FEBRUARY is typically known as Valentine month where sweethearts share loving memories and pay respect to their relationship through notes, cards, gifts or celebratory dinners.
It feels good to be respected and valued like this and I'm sure most of you can quickly recall those special feelings of warmth and appreciation. But what about respect, value and appreciation in the workplace?
Well, if you ask a human resource manager, you'd be surprised to learn the extent of daily interpersonal and workplace conflicts being addressed. You'd also be disturbed to learn about the intensity of conflict and stress arising from badgering, bullying and sabotage that some employees experience.
Then, if you pay close attention to the frequency of newspaper articles on the topic of workplace environments, you might become alarmed to learn that even simple interpersonal relationships between employees are becoming more troublesome. In fact, some might refer to these faulty communication patterns as downright incivility.
While we hope that aggressive and bullying behaviour would be an exception, what does general incivility look like?
Examples range from loud outbursts, interrupting, yelling and rudeness to neglecting to say "Please" and "Thank you" or talking in a condescending manner to colleagues. But it doesn't matter because over time, I can tell you that both aggressive communication styles and general incivility will equally serve to poison a work environment.
And what effect does this have on employees and the workplace?
To say the least, you wouldn't find any feelings of respect, value and appreciation. You can bet overall morale will be affected and job satisfaction will be a figment of someone's imagination while productivity and profitability will sink like a rock. In fact, one study found 12 per cent of people experiencing incivility quit their jobs while 52 per cent lost time and productivity worrying and 22 per cent deliberately decreased their work efforts.
But in my opinion, incivility and poor employee interpersonal relationships have everything to do with overall professionalism. And professionalism doesn't just refer to a business presence through dress and demeanor and it's not limited to a specific technical expertise or so-called profession.
Rather, I see professionalism as a set of respectful behaviours that ensure positive employee, customer and business relationships.
Professionalism is all about internalized behaviours. It's about ethics and integrity, personal responsibility, personal excellence, technical competency, good decision making, keeping promises, effective communication, positive attitude and general good manners.
It doesn't matter whether or not you're a member of a recognized professional body, you need to establish and consistently abide by your own code of professional conduct. Consider the following guidelines -- your career success depends on it!
Ethics and integrity
Remember ethics and integrity are observed through your personal actions. Commit yourself to behaviour that'll create overall trustworthiness and respect and then consistently live by this commitment. This includes conducting yourself with dignity, civility and courtesy.
Personal responsibility
Stand up and be accountable for your actions, don't blame others for your mistakes. Learn to always be conscious of the impact your behaviour will have on others and then project how they will view it. Remember, you are always judged by your actions.
Personal excellence
No matter what your career or job activities, commit yourself to performance excellence. Make efficient use of time and resources, devote your work time to job performance and concentrate on your responsibility to customer service. Leave personal matters to personal time.
Technical competency
Keep your skills sharp and current. Understand and accept the limits of your skills and competency and be careful to ensure you work within these defined boundaries. In other words, don't accept work tasks that are beyond your specific training and/or experience unless it is considered a stretch assignment accompanied by coaching and assistance.
Good decision-making
Learn and consistently apply a good decision-making model that allows you to examine a problem from all possible viewpoints and consider alternative solutions. Then select a solution that will impact the greatest good rather than simply serving your own self interests. This approach helps to avoid conflict-of-interest situations.
Keep promises
There is nothing more unprofessional than someone who makes promises and then, time and time again, lets people down. If you've made promises, then keep them. If you've scheduled an appointment, then arrive on time. Keeping a promise develops trust.
Respect for others
Professionals treat others with dignity and respect and demonstrate this by accepting their opinions as valid even if there is disagreement. Then within the work environment, be certain to mind your own business, avoid internal politics, gossip and negativity and refrain from unjustifiable and improper criticism.
Communication
Consistently communicate with colleagues and employees using a pleasant and clear tone of voice and matching body language. Strive to seek clarity and mutual understanding through effective listening and acknowledgment of others. Listen carefully for the issues in between the emotional overtones of someone's anger, acknowledge the emotion and then address the issue. Never raise your voice to bully and badger another individual.
Positive attitude
An attitude is reflected in how we carry out our work. A positive attitude creates energy, facilitates good teamwork, increases personal productivity and creates a sense of job satisfaction. A positive attitude is contagious and actually invites colleagues and customers to want to work with you. A positive attitude allows you to value your contributions and accept new challenges.
Good manners
Good manners promote positive employee and customer relationships. This includes being polite and courteous when answering the telephone and greeting a customer quickly rather than continuing with a personal conversation. It also means being discrete when coughing or yawning and avoiding sloppy habits such as blowing and popping gum.
Valentine's Day celebrates warm, caring interpersonal relationships and serves to recognize the importance of each individual's responsibility in nurturing these bonds. But we also need to recognize each of us also has an individual responsibility for nurturing positive relationships in our workplace. A harmonious workplace is all about respect, value and appreciation. And this requires professionalism.
Source: Rude Awakenings: Overcoming the Civility Crisis in the Workplace, Giovinella Gonthier; Professionalism and Workplace Savvy, James Stenson; Parent Leadership, Tit for tat? The spiraling effect of incivility in the workplace, Andersson L & Pearson, 1999.
Barbara J. Bowes, CHRP, CMC, is president of Bowes Leadership Group, Inc., past president of the Human Resource Management Association of Manitoba and author of The Easy Resume Book: A Transferable Skills Approach. She can be reached at barb@bowesgroup.com
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