring the issue up with the person that caused it, whether they be your co worker or boss. If it’s a customer it can be a little different, but still make sure you talk to your boss as soon as you can after something upsetting has happened. It can be a cordial situation instead of something more formal if you prefer, and often we can make things right by going straight to the source.
It’s also probably a good idea to write down anything that happens and anything a person has said when you’ve personally tried to get an explanation or apology from them, as this can act of a record of their conduct and also prove you tried to navigate the situation yourself.
However, this won’t always work, and don’t feel bad if it doesn’t. You tried to make things right on your own terms, and that isn’t your fault if it doesn’t work out. So the next step is to go over their head, which doesn’t have to be as big a move as it’s often made out to be.
Go to the Top if it’s Serious
Only you can say whether something truly offended you or not, so this choice is entirely up to you. Don’t be put off by the idea of causing your own trouble with it; this is one of your rights in the workplace.
There’s often the idea of ‘snitching’ that goes around, even in professional work circles, but that’s extremely unfair and keeps us in the dark as to what we can do to sort out a situation that’s unfair on us.
So, unfortunately, sometimes there’s a situation we find ourselves in that needs to be resolved with a firmer hand. That means we need to go straight to the top with a complaint to get the result we want, and to stamp out a certain behaviour we don’t want people to indulge in again in the workplace. HR is a good place to start with your complaints if you can’t go anywhere else in the workplace, and if that isn’t an option you can also see if there’s a regional boss for you to contact.
On the other hand, if you’re an employer and think you’re lacking in the right departments, you can quickly stamp out a lot of complaints you may be receiving by contacting HR recruitment specialists to find someone with the best credentials to fit your open position, and it often brings in someone faster than if you advertised normally. You can make things easier on everyone involved by going through this kind of channel.
Make sure you address a problem if you feel you have one, as going to work day in and day out is made a lot harder when you don’t want to see anyone you work with at the same time. There’s quite a few avenues for you to go down when you need to resolve a situation, so make sure you use what’s open to you, and know what to do to make the process a lot smoother for you.
