Workplace Challenges
Be careful what your workplace accessories may be saying about youDefined by your deskWell, you can kiss that promotion goodbye -- thanks to that tacky Trailer Park Boys calendar hanging front and centre in your workspace. JOANNE RICHARD |
|
 [ 2005-03-16 ] |
NOTE the Feng Shui placement of flowers and family photos at this office worker's desk. So you think you're up for that big fat promotion? You dress for success, work long hours without a complaint and consider yourself the best team player around.
Call it career death by décor.
"Put up a suggestive or tasteless calendar and you're looking to be fired. You're a risk-taker who wants to be seen as on the edge -- and you could find yourself pushed off!" says Patti Wood, an Atlanta communications and behaviour expert.
According to Wood, personal items displayed at work convey messages and, like it or not, judgments are made about you based on your taste -- or lack of.
Objects speak loud and clear, says Wood, and often provide clues to an employee's personality and level of commitment.
Toronto image and communications specialist, Roz Usheroff, says workplace accessories "define who you are; they're an extension of your image. Conveying a sense of professionalism is of the utmost importance -- that's if you want to be taken seriously."
She recommends accessorizing with a few "items that define you, like a hobby such as golf or fishing, that allows for small talk and a point of reference -- nothing inappropriate or overdone. You need to show a sense of humour, approachability and warmth."
Adeodata Czink doesn't agree. "Why do you need props? Are you not there to work?" asks Czink, a Toronto etiquette expert and president of Business of Manners.
Check out your workplace style and what it says about you, according to our experts:
Messy! Cluttered but creative, says Usheroff, of The Usheroff Institute in Toronto. "These people can be very innovative types."
Would you ever work for a social or charitable enterprise in the third sector?