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Showing Respect in the
Workplace
By Jill Bremer, AICI, CIP
Bremer Communications
www.bremercommunications.com
In this business casual world we now live in,
it’s startling how casual we’ve also become with our behavior and
communication. A relaxed work environment can be good – to a point. Too much
informality can lead to careless remarks, absent manners, and ill feelings.
It isn’t long before misunderstandings, rudeness, negligence, and even
lawsuits enter the picture. According to Rude Awakenings: Overcoming the
Civility Crisis in the Workplace (Dearborn Trade, 2002), 78% of respondents
to one study reported aggressive and disrespectful behavior in the
workplace. There is a real need to create a work environment filled with
courtesy, self-restraint, and respect. A good way to start is with how you
show deference to others.
Deference is an act of high regard and
respect owed an elder, superior or visitor. You show respect in the ways you
stand for others, take a seat at a table, move through doors, shake hands,
and orchestrate introductions. In a purely social situation, defer to the
females or elders in the group and help them with doors, taking a seat, etc.
In business settings, deference is based upon rank.
Who has the higher rank? Defer to customers
and clients – prospects, too – because they’re the people who keep you in
business. Visitors require respect because, until you are introduced to
them, you don’t know who they are in relation to yourself and your
organization. Superiors within your company deserve special regard because
they outrank you. Many American businesses operate as flat organizations
with no traditional hierarchy, but there are still employees with titles and
positions above you that call for special honors.
One of the biggest blunders people make in
the workplace is assuming they are on a first name basis with everyone else.
Do not make this mistake! Until you have an established business
relationship with someone or have been invited to do otherwise, address
others using an honorific (“Mr.”, “Ms”, “Dr.”, etc.) with their last name.
This holds true even if they call you by your first name. Using honorifics
and last names displays great class and sophistication. Exception: If you
can quickly surmise that you are about the same age and rank as the other
person, you may call them by their first name.
Here are some additional tips for showing
respect in the workplace:
STANDING
- When anyone of a higher rank (superior,
customer, visitor) enters an office or meeting room, the people present in
the room should stand, regardless of gender. The exception to this rule is
when that higher-ranking person frequents that space on a regular basis.
- Be sure to stand whenever you are
introduced to someone.
SEATING
- Do not take a seat in an office or meeting
room until the senior employees or key players have themselves taken a
seat. Wait to be motioned to a seat or simply fill in the seats around
them.
GREETING
- Do not keep customers or visitors waiting.
Greet them yourself in the reception area or arrange to have them escorted
to you. When they leave, escort them out personally.
- When you are handed a business card, take
the time to look it over carefully. Do not immediately stuff it away in a
pocket or bag. Ask questions about it, comment on the logo or advertising
slogan, or verify the web site or email address. Asking questions about
the information on their card can be the starting point for insightful
small talk.
- When a customer flies in from another
city, consider meeting them at the airport and driving them to the office
yourself. This is common practice in many other countries; Americans would
be wise to adopt this practice. It makes a great first impression.
Jill Bremer, AICI, CIP, owner of Bremer Communications, offers
training, consulting and coaching in professional image development and
presentation skills. Her clients include
Oracle, Abbott Labs, W.W. Grainger, U.S. Department
of Energy and the National Association of Realtors. She can be reached at
708-848-5945 or at
www.bremercommunications.com
Copyright © 2004 Bremer Communications All
Rights Reserved
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