FREE STUFF
You won’t need your shopping shoes,
there’s no traffic jam—and the price is right!
Beware of Being
Too Comfortable
Somewhere between the boomer and the gen-xer
generations we slid into the dark place where being comfortable is seen
as a desired way to be. It
is in sync with the pervasive “it’s all about me” attitude that we see
so prevalent in our society today. Being comfortable lulls one into a
false sense of security and complacency.
In a time when there is high competition in the job market,
being too comfortable can lead to one’s professional demise; and it’s
leaving companies today screaming for more professionalism as they need
to build their bottom lines.
Let’s look at where ‘being comfortable’ in our attire
and attitude has affect the workplace.
Businesses have long proclaimed an increase in
conflict and bad attitudes on casual Friday.
Management has learned that with casual-wear comes an automatic
release of a more casual approach to everything; that includes more bad
language, poor conduct, a more casual approach to accepting authority,
and a decrease in the motivation for performing at one’s best.
Byproducts of this are:
ineffective management, gossip, backstabbing, increased conflict,
poor internal and external
customer service, and fewer promotions/sales resulting in a lower
over-all productivity. After
all, as when one doesn’t have pride in oneself, how can one have pride
in the work they do? When one is
feels schlumpy, sooner or later they’ll relax and act the same way.
The Pendulum is swinging.
Larger and smaller businesses, alike, are raising the bar on
their workplace expectations regarding professionalism. At one financial
industry, a vice president says she keeps a supply of band-aids in her
desk drawer. At the first
sighting of a tattoo, she approaches the employee and places the
Band-aids over the tattoo.
She stated that her employees know their dress code does not allow
visible tattoos, but they don’t always follow the rules. And, as she
further explained, ‘Working with the public like they do, we cannot have
them turning people off and risk losing customers.”
The one challenge organizations face, like the example
above, is that just citing new rules doesn’t always bring the desired
results. Employees need to have it translated into a benefit for
themselves and be told what a difference professionalism can make in
their own lives. In essence, people need to be trained.
Large numbers of the workforce today, despite all of their
degrees, have not been educated in the merits of professionalism.
To start raising the bar on professionalism in your
organization:
1. Start
using the word “Professionalism” and
integrate it into your meetings.
2.
Provide a Handbook on the subject (Example: 193 Survival Tips for a
Professional Image, available att Books & Co./also available in bulk).
By having a ready reference handy and visible, it serves as a
reminder and re-enforces the
expectations given by upper management.
Most people need
7-21 positive influences in order to override one negative thought or
bad habit.
3. Either through departmental meetings or having a
professional consultant work with employees, employees need to
understand why it’s important to them personally. Convey the message
that an image of professionalism encompasses more than just attire.
It’s a matter of appropriate
conduct, attitude, and character; and it can have a powerful effect on
one reaching his or her career goals.
There is something about dressing in business attire
and exuding professionalism that brings out the best in people and, that
pays big dividends to both the individuals and to the organizations
themselves.
Donna “Kinza”
Christenson, The Performance Pro
“Building
leaders & Enriching meetings”
262-567-6317
* kinza@kinza.net
Want more?
“Free” Newsletter sign up & Blog at:
www.kinza.net
