Kamis, 30 Agustus 2007

The Things Women Want from Their Jobs

Here's what women want from their jobs, co-workers, bosses, and careers. Including tips for guys on how to give her what she wants and tips for women on how to get what you want.

1. To be treated with Respect, and be respected in her position. To give her respect: show her consideration, honor, and esteem. Don't ask her to bring you coffee. Ask her if you can bring her coffee. Take her word as truth, don't doubt what she says or does. Don't overlook what she does or treat her job as menial or unimportant. To get respect: treat everyone with respect; always tell the truth; don't gossip; go above and beyond to prove yourself; double-check yourself before blaming others; don't be ashamed to ask for help or to admit when you don't know something; take criticism as an opportunity to improve yourself.

2. To be listened to and taken seriously. Women want to be heard and for what they say to be taken seriously and not ignored. To show her you are listening: look her in the eye while she talks, ask questions to stimulate thought and clarify that you understood what she said, acknowledge what ideas she has that are good, and discuss the topic further. To get others to listen: be open to others' ideas not just your own; think through your ideas or complaints completely and be prepared to offer solutions; pick your battles carefully; speak when you have something important to say not just to say something; learn to express your intuitions in a constructive way.

3. To be appreciated, noticed and recognized for the job she does. Women want recognition, appreciation and to be noticed when they do a great job.To give her recognition: pay attention to what she is working hard on, and then give her feedback. Don’t just give a false complement (she’ll see right through it). Notice what is really good about what she does and recognize her for it. Recognition motivates her to give you more of the same. To get recognition: recognize others on your team who are doing a great job; tell a co-worker’s boss when they do something great; be consistent in your job performance; accept all recognition with a humble smile and a “Thank You”.

4. To not be judged by what she looks like, but by what she does and how she does it. Women want to be judged on what they do and how they do it, not on how they look. To judge her work and not her appearance: give complements about her work or how she does her job and not about what she looks like. Don’t criticize what she eats or wears. To avoid being judged by appearance: keep your dress appropriate for the position you have or want, not too casual and not too fancy; keep your makeup conservative so it’s almost unnoticeable; keep your appearance consistent with others in your team; don’t judge others’ appearances.

5. To be acknowledged and valued for the contribution she makes. Women want to be acknowledged or validated for who they are and the value they add. Acknowledgement is different than a compliment. A compliment is your opinion about her; an acknowledgment is simply about her, only someone else is saying it, which makes it more powerful. Women need and appreciate acknowledgement; it's encouraging and allows her to form strong bonds. To acknowledge her: notice what she did well, the contribution she makes, how she has grown and developed, when she needs encouragement. Only acknowledge her when you mean it. Point out specifically what you see (but don’t use comparatives “wow you’re getting better”); wait while your acknowledgement lands and is accepted; if not accepted by her, smile and reiterate how wonderful she is.To get acknowledged: take advantage of performance reviews to ask for feedback and specifically what you have done well. Let your boss know that this is an important way you measure your contribution. Don’t be afraid to ask when you really want to know how you’re doing or where you stand.

6. To make a Difference in the world, team and company. Women want to make the world a better place; work towards a shared team and company goal; and do what matters most. To let her know she makes a difference: tell her about the importance of her work and how it makes a difference to your customers or company or team. Talk with her about why the company is here, what the business goals are, and what the company values. Ask and discuss with her how her work impacts the team and company purpose, goals and values.To make a difference: find your path and purpose in life; make long-range and short-range goals for your career, and personal life; and identify what you value the most. Then, live in accordance with your values, achieving your goals, and fulfilling your purpose. Don’t accept anything less!

7. To be regarded as a team member but not pushed around like one of the guys. Women who work in male dominated careers want to be part of the team, treated like a lady, and not pushed around like one of the guys.To include her in the team: include her at lunch with the team; give her a fare share of the important work; don’t tell bad jokes in her presence; don’t ever bash women; or do guy exclusive things; don’t act like or say that men are better at your job than women; don’t make everything a competition. To fit in as the only woman on the team: pick one of the guy’s favorite topics (sports, cars, games, computers, etc) and know enough about it to participate in conversations; don’t act prissy or get overtly offended by guy things (if your male co-worker is being rude or offensive just walk away to show you aren’t interested in such things); participate in off-work events and social occasions; pull your weight on the team and go out of your way to prove yourself and your abilities (you won’t be accepted until you are known for doing a top quality job); put in the extra hours on an important task to help the team; be a cheerleader for the team.

8. To be treated as an equal member of the company, including equal pay for equal work. Women want to be an equal company contributor and receive equal pay for equal experience, education and job duties. To treat women as equal: make sure women are in all levels of the company (not just the bottom); give women equally valued jobs, tasks and assignments; give women an equal share of the work; treat women the same as you treat the men (no better, no worse); if you are the boss: pay women the same as the men with equal job responsibilities, experience, education and title; promote women equally as often as you promote men. To get equal treatment: ask for expectations (from you and your work) and look for discrepancies (in treatment, assignments, and salary), then politely point out discrepancies and state what you want (you’ll never get equal pay if you don’t ask for it); find out what the average, minimum, and highest salary is for your job within the industry and region, then don’t accept less than average. Strive to increase your salary by constantly improving your performance and efficiency.

9. To not play games, just do business. Women don’t want to play games or politics; they just want to do business. To stop playing games with her: be honest about everything; don’t say one thing and do another; don’t hold a fake carrot on a stick for her to chase; don’t act one way in front of her, and other way when you’re with the guys. Don’t use rough loud tones or body language (don’t yell like a football coach). To avoid the games and stick to business: learn to recognize when people are playing games with you, then call them on it; don’t play along; be truthful but caring in all circumstances; have integrity in your work; find others who don’t play games and work with them; if all else fails find an environment to work in where games are not played.

10. To be fulfilled and love what she does. Women want to be fulfilled in life and work, doing what they love. To inspire fulfillment: encourage her to find out what she’s good at or passionate about and give her the opportunity to do it. Notice what she gets angry about and realize this is her passion. To be fulfilled: do the things that are important to you, what you are passionate about and committed to; learn and grow from difficult and painful circumstances; get a life and be fully alive; express who you are. Do what brings you the greatest joy: be with the people you love, use your natural talents, exploit your gifts to their fullest. Do what matters, what is cool, beautiful, or takes your breath away; be the CEO of your life; laugh a lot (at yourself and life); be a little funky, eclectic, and curious; be committed to your craft; pass up the “prestigious” job and take on an offbeat project where you can learn something new and totally different.

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