When you walk the corridors at work, do you look your colleagues in the
eye and acknowledge their existence?
You should.
Two of the five tiers in Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” address our human
desire to belong and feel recognized.
A 2012 article in Scientific Mind magazine goes so far as to claim that the stress generated
by unpleasant colleagues- and I believe that ignoring people can be classified
as “unpleasant” - stretches as far as
the spouse’s work place. “Being treated unkindly
by a colleague can cause loss of self-esteem, anxiety and depression, which
undermines your happiness outside of work.”
Year after year studies affirm that recognition in the workplace is one
of the top three reasons people stay. One of the ways I cultivate an engaged
workforce is by eliciting input from administrative assistants and others
during the hiring process. This is doubly beneficial: it underscores their
sense of belonging to and ownership of their workplace and reveals how that
person behaves when they think they’re not on stage.
If you’re not buying into the above argument, here’s another, more
compelling reason to acknowledge the individuals around us. Every person with whom we interact in a
workplace defines our image of that company. This, in turn, drives business and
revenue.
During a recent office visit, I came across a woman with a beautiful
fifth floor office overlooking midtown Manhattan who has positioned her desk so
that it faces the wall (!). I feel sorry for her and those who need to work
with her as this arrangement has clearly illustrated her preference to be left
alone. More significant, it has me concerned about how good the company who employs
her can be, if this is the sort of person they put in a position of power.
For all the "Horrible Bosses" out there, there are wonderful ones too, ones who walk the halls
and greet everyone warmly, even on days of frantic activity and tremendous
pressure. We all have choices- the
manager chooses to keep us, the employee chooses to stay. There must be some
redeeming quality that can bring a smile to our face in the workplace, even if
it’s just a paycheck. This doesn’t mean there
aren’t bad days or annoying colleagues out there but we can choose to be- and
to surround ourselves with- the persons who engender a work place of joy. Yes,
it is possible to have fun while working hard, and our work space factors into
this.
Ah, cubicles! Their gray and gloom is usually compounded being situated
in rooms where there is no sunlight; how de-motivating. Open space on the other
hand, the common set-up for advertising agencies and Google-esque offices, is usually
freer and brighter although for those of us who are easily distracted, it is
also not ideal. But with handheld
devices, who is truly without distraction today? But I digress.
No matter what the set-up, “employees perform best when they are encouraged
to decorate their surroundings as they see fit… it [ownership of their work
space] influences how much they accomplish, how much initiative they take and
their overall professional satisfaction” says another Scientific Mind magazine article.
Ownership of our workspace spills over into our corridor
interaction. Nowadays, “corridors”
frequently virtual and paths are crossed via email. In these virtual corridors, acknowledgement
often comes in the form of replying. It
should be simple: someone took the time to compose, let’s have the courtesy to
respond. Failure to do so indicates a lack of caring and/or interest in the
topic which may, at some point, indicate to the writer that what they do is
unimportant and that they are, by association, similarly perceived. [Email
etiquette is worthy of its own posting so stay tuned…]
We also “decorate our surroundings” through non-verbal cues, like our
aura, facial expressions, body language and yes, even the placement of our
furnishings (or feng shui as some like to call it). We also adorn our area with
what we say and how we say it. A
delightful friend introduced me to a revolutionary maxim. Instead of the trite,
complacent “have a nice day,” she proposes “make it a great day!” What power,
what decisiveness, what joy to determine the tone of our days.
When I was a tween, my best friend and I used to walk on a bike path in
Bergen County, New Jersey. I remember
looking at the adults who were walking and thinking how solemn they were. I
determinedly told her that I was going to say hello and smile at those whose
path we crossed; she thought I was weird but was willing to try. I wish I could say I changed lives by doing
this, and maybe I did. We never know how
much a smile and acknowledgement can brighten a day.
So come, join me in decreeing a new world order. Let's make our days great and... in the corridors of life, walk on sunshine.
