The 5 Don’ts, Of NOT Being A Worthless Employee

Responded to a question recently about how to prove you are worthwhile to a company in order to get paid more, so I put this together, the “5 Don’ts” of what to and what not to do, in the workplace in order to get paid more.

About 80% of average industry workforce today equals people who come to work to do their job at the bare minimum effort required in order to take home a check.

They complain about the job, the pay and call in work often or come in late often, don’t do things they way they are supposed to while at the job every time and slack off by taking extra lunch breaks, chit chatting instead of working and texting on their phones every second they think someone isn’t looking.

These kind of people are the people who will forever believe they think they are worth more than they really are, because they are too busy gossipping about the company and other people on the job, or texting or slacking off or calling in, to ever really be a part of anything long enough to ever make it.

So they end up going from job to job their whole life, having the same story EVERY time and then end up at 65 years old, having never truly worked hard enough at anything to ever truly prove that they were ever anything less than a worthless employee.

“I’m talking about someone who slacks off and cuts corners and cares more about the pay than doing well or helping people. – Thomas

Common Excuses & Signs Of A Worthless Employee

Worthless employees have a lot in common and you can generally find them gossipping, complaining or saying things like this…

• “My boss is just an @sshole”
• “I’m worth more than this”
• “They don’t pay me enough to do this”
• “Did you hear about what happened to ‘Debra’? (gossiping)
• “Did you see what ‘Tom’ just did?” (gossiping)
• “If I was the boss I would do everything better.”
• “I can’t believe they are making me do this”
• “I should just quit and walk out”
• “I hate this job”
• “This job sucks”

Are people actually worthless? Heck no. Everyone on earth has the capability to be awesome and worthwhile, but few people see it well enough to do the things necessary to prove it, to themselves or to other people.

Getting Seen For What You Are Worth

If you want to make more but your last job all you did was complain about the company, hated the boss, called in work often, gossipped about other people in the company and every day came in with the attitude of negativity having to drag yourself out of bed each morning to start the clock until the time you finally feel like you can ‘escape’… that’s no way to live or work, and it sure will NEVER make you worth enough to get a raise or ever be seen for what you are really worth.

Starting A New Job – 5 Don’ts

Let’s say you are starting a new job and the pay is about $10 an hour, you feel you are worth more than that, but you don’t want to be a huge complaining gossiper, THIS TIME.

So you want a raise because you think you are worth more… then go to your boss or owner and write something like the below statement down on paper and ask the boss for a raise this way….

————————————————————————-

“If we give this 3 months and I….

• Don’t Be Late – Am always on time or early
• Don’t Call In – Never call in to work and always show up
• Don’t Complain – Never complain about the tasks, the people or the company
• Don’t Slack Off – Do the best work possible, even when no one is watching
• Don’t Do My Own Thing – Do exactly as instructed and if I have ideas of my own, share them outloud and discuss them before doing it a different way than instructed

Can we talk about a pay increase? Like $13, and after 6 months talk about more?”

————————————————————————-

Now that is legit, the owner or boss will likely say yes to that if it is a private or small company, and asking him/her yourself is mature, intelligent and respectable.

Those are the top 5 reasons people lose their jobs and never make it anywhere in life.

Because they call in, come in late, slack off, don’t do what they were supposed to and whine about the job and the owner and the company at work and when they get home (those 5 things are the top 5 things that make the difference between a worthless employee and one who is worth more).

How Missing Work Really Affects A Company

• Jill calls in to work to the bakery because she doesn’t want to go so she says she is sick.
• Brenda, her manager, now stressed and thinking she is probably going to have to miss time with her kids on her day off, now has to call 4 other employees at 7am to find someone to cover the shift.
• 2 don’t answer, 2 other employees are now trying to figure out how to rearrange their day to come in to work, talking to partners, seeing about getting babysitters for their kids, looking at their schedules.
• 1 person rearranges her day to come in but has to get off early for a dental appointment, so the manager/boss now also has to come in early on a night shift to cover the time, interrupting her day and the other employee’s day off.
• The company as a whole, just lost a lot of time, many people’s days were just affected and someone else lost their day off.

Calling in to work for nothing other than a real life emergency, is a sign of a worthless employee, someone who will always complain about pay, complain about the hours, feel like she/he is never appreciated enough, and take that attitude and mentality into every job they ever have for the rest of their life.

NOT Gossipping AT Work

Not gossipping is probably the #1 way to success at a job and gossipping is likely the #1 destroyer of a job.

People who gossip never last. They go from job to job, always starting out good, then getting involved in what ‘everyone else’ is doing…

Gossipers love other gossipers because it makes them feel like they have someone on their side, which gives a false sense of power. There is a 100% chance that if someone is gossipping WITH YOU, they are definitely gossipping ABOUT YOU when you are not around. You can hear them saying things like this…

• “Debra never comes in to work on time and I always have to fill in for her”
• “Jim never does this right, I can’t believe he is still working here”
• “Did you hear what happened to Kim? I heard she got written up and might get fired soon”
• “Can you believe the way Tom talks to people?”
• “I can’t believe Judy wear that dress, that dress is too short for work”

Gossipers also really love to use superlatives, meaning they love using key phrases in their gossip like ‘always‘ and ‘never‘ and ‘everyone‘ or ‘everybody‘. These are gossiper’s favorite words and a good way to take the spotlight off themselves so they can blame other people.

See Examples:

• “Tom ALWAYS does this wrong, I can’t stand the way he does this.”
• “Cindy NEVER comes in on time, I don’t know how she gets away with it.”
• “EVERYBODY knows she is a liar.”
• “EVERYONE thinks Jenny is cheating on her boyfriend”

This kind of talk, using those words. You have to avoid listening to or talking to people who use words like that or gossip with superlatives.

Avoid these people like the plague if you want to keep your job and not be pulled down by their negativity, because those people WILL be the ones with a work shelf life of 4-6 months before they quit or get fired (and blame everyone and everything other than themselves for it the whole time and on their way out the door)

NOT Gossiping will get you a supervisor or manager role pretty quick.

What To Do If You Hear Gossipping?

Listen, but give nothing back. Do not agree or disagree with these people, all they are looking for is fellowship in their circle of gossip. It is a false sense of friendship and fellowship.

One of the best answers I have ever seen for handling gossip is “Oh”. However saying nothing at all is a very effective way of stopping gossip from entering your place in the workplace. If you listen, then give NOTHING back at all, you separate yourself from it completely.

When you say nothing at all, and just go about your duties… you have just taken the BIGGEST first step into being a manager or supervisor. The gossipers will quickly realize that trying to tell you dirty secrets is not worth their time, they will also come to respect you much more because you become ‘neutral’ in the workplace, a ‘listening’ ear that they can trust because it will be an unsaid level of respect for everyone knowing that you do not repeat what you hear and can keep a secret. You gain trust, earn respect from both co-workers and the boss (who has to deal with gossipers EVERY day).

Simply NOT GOSSIPING is the #1 first step, and sometimes the only step, required to get out of the bottom level of a job and into a higher pay or appreciation or position at that job.