Ready for work?
Over the years, Affordable Granite has seen staff come and go. But in recent years there has been far less going; we are a stable and growing company, now producing twenty sets of quartz or granite worktops a week, and looking to do more. Once again we are looking to take on new staff, in workshop, fitting teams and office. See here.
If you Google the phrase “ready for the workplace”, you will see that employers’ complaints that school leavers and graduates are not “workplace ready” are a pretty common theme. In previous rounds of recruitment we have hit exactly that problem. What is it that is needed in the work place and which seems to be hard to find? What are employers looking for? What makes someone, of any age, ready for work? To be honest, the answer isn’t rocket science – the key qualities are pretty basic, and to some degree will be needed in practically every job. It is the proportion of them that varies. I see five…
1 Turn up
Being ready for work means being ready to actually go to your place of work. On time. It is surprising how many people seem to feel that work can be seen as an option, done on a “feel like it basis”. Being there at the time you are expected to be there is basic. It starts at interview and carries right on…
Being ready for work probably means a mentality which looks at the time you spend at work as being “what you are doing with your life” and leisure hobbies, interests and pursuits as the minor theme. Work is not a sideline, it is central. It is a priority.
Positively, it is great to be part of a team where you know you can be relied on and others can be relied on as well. It is good to know that “He’s ill” never means “throwing a sicky”. It is excellent to see a company grow and to feel that mutual team work and graft has brought that growth about.
2 Be nice
There are very few situations where being pleasant, polite and helpful in human interactions is not positively helpful. Perhaps the old-school lighthouse keeper got away without this, but for the rest of us, working as a team with colleagues is basic to the job.
For anything involving customer/public contact this is a big priority. Not fake “Have a Nice Day!” smiles, but genuine helpfulness and the desire to see the client pleased and satisfied. People can see through the fake; real concern and care for the well-being of those we serve is worth its weight in gold. In a commercial or sales environment, I mean that literally.
Every job has its rough days. We all have our miserable moments. But overall, you are ready for the workplace when you can bring a warm, positive tone to teamwork and customer service.
3 Speak Proper
In most workplaces, communication is part of the job. Talking to people face to face, listening and speaking in meetings, taking and making phone calls, writing letters and emails, reading text in books, documents and websites: for many people this is what work is. This IS the workplace.
Clarity and courtesy are foundational; professionalism is communicated in what we say and how we say it, in speech and writing. Flexibility and sensitivity are vital too: be over-formal in a letter to a regular trade customer and you may sound snooty; use first name only in a quotation letter which may become part of a £6,000 contract and you undermine your professionalism.
Without being over-picky or trying to be something you’re not, make efforts to learn how to write and speak in a way which is clear and warm. Ask people to help you put things well. Make a mental note of what makes a letter all a letter ought to be. Work at your communication! Few things give people more confidence in dealing with a company than clear, polite speech and writing.
4 Do Sums
I am amazed how often people talk about “the pointlessness of maths at school” on the basis that “you are never going to use it”. A large proportion of jobs require decent number skills and I find myself using Pythagoras and 2πr pretty frequently. Feeling secure with percentages, knowing that the value without the 20% VAT is NOT the value -20% – it’s all basic to the workplace.
You don’t need to be a whizz at maths. You don’t need to be a maths teacher or accountant, let alone an Einstein or Hawking. But in most jobs you need to know how to do basic sums, and be secure in them. Doing sums right can mean the difference between profit and loss.
5 Take care
Whether it’s verbal communication or sums, get it right. You are working for pay. Pay ultimately depends on profit. Profitability depends on accuracy. Get it wrong enough times and you will not last in the job. And if you don’t care about getting it right you aren’t ready to start.
Take down a phone number or email address with one character wrong? Lost customer. In our industry, forgetting to tick the box that says “20mm”, failing to make clear that the customer will have a join in their granite worktop, or making a 10mm error in where a tap hole should go – all have been errors with costs at times into four figures. Errors happen, and always will, from time to time, but an attitude that says “I don’t really care” means you aren’t ready for work.
When everyone in the workplace cares, when everyone knows that work isn’t a game, that stuff matters, and that errors lead to disappointment and (sometimes) real anger and loss of reputation, then you can have fun! Really caring is the backdrop for the banter in the office, the laughs in the factory, and the pint together after work on a Friday. People enjoy their work and love their colleagues not when no one cares, but when everyone does.
Work can be fun. Working here at Affordable Granite is fun. The firm is profitable and growing, and staff have benefitted from that. The team is stable and solid. We have a very wide variety of jobs between us, with very different skill sets, and we certainly can’t all do each other’s jobs. What we all have in common is that those five qualities all help everyone. I bet it’s pretty much the same in practically every work place.
Except, perhaps, that lighthouse. Though you’ll still need to turn up and take care!
