An organisation’s values, ethics, vision, behaviours and work environment determines the corporate environment. It is what makes each company unique. And it impacts everything from public image to employee engagement through to retention. Overall, it determines how you will survive the corporate world.
Arguably, if employees share a company’s ethics, vision and other cultural elements, it can positively affect a company’s bottom line. Companies with a good corporate environment often have high workplace morale, and highly engaged productive staff.
In most cases, however, we find it quite uphill to blend in even after many years. This is because what we are taught are basically the “written rules” of the corporate environment we find ourselves in.
Nonetheless, the major ingredients that determines a person’s survival in any corporate environment are the ‘unwritten rules’.
Truth is. These are a set of rules that would most likely not be relayed to you. Notwithstanding, ignorance in this ‘grey’ area may largely determine how well you thrive in your distinct corporate environment.
It’s pretty obvious that different ‘occupational climates’ or corporate environments have their distinct rules. Still there are a few globally essential rules that could give you an edge in your survival in the corporate environment you find yourself or the corporate world at large.
Here are a few tips to help you survive the corporate world.
1. Avoid the Temptation of Office Gossip
As humans, the need for interaction is so basic that a baby who doesn’t make a sound at birth is smacked in the bum (an old technique). Interaction is undoubtedly a part of what keeps us alive. Regardless, it could cut our corporate existence short if we don’t know how to bridle our tongues.
While there will be activities at the workplace that are just too impossible to ignore and may feel the need to talk to someone in the office about, don’t!
Small talks could dent your reputation in any working environment and make it very tough for you to survive in the corporate world. The secret is to not talk about anyone to anyone. As much as office interactions go, office gossip is off-key.
2. Strive To Always Please Your Boss
This seems quite obvious. Sadly, it’s often ignored. One of the laws of power in Robert Greene’s classic book, The 48 Laws Of Power, is to never outshine the master. In every working environment there’s a hierarchy. And power flows orderly from top to bottom.
Now, if there’s going to be any recommendation to your boss’s boss, it will primarily come from your boss; he is the first person to please.
Of course, there’s a temptation to try to call his bluff and seem like the smarter one. You must understand that loyalty in the corporate world is power.
Do all you humanly can to always make him look good and he will, in turn, make you look good in the long run.
Here’s the secret. Bosses always love people that make them shine. Be that person! This is one basic way to survive in the corporate world.
3. Improve On Your Skills & Acquire New Ones
Self improvement can never be over emphasised much less go wrong. At this stage, this will help you improve your mind if you want to survive in a corporate world.
Though hard skills show off your experience and understanding of a particular, measurable ability, soft skills often indicate your ability to work with others and grow within a company. Soft skills verifiably help you mould relationships and proffer solutions to use your hard skills to their full extent.
Overall, don’t remain at the same level ‘skill wise’ for a long time. No one is indispensable if they allow themselves to be. Be the kind of person that no organisation can do without. Use your free time to considerably take more courses online to increase your certifications.
4. Be Reliable
Being relentlessly reliable means that you can be trusted to do your work correctly without supervision. It means that your can figure out what needs to be done independently.
Precisely, your boss needs to be able to trust you to get their work done. Holding an employee’s hand through every step of their job is the last thing a boss has time for.
An employee whose word can be trusted when they say “I will get the job done” is considered reliable. This is the chief desire of every superior.
Undebatably, when you can be trusted to execute duties promptly, with remarkable precision and excellence, that there is reliability. This gets you noticeably appreciated even by the boss’s boss. It could be one of the major knacks to have in order to climb the corporate ladder swiftly.
5. Always Dress for The Job
In 2021, Jenny went for internship at a new generation bank. She was positively admired for her dress sense and colour blend.
One day, the Managing Director bumped into Jenny. He mistook her for one of the candidates applying for presenting and asked her “Have you done the test?”. She was perfectly put together for the post.
Believe it or not, dressing for the job refers to wearing clothes and accessories designed for your distinct corporate environment.
Corporate outfits are modest, well-tailored and free of images or graphics. Your outfit should be clean, ironed and free of rips, holes or stains with a well mannered slit.
The level of formality in each corporate environment unquestionably differs. Dressing professionally in one setting may mean wearing a suit while another office may advise employees to wear khaki pants and a company t-shirt.
Review your company’s handbook to have a hands-on of the specific policies if you want to survive the corporate world.
Moreso, it’s imperative you don’t ‘over dress’. Overdressing in this context would mean that you appear to be ‘hip’ or a fashionista. Not advisable. Be neat at all times and let your walk and body movement suit the environment you’re in.
6. Have A Moral Code & Stick To It
A moral code is a set of rules that we create for ourselves to live by. Most of us do not put the words in black and white. We all still have them. It could be that you do not cheat, swindle, lie, bear false witness or engage in any form of office romance.
In fact, sticking to your own moral codes would not only earn you respect but also trust. Hence, the saying that “He who stands for nothing, falls for anything”.
When you are known for a particular course, you will be awarded with one of the rarest currencies in the corporate world; Trust!
Don’t have a mediocre existence in that corporate world. Embrace these steps to your ultimate survival in the corporate world.
