Your Coworkers, Boss and the HR Department are not Your Friends
I am going to tell you and explain to you something I hope you already know and that your coworkers, boss and the HR department are not your friends. If you are on any social media they and the the company you work for should be blocked (look up how to block them if you don’t know) and set your profile to private. If you are using social media to make money never use your real name or give bread crumbs (information such as date of birth, high school you graduated from, etc.).
Many years ago I worked with woman whose job was grant funded. Once we were having a conversation and I told her that if she sends any work email should should print it out and keep it at home because if you lose your job you will no longer have access to your email. That company promised that she would still have a job when the grant ended and made a lot of promises to her through email (make sure everything goes through email). When the grant ran out they let her go and she went ballistic as she was being led out. That company lied to the unemployment office saying her job was temporary and she knew it and that they never promised her anything. Guess what, she had her emails so the unemployment office shot back with, “then why does all her email say that she can expect to be full time)/ The company was forced to help pay her unemployment and she sued. Her supervisor was always friendly to her and so was HR but they just lied to her. No matter how friendly the people you work for, most of them are only for themselves. You really think your coworker will sacrifice themselves for you? Would you sacrifice your job for your coworker? Also never tell your coworkers, and certainly don’t put it in an email, what you don’t what the whole place to know. This is also for those still in Middle or High School.
Your coworkers will falsely accuse you of things. I worked at a grocery store and a woman claimed some people told her I called her a bitch but I didn’t use words like that at that time and she said that I said it on a Tuesday when I did not work Tuesdays. When people say nonsense like this you will not win because they already decided to believe the lie but they are so low that if the situation were reversed they would expect you to believe them. You option is to ask them if they actually heard you say it and as they say more nonsense then repeat if they heard you and then immediately go to your supervisor. Now they have to reveal their sources and will look foolish unless you happen to be a gossiper. Do not partake in gossip. I worked at a place were a guy falsely accused a woman of stealing a laptop. This guy came across as a nice guy but he certainly wasn’t and don’t worry do one believed that woman would steal anything and that laptop never existed. He just thought it did and ran with it. Remember that people behave differently at work than at home. No matter how kind a coworker is, that doesn’t mean they are like that at home. Wait until they get power or think they have power than you will see them for who they are.
Remember HR is only for the company. If you have any complaint it needs to be in an email that you print and after you meet with HR always email them thanking them for their response and mention somethings spoken about in the meeting. They are called Human Resources because you are just a resource to the company.
Always keep your conversations professional and about the job. Limit or avoid personal information since this can be twisted. They may be your friends today but who knows about next week. If you are a teacher or college professor please remember that your students are not your friends. They will destroy your career if they don’t get what they want and will appear as your friend to use you and get information. Please note I am not saying that the people you work with are evil ,many are, but just be careful.
Coworkers can and will easily turn on you. I have worked with people that due to their job title (professor, they made 2.5X more than the rest of us, got summers, spring break and Christmas Break off and still complained that the Computer Lab Assistant didn’t have a huge work load. Couple of these people were friendly and easy going at one time but no pay increases turned them into monsters. I made about the same as the woman working in the computer lab and had more work but I would never complain or turn on her. It’s not her fault we don’t get pay increases but many of your coworkers are weak and will turn on you if things got tough, remember that.
I do understand that people do not want to hear what I am about to say but I am going to say it: majority of people are evil with no real feelings except making other people’s lives miserable even if it hurts them. They have no remorse or mercy. If they had remorse they could not do so many bad things. Once you do something to hurt others and you see it, if you are decent person you will do what you can to avoid hurting others and try to make amends to the person you hurt but most people are oblivious to the damage they do to others and most do not even care.
I hope you enjoyed this article and there is so much more I could say but I will end this for now.