Arguments, misunderstandings, and lack of manners occur among coworkers, just as they do among any other group of people. The difference between handling workplace issues cooperatively and handling them contentiously is the difference between a pleasant, healthy work environment and a bad one. Bad behavior is cited by 77 percent of workers as having an impact on their productivity and morale, according to a recent study.
As a result, highlighting cooperation and teamwork on your resume is a good move. How can you do that?
- Cite any specific responsibility you had for turning around a department experiencing low morale, low productivity, high turnover, or other signs of bad workplace behavior.
- If you work on a team, show the results achieved by the team; they are your results. For example: “Made recommendations leading to improved voice mail system by researching new systems and ranking choices as a key team member.”
- If you lead a team, show the results achieved by the team; they are also your results.
- If you are the only member of your department or the only person at your level, you probably still interact with other departments and other levels. Track those interactions and any results; for example, presenting a report to another group, joining with another department to solve a problem, or helping another employee to reach a goal.
- Give the results of any mentoring, coaching, and teaching between you and someone else—whether you are the mentor or the person being mentored. For example: “Nearly doubled percentage of closed sales by teaching consultative sales to flagging sales reps.”
- Communication skills with customers are also important. For example, “Explained agile software development in layman’s terms to potential customers, focusing on value-added for their project.”
Cooperative people argue facts, not personalities; they seek out win-win situations; and they listen to objections, trying to find common ground from which to build. They train and guide others to communicate cooperatively as well.
People who enable an organization to run smoothly may hold positions at any level of an organization, not just management. At Robin’s Resumes®, we know how to word your resume so that your contribution to a healthy, safe workplace is clear to hiring managers and recruiters.