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Shaping the World of Work

Guest post by: Betsey Nash

Article Overview: What does it mean to "shape your world of work"? Every office & company has an atmosphere & personality. Whether you choose to create it or not, there is one. Betsey helps explain the importance of consciously shaping your world of work.

Shaping the World of Work

When we bought a new refrigerator recently we re-evaluated the quality of the magnets that adorned it. We had to make some difficult choices. Out went the policeman who yelled “Step away from the refrigerator” every time we opened the door. Out went the two little girls with their softball bat & gloves. We even tossed the one from Santoro’s, our favorite sandwich shop in Burbank. We kept the political ones, but removed them from the pristine surface. Then we moved. We have a normal fridge again but have not returned to our bumper sticker decorating style. Except for one. It says: “It is your world: shape it or someone else will.”

I was reminded of it while teaching some Sexual Harassment Prevention classes a few weeks ago. Company culture, or as I call it, “personality,” is such a critical piece of the “prevention” part.

Harassment is defined as pervasive, unwelcome, and affecting the employee’s work. “Pervasive” is pretty easy to define, as is “unwelcome.” Oh wait: what was welcome one day may be unwelcome the next. Since it is the alleged target’s definition that counts, it can sometimes be very hard to nail down. In most cases it’s pretty obvious.

It’s the “affecting the employee’s work” part of the definition that I want to focus on here. A well trained supervisor will notice if something is bothering his or her employee. The first indication may just be a quieter demeanor or a shorter temper. But if tardiness, absenteeism, inability to concentrate and/or the like start to occur, that supervisor is well advised to find out what’s going on sooner, not later.

I said a well-trained supervisor, but anyone with good instincts can make a difference at this point. I don’t see much happening, though, if the supervisor asks the employee to sit down and tell them what’s wrong unless that employee feels comfortable doing so. So, preventing harassment starts long before it has impacted someone’s work performance: it starts with the creation of an atmosphere of trust and a sense of comfort that ensures honest conversation can take place.

In both versions of my training – for line staff and for supervisors - we discuss the idea that every employee creates that atmosphere. I once tried to express that it’s the same as waiting for management to improve morale rather than taking responsibility for it themselves. The scattering of blank looks in the audience depressed me. So we spend more time on it now, to be sure everyone sees the role they play in creating the work environment.

Bottom line: the atmosphere or personality is created anyway – make sure it happens consciously and with good intention.

The Supreme Court just unanimously ruled that a defendant (the employer) cannot recover attorney fees even when part of a case is dismissed for being frivolous (Fox v. Vice). So for financial as well as so many other reasons: shape that world of work or someone else will!

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Article Tags: atmosphere, company, conscious effort, office, personality, shaping, world of work



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