Graduate Development Programs

Work Colleagues, Responsibility & Accountability

Dependence on Others to Perform
People are often the biggest obstacle to getting things done. But you just can’t get anything done without them either. As a new starter on the graduate program, you will encounter people who will use it to push back on your requests, dismiss your contributions or even ignore you! You will clash with people. It is going to happen. I don’t care how lovely your mother thinks you are! Some people will not like you.

When your university tutor told you that you can’t kick out the problem member from the group assignment because “in the workplace, you don’t choose your colleagues”, well, she was right! The difference at work is that you are reliant on others in almost everything you do, whereas if you didn’t want to copy your classmate’s lecture notes, you could probably get through most courses without having to endure another person’s inadequacies. At least 80% of the time.

If you are polite, some will perceive you as such. Others might think you are being pretentious. Your intention doesn’t matter. People interpret the world through their own set of experiences and most importantly, their interests. Everybody is a target.

Accountability
Everybody reports to somebody! The CEO reports to the board of directors and they report to their shareholders as well as the regulators. This line of accountability keeps everybody focused on delivering value to customers, the business and ultimately the shareholders.

The Board wants to be satisfied that the business is competitively positioned to generate acceptable returns into the future, the CEO needs to be satisfied that each business unit is operating in a manner that is consistent with the group strategy to deliver the desired commercial outcomes. This continues all the way down to each department and each individual position within the firm right down to your lovely cubicle.

Depending on the personal style of your manager and the nature of the piece of work that you are undertaking, you should expect to provide your manager with an update on your activities each week. On some particularly urgent or important pieces, it is not unreasonable to expect daily updates to be given.

These “catch-ups” should not be a one way street. They are great opportunities for you to seek clarification, solve issues, seek direction on ambiguous problems you have encountered. These are especially important for graduates as they can provide the direction one often lacks when in a new job. Look at it as more of a collaborative effort to get the desired outcome, rather a process of being held to account.

In the next post we will discuss why simply being good at your job is not always enough to get promoted or even noticed. A common assumption made by graduates.

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