It’s a Long Career and a Small Corporate Community

Posted on 3. December 2008 by Dan Schawbel

Today, I spoke with Anne Fisher, who is a senior writer at Fortune and the face behind the “Ask Annie” column at Fortune.com. We discuss a lot of important workplace themes, such as office politics, how the workplace has changed in the past decade, the real way to get a job and what to do if you get laid off right now. She provides sound advice for anyone who is encountering issues at work or issues trying to get a job.

Anne, how have you seen the workplace change in the past decade? Is it for better or worse?

The biggest change I’ve seen in the workplace in the past decade is that employees have become much more cynical, and with good reason: When CEOs make hundreds of millions of dollars for, in some cases, running companies into the ground — all the while cutting jobs, slashing benefits for the survivors, and preaching “pay for performance” — it’s not surprising that employee morale has deteriorated.

A decade ago, at the peak of the dot-com boom, there was a widespread sense that individual contributions and merit really mattered, that is, that people would be treated fairly and rewarded for excellence. I see far less of that optimism now, and not just because of the current economic crisis and stock-market craziness, but because so many people who are lucky enough to have jobs just do not feel valued by their employers.

A lot of people have difficulty navigating around office politics, while trying to get promoted and advance their careers. Do you have any advice you can share on this matter?

Office politics varies so much from one corporate culture to another, there are very few rules that apply everywhere. In some companies the way to get ahead is by being as kind and helpful to everyone as you possibly can, whereas in other workplaces just the opposite is (alas) true. In general, though, three tips:

1) Study the people above you in the organization who have succeeded and are well respected, and try to emulate their style;
2) Do the best you can to further the aims of your immediate boss. (If you don’t know what those are, ask.)
3) What goes around comes around. Even in a really vicious backstabbing environment, take the high road and treat other people the way you would want them to treat you.