Being rude might not just hold you back socially – a recent report in the Journal of Applied Psychology has claimed that it can affect your career as well.
The lead author of the study, Trevor Foulk, claims “rudeness has an incredibly powerful negative effect on your career” and this is reported to be a growing problem within businesses. For employers, this lack of personal and business etiquette is reported to lead to increased staff turnover, low performance, missed time, difficulty in recruiting and other career related issues.
You don’t want your lack of manners to affect your colleagues and morale. You definitely don’t want it to reduce your chances of job promotion or career progression either – so what do you need to focus on to make sure you are well mannered in your career?
Think before you speak
Before you send that hastily written email, before you quickly correct your colleague in an important meeting, and before you deliver your thoughts on a manager’s attitude to another while making your morning coffee; take your time and collect your thoughts. Is it necessary to communicate this? If it is, could you manage to put across your feelings in a subtler way, or at a different time? If you can, it will be a boost to your career hopes instead of a drag on your career development.
Remember your manners
Your career, your workplace, is just that. You need to respect others and ensure that everyone you work with is treated fairly and nicely. It is counter-productive to create conflict in your career. You can help create a fair, respectful, calm environment to work in, where everyone is happy to be there. It may also reflect back positively on you too, as these sorts of career skills are well respected in managerial careers.
It’s not always verbal
What you say is not always the issue in your career. People can quickly react unfavourably to facial expressions, body language and tone of voice. These can very easily be misinterpreted. Make sure you:
- Check how you position yourself,
- Maintain a healthy distance from others, ensuring you don’t invade their personal space,
- Deliver your thoughts in a calm and rational manner.
This works both ways too – is someone else’s nonverbal messaging affecting you and your reactions? Before you respond negatively, it’s worth checking and if it is an issue it may be something to take up with your manager.