When Roxanne Hori ran Northern Trust Bank`s corporate recruitment division during the 1980s, self-reliant employees who showed foresight and initiative impressed her. Worries, which accompanied her management duties, did not.
So four years ago, Hori took a less stressful job as associate director of placement at Northwestern University`s J.L. Kellogg School of Management. Last year, her supervisor retired and Hori got a new boss.
Hori wanted to make the transition a smooth one for her new boss and the department. For inspiration, she recalled the way her star employees at Northern Trust would anticipate her needs, so that she could do the same for her new boss.
Hori is one of many employees who face the task of catering to and impressing a new boss. Although it did not happen to Hori, many workers now get new bosses because of corporate restructuring, says a professor of
organizational behavior.
”You wind up with a new boss because quite often several managers have been squeezed out of the organization and the remaining managers divide up the responsibilities,” says Andrew J. DuBrin, professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology`s School of Business and author of ”Bouncing Back:
How to Get Back in the Game When Your Career is on the Line” (McGraw-Hill, $14.95).
How you initially interact with the new boss depends on your role in the department. If you are in a key secondary position, Hori suggests giving the new boss full support during the transition. That could include disclosing names of contacts and giving briefings on the department`s inner workings.
If you are not the new boss` right-hand person and were not chosen to familiarize the boss with company protocol, do not volunteer. Acting like the new boss` best friend could be perceived as brown-nosing, says Karen Mullarkey, a free-lance photo editor who managed 40 employees as director of photography at Newsweek magazine in the late 1980s.
”If you aren`t picked, don`t panic,” she says. ”Do your work well and trust that the new boss will take notice.”
Although Mullarkey was unable to meet individually with the majority of her employees within the first month of her arrival, she says she was tuned in to the work images they projected.
Messy desks, tardiness and overdue work would anger her, she says. To avoid giving off a negative impression at the outset, Mullarkey suggests assessing and overcoming your weaknesses before the new boss notices them.
When you finally get a private audience with the new boss, look upon it as an opportunity to shine. Experts advise key players to give the new boss a week or two to acclimate before scheduling an appointment, which should last about 20 minutes.
Highlight your accomplishments in a straightforward way, DuBrin advises.
”Start out not with what the new boss can do for you, but what you can do for the new boss,” he says.
Inform the new boss of projects that are in the works.
”The greatest fear a new boss has is that something in progress is going to fall through the cracks in the transition,” says Marilyn Moats Kennedy, owner of Career Strategies, a consulting firm in Wilmette.
If you are not one of the key players in a department, use your judgment to determine an appropriate meeting time, Mullarkey advises. Remember, most new bosses wouldn`t want a stream of employees in their offices right away, she cautions.
Among other tips:
– Pledge loyalty: Experts consider loyalty a key ingredient for impressing a new boss but caution employees to pledge their allegiance through hard work rather than verbal promises.
– Avoid criticizing or heralding the old regime. Never say, ”We`ve always done it this way,” Kennedy cautions. Remember: Someone probably hired the new boss to make changes. If you disapprove of the new boss, keep it to yourself. ”Don`t even consider saying anything even mildly critical about the new boss, because he or she will be so attuned to the grapevine in the early period,” advises Kennedy.
– Promote good chemistry. Find out what the new boss is interested in and seek out news clippings or offer positive suggestions. If that fails, DuBrin says, ”just hang in there because this boss may move along too.”
LIFELINES
Advertising group
The Business/Professional Advertising Association (B/PAA), for professionals in business-to-business marketing communications, conducts meetings and seminars. Annual dues: $40 (students) to $200 (full members). 708-256-3883.
Financial planners
The International Association for Financial Planning, for workers in the financial-services field, has four chapters in the Chicago area. Annual dues: $195; includes a monthly newsletter and magazine. For details: 708-285-0088.
Small business resource
The Entrepreneur Group, a magazine and book publisher, offers startup guides for more than 150 businesses, from import/export to operating a 900 number. Cost: $59.50 each. For details: 800-421-2300.
Career store
Job Boutique Career Express sells career-related books and audiotapes on site or by mail order. Career Express, Two Illinois Center Concourse, 233 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60601; 800-860-5627.
Worker`s bookshelf
”Managing the Non-Profit Organization,” by Peter Drucker (HarperBusiness, $12); ”Smart Negotiating,” by James C. Freund (Simon & Schuster, $22).
