Posts Tagged ‘CNBC’

Don’t wear flip flops. That was one of many rules outlined in the employee handbook we received when we first started at Prosek. We also aren’t allowed to harass or threaten our co-workers or come to work smelling bad as “good personal hygiene is expected.” Those are all easy enough rules to follow.

But remembering to apply deodorant and hiding your flip flops is hardly going to put your career on the fast track. As we learned earlier this week, there are other rules, “unwritten rules,” which are the key to career success.

We attended the British American Business’ Women's Forum hosted by KPMG and based on research conducted by Catalyst. The event consisted of a panel discussion on the unwritten rules for career advancement. The panel was made up of a group of successful women: Sarah Diamond, General Manager of Global Consulting Services at IBM; Kelly Watson, Managing Partner at KPMG; Laura Sabattini PhD, Senior Director of Research at Catalyst; and Amanda Drury, Anchor on CNBC.

According to Catalyst the term “unwritten rules” is generally used to describe unspoken workplace norms and behaviors that are necessary to success within an organization, but that are not communicated as consistently or explicitly as formalized work competencies are. Often, these behaviors are viewed as “what successful employees should do.”

Some of the rules are classic to business advancement 101, such as do good work, find the right mentor and build a professional network. Others were equally as important but less popular to admit, such as playing office politics, working long hours and never leaving the office before your boss.

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