How does one navigate the workplace successfully?

• Aniya Faulcon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Aniya Faulcon is The Spark Host/Producer for WITF. She has a passion for shining a light on unique people, experiences, and perspectives within the community.
  
  Previously she worked as the People and Social Trends Reporter/Video Anchor for LancasterOnline | LNPNews. During her time there, she created video packages, provided Facebook Live coverage at community events, and wrote data-driven stories with census data and feature stories on local leaders, non-profit organizations, events, and people with unique talents and experiences within Lancaster County.
  
  Aniya also worked at WMAR ABC 2 News as a Sales Assistant and at the AFRO American Newspapers as an Executive Assistant and Media correspondent. Aniya interned at WEAA Gospel Grace 88.9 and worked at her alma mater’s radio station, WWPJ at Point Park University, where she gained skills and a passion for radio.
  
  Aniya grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Baltimore School for the arts for high school with a concentration in acting. She continued to hone her skills and passion for storytelling and later graduated from Point Park University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Broadcast Reporting. Aniya is eager to continue her journey with storytelling in her role with WITF, as she aims to shed a light on real people and real stories within Pennsylvania in a variety of mediums.

 Keith Srakocic / AP Photo

Workers field calls at an intake call screening center for the Allegheny County Children and Youth Services office in Penn Hills, Pa. on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.

Airdate: Thursday, September 1, 2022

Navigating the workplace can be challenging when trying to perform well as an employee and learn the unspoken rules of the environment.

According to a survey conducted by Cision PR Newswire, while over 90% of senior managers said organizations have loosened up over the past decade, they agreed that certain behaviors are still frowned upon. But some dos and don’ts of the workplace are not always spelled out to an employee during their orientation.

Emily Whitaker, Human Resources Manager at Cargas a software company based in Lancaster, gave us some insight on the unspoken rules of the workplace and tips on how to navigate it.

Here are some of the tips that she provided:

1. Know when to mute yourself or turn off your camera when working virtually
2. Establish good communication and working relationships with coworkers
3. Ask coworkers what their pronouns are and address them according to their preference
4. Find out if emails can be sent outside of business hours
5. Find out if you can put personal activities on your work calendar
6. Be aware of how your company approaches chain of command
7. Get to know your manager as a person and develop respect for them as a leader
8. When taking time off, communicate with managers about meetings or deadlines you will miss
9. Casual wear should be one level down from whatever your normal work attire is
10. Instead of defending yourself in the workplace, advocate for yourself
11. When dealing with a confrontation, respond to coworkers in an empathetic way and address them in private, without assigning blame, or attacking them
12. Networking and upskilling can help one prepare for unexpected layoffs and terminations
13. When negotiating, approach the other person with respect, assess market data for your role, and be realistic about your performance as an employee

“The more you can learn about your current job, the more you can learn about your own business, the more value you’ll bring because you’ll be a better problem solver,” Whitaker said. “And if you understand the battle with the bottlenecks, workflows, and roadblocks, you’ll be better able to make decisions in your own role, which will make you more valuable to the business.”