The top 6 work behaviors that will keep a person from being promoted

Chances are most of your finance staffers are interested in working their way up the corporate ladder. But they’ll never rise another rung if they’re doing this. 

These are the six behaviors managers say will keep an employee from being promoted, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.

How many of these are holding your people back?

Behavior 1: Having a negative or pessimistic attitude (62%)

OK, no one has to be Little Miss or Mr. Sunshine all the time. And frustrations do boil up in Finance. But if a team member is constantly complaining or throwing cold water on new ideas, that person’s going nowhere.

There is a way to turn this around. Sometimes a Negative Nelly is just a Negative Nelly. Other times, that person has a highly analytical way of thinking. There’s a way to harness that to get them to be problem solvers – a highly valued skill for any finance team.

Behavior 2: Constantly showing up late for work (62%)

Even if it’s just by a few minutes, arriving late on a consistent basis sends the message that you’re not all that motivated to be there.

Don’t let a tardiness problem fester – it can affect other staffers’ morale. As soon as you notice a problem on this front, have a sit-down with the habitually late individual.

Behavior 3: Using vulgar language (51%)

We’re all adults in the office and sometime frustrations get the better of us. But a constant potty-mouth just isn’t professional.

Be extra careful on this one: Many employees get their cues from their managers here. So if you sometimes let the f-bomb fly, your team may get the signal it’s OK.

Behavior 4: Regularly leaving work early (49%)

Summer’s an especially tough time for this as many people are in vacation mode, even if they’re not going away. Unless there’s been a specific arrangement worked out (Jim always leaves at 4:30 on Thursdays because he coaches Little League), you don’t want folks cutting out before quitting time.

Make sure your staffers with their sights set on a supervisory role understand that.

Of course, some flexibility is always welcome. And if you’re looking for a morale boost, consider the occasional spontaneous times when you let everyone go a little early.

Behavior 5: Taking too many sick days (49%)

This might be the trickiest one to tackle because you never know what folks are up against medically and you don’t want to pry (or violate HIPAA).

Yet another case for switching to a paid time off bank – avoids the issue altogether!

Behavior 6: Gossiping (44%)

The water cooler may be harder to find in offices these days, but office gossip isn’t. And a person passing along rumors isn’t someone you want leading a team.

Yes, anytime you hear about gossip you want to try to address the issue head-on. But there’s another thing you might try that will help develop management skills in your charges: teach them to share positive gossip.

Instead of talking about things going wrong, share what’s going right. Sharing positive experiences – however small – breeds more positivity and gets people focused on the right things.

Heck, it may even get people doing more things right so they’re the ones getting “gossiped” about.

Info: For complete survey results, click careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=7%2f2%2f2015&siteid=cbpr&sc_cmp1=cb_pr901_&id=pr901&ed=12%2f31%2f2015