I have been an employee and I have been an employer. At present, I am what you call a one man show. So I don’t have to face problems faced by an employee, nor do I have to face problems faced by an employer. It is very less stressful.
When I am being employed, whether the company I worked for is a small time contractor, or whether it is an International concern, there are bound to be complains from the employees, no matter how the Company treats them. There are bound to be people who are never satisfied and is always critical of the company. They are always questioning decisions their boss or immediate department heads make. It’s hard to run away from smart Alec’s like these, and normally, these kind of people never go far in their careers.
The thing is, if they are so smart, how come they are sweating it out while the guy above him is in the air-conditioned office? Never under-estimate your superiors. They are there for some reason. No company will put an arsehole to take charge of a whole department. The fact that they are able to take that seat means that they have something in them that appeals to the Company. So respect that. We as employees might never know what it is, but for sure, he has something that we don’t. That’s why he is sitting there while we are slogging out.
I’m speaking on the context that the Company is performance driven and not favoritism driven. If the Company is driven by favoritism, then my advise is to get out as soon as possible if you don’t know the art of apple polishing.
To really advance in a certain Company, my opinion is, show lots of initiative while on the job. People might say you are trying to polish your boss, so be it. Do what you been assigned to do and more. A little more won’t hurt. Your boss will see it, though he might not show it. When promotion time comes, you will know that he had taken notice. That is what we want in the first place isn’t it? Advancements, promotions and better pay. That’s what every wage worker wants. So if that’s what you want, you have to work for it. You have to show that you want it. Eventually you will get it.