With people spending a sizable chunk of their lives working, sticking to the basic dos and dont’s of conversation, privacy, hygiene and courtesy go a long way in determining the environment in an organisation, inter-cultural or inter-racial work group.
Proper etiquette can take you where money cannot and the lack of it can even cost you a job. Nowadays, the majority of interviews and business deals take place over breakfast and lunches. So, it is important to know the right etiquette, as your dining companions will be watching you keenly.
“My first formal luncheon gave me the heebie-jeebies,” says Soumya, an accounts manager at a leading advertising company. “The soup was a tricky thing to negotiate. I had to ensure that not a drop landed on me. A surprising etiquette that I discovered that day was that a person must never cut the bread in half. “Take the case of the young banker, Eapen, who decided to change his business card etiquette. “When taking out my business card from the wallet and handing it out to clients, many a time I noticed that the client taking note of all my debit and credit cards,” says Eapen. “I did not intend to scare them with my financial clout, hence I decided to opt for a business card holder that I can carry separately in my pocket.”
The lack of workplace etiquette makes the environment stressful as the victim feels piqued. “Something that really bothers me is that often people tend to carry on personal conversations over the phone at their work stations in a loud voice,” says Seema, benefits manager at a global HR consulting firm. “It disturbs and distracts everyone.”
Shridevi, a consultant at the same firm, had many etiquette violations to vent. “From tackling the inconsiderate ones who start using your system without asking for permission to the ones who almost hurt the person trailing behind as they rashly close the doors, the list is long,” she says. “Privacy is a hard thing to find at workplaces, with people tending to read what is on another’s computer screen. Blunt questions on the yearly bonus, even one’s age and marital status are without doubt awkward. And then comes toilet manners... no, let’s not even get in there.”
For Deepa, a travel journalist, the lack of personal hygiene in the workplace would make using another’s work station a no-no. Honing one’s diplomatic skills and confronting the issue helps to an extent, but not always. “Speak your mind or stay quiet,” says a broker who works in a shipping company, Banchero Costa. “People prefer to work in an environment that respects another’s rights. Some even pay a premium or a tradeoff to be with pleasant coworkers.”
The Ranstad India Global Workmonitor Survey 2012 confirms this. The survey indicates that ‘82 per cent of the employees surveyed in India attach a premium to pleasant colleagues, which is the second highest in the world, after China, and it is well above the world average of 60 per cent. The survey also reflects that employees in India work to live rather than live to work, which is on par with the global average’.Without generally having to choke oneself with a list of dos and dont’s, basic good manners would go a long way in getting that job, having a great time at it, and climbing the ladder. Though the sticklers of impeccable etiquette can sometimes be seen as ‘raising the bar’, for others, it might be a cause for resentment.
“Most of all, an employee must be professional while doing the work assigned to him or her,” says Thomas, who recently launched his own firm. “Tact and sensitivity are required on my part to keep an employee on his toe when he does unprofessional work, which can be tiring at times.” To great work etiquette! May we be never without it.
Comments
0 comment