Beware of Venting About Your Job
Everyone has bad days at work, and nannies are no exception. Since nannies don’t have co-workers to chat with each day, they can be more susceptible to talking to others about the good and bad of their work day. However it’s vital that nannies are sensitive when sharing their work place happenings, as talking negatively about your boss or your position can come back to haunt you.
1. You never know who is listening. While you may feel comfortable enough to talk about anything around members of your nanny group, mommy and me classmates, or playgroups, negative boss talk should still be off limits, especially in public forums. While everyone needs a close friend or two to really confide in, it’s important that the friends you choose are completely committed to keeping your confidence. There have been plenty of cases where one nanny overhears another nanny speaking negatively about her boss and she happens to mention it to her own boss, who turns out to be friends with the other nanny’s employer. Of course she tells her friend, and the badmouthing nanny is left embarrassed, her head hung in shame. These situations never end well for the nanny.
2. You never know who is watching. Anything you write is part of permanent history. Whether you share something negative about your boss in an online nanny forum, or if you post a vague Facebook status update that you think only insiders will be able to understand, the reality is that there is always a possibility that what you put out there will get back to your boss. When it comes to social media, it’s a good rule of thumb to avoid mentioning work related issues. You never know if your privacy settings are working as planned or if someone who knows your boss has access to what you share.
3. You are your own HR. Talking to other people about your work related issues isn’t really helpful when it comes to resolving them. Unlike in other professions, nannies and their employers serve as their own human resources representatives. For issues to really be resolved you need to bring them to your boss directly. While it may make you feel better to vent about your work issues to a group of friends or other nannies, only you and your employers, after all, have the power to make a difference.
4. Confidentiality is crucial. An integral part of the nanny and nanny employer relationship is trust. As a nanny you see things, hear things, and are in the middle of things that you’d never be part of in any other work setting. Whether you have signed a formal confidentiality agreement or not, as a nanny you have been trusted to keep private family information private, and it is crucial that you do so.
5. It makes people think you talk bad about them. When people hear you talking bad about someone else, they can’t help but wonder if you also talk bad about them. After all, history does tend to repeat itself. When you gossip about others, you quickly become labeled as a gossip. If you want to give the impression that you are a trustworthy individual who never says a bad thing about anyone, don’t. The short-term feel good feeling of getting something off your chest isn’t worth the potential long-term ramifications, like losing your job.
6. Word travels fast. Today everyone is their own reporter. From text messaging to email, Facebook to Twitter, we can communicate with others and report things faster than ever before. Perhaps you say something you didn’t mean, or you make a comment jokingly, only to realize that others around didn’t quite get your joke. In today’s digital age you don’t even have time to take back what you said. Be safe and filter your work related comments. You could be glad you did.
7. It can only hurt you. No good can come from badmouthing your boss. When you speak negatively about your boss, you risk getting caught, which could mean losing your job. You also risk having others question your character and loyalty, which is never good, especially if a future reference or even future employer overhears you.
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