In your daily life, you’re far from a Grinch. You’ll go out of your way to help a colleague, and you’re always up for a company happy hour or volunteering event. So what is it about the office holiday party that prevents your heart from growing three sizes today?
In this week’s roundup, we look at what, exactly, bugs most of us about the office holiday party — plus, a Scandinavian word for an awesome concept for your career, and how to tell if that startup you’re interviewing with is likely to fail.
Suzanne Lucas at The Balance: 10 Reasons Why Employees Hate the Office Holiday Party
The Evil HR Lady knows why you’re not in the holiday spirit, and she’s here to explain it to your boss, HR folks, and employer. For example, is attendance at the optional holiday gathering secretly not-so-optional?
“Many companies have parties where you don’t have to come, but, if you don’t come, the managers will note your failure to attend and hold it against you,” she writes. ‘Jane isn’t a team player—she didn’t even come to the holiday party.’ If you are going to hold non-attendance against people, then make that clear. Don’t say attendance is voluntary and not mean it.”
In other words:
More things to avoid, once you’re in charge of holiday planning, in the article.
Marla Gottschalk at The Office Blend: Joy at Work: How about a little “Arbejdsgl?de”?
Arbe-what now? Most social media addicts have seen lists floating around of words that should exist in English, but currently have no direct translation. Add this one, used in Scandinavian countries, to the list. It’s something we could use.
“Arbejdsgl?de is the positive feeling that develops when you simply love what you do,” explains Dr. Gottschalk. “It stokes motivation and serves as an reliable source of energy. In turn, the work brings a keen sense of satisfaction. Of course, this is something we should all readily seek — and a bit of joy may be exactly what we need to affect the troubling lack of engagement in the workplace today. More joy at work? As a psychologist, that is something that I can certainly live with.”
How can you get more arbejdsgl?de in your career? Gottschalk’s post offers a few places to start.
Neil Patrick at Job-Hunt.org: Evaluating a Startup as a Potential Employer
“Lots of businesses call themselves startups,” Patrick writes. “Many are nothing more than someone who has come up with an idea and convinced themselves it’s going to be huge. And that’s it. They have no prototype, no capital, no premises, and no staff. Nothing. It’s just them and their (possibly) ‘brilliant’ idea.”
Obviously, you don’t want to take a job with one of these. But there are plenty of benefits to working for a genuine startup, provided they have a solid plan to offer products or services consumers want. Patrick’s tips will help you figure out which you’re dealing with, before you take the job.
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