Edition: November 16th, 2021
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
- Excerpts from article by Ken Gosnell, published on Entrepreneur.com
Life is ever-evolving and sometimes can throw the biggest curveballs with little notice. Although professionalism teaches us that an individual should leave their personal problems at home, the truth is, what happens outside of work often impacts what happens at work.
Many professionals keep their personal issues to themselves and hope their leader and teammates don’t recognise a drag in performance or a behaviour change. But great employees understand the value of sharing their issues or problems with a trusted leader to help them through a difficult time.
Employees should consider carefully what and how they share personal information with their leader and their teammates. When done well, the employee can be encouraged and supported, which will engender loyalty and enhance team success even during the most challenging moments.
Here are some tips to consider before talking to your leader:
1. Be aware of the problem and speak with your leader as soon possible.
- A mistake many team members make is navigating a problem or issue by themselves for an extended period of time before asking for help.
- The sooner a problem can be identified and discussed, the sooner you can find a solution.
- Often a leader will know that something is happening with the employee because of their decline in performance.
- It’s far better to make your leader aware of the problem early so they are not guessing what the issue is.
2. Be honest about the issue and share what you are doing to help resolve it.
- Many leaders find it rewarding to help employees professionally and during difficult personal times as well.
- However, the leader would want to know what the employee has done to resolve or mitigate the issue on their own.
- Be honest as to all the resources and ideas you have explored to solve the issue to gain your leader’s trust.
3. If needed, request a specific accommodation that could help solve your problem.
- Leaders are often more than willing to accommodate an employee’s specific need when it makes sense both from a personal and business perspective.
- Consider how an accommodation could impact business performance and fellow team members who might have to do more because of it.
- Accommodations are a part of business processes, and an employee should never feel bad discussing possibilities with their leader.
4. Appreciate the support and be willing to help others in future.
- One key step an employee can take during a conversation about accommodations is to communicate how they hope to help other employees in future.
- Team members can enhance team trust when they are thankful to others for their support during a personal hardship and communicate that they are willing to return the favour, when required.
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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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