Unacceptable behaviors at workplace

In a multicultural country as Australia, people are coming from all around the world with different backgrounds and customs. That means that some behaviors which might seem normal for some of us, for others could be unacceptable; for this reason, very often behaviors can be misread. People have to be very careful about what they are saying and what they are doing, especially in their work environment.

Even though sometimes, spending plenty of time with your colleagues leads to a friendlier relationship, still some barriers should be existing in order to keep a balance in the workplace. All the organizations are providing a code of conduct in order to make clear to the employees which behaviors are acceptable and which not. Usually employees are signing this code as an agreement of its terms. This code exists to make the workplace friendlier so everyone should follow their organization’s policies.

Some behaviors which could be considered as unacceptable include:

Interpersonal Communication

There are many examples which can justify an unacceptable behavior in terms of interpersonal communication. The most common would be swearing and yelling at your co-workers to the worst-case scenarios such as bullying, harassment, intimidation, belittling others or spreading gossips.

Administrative Behavior

Managers should be very careful with their behavior. In terms of their employees they shouldn’t give preference to people and in terms of their company, they shouldn’t take advantage of their power for their personal gains.

 Bullying

Bullying is one of the most problematic behaviors in a workplace. Many people believe that adults are not that often victims, however, the number of the bullying victims within a workplace is still high. Many times, employees who are aggressive either because of personal problems or because of low performance are targeting vulnerable employees in order to pick on them or force them to do their job as well.

 Harassment

Harassment can be both physical or mental. Mental harassment usually includes discrimination against someone based on several factors such as age, race and gender. In addition, sexual harassment is when a manager seeks sexual favors from an employee in an exchange, and it can be both physical or mental.

 Insubordination and Insolence

From an employee point of view, insubordination and insolence are outrageous types of unacceptable behaviors. Insolence incorporates different sorts of hostile or forceful activities toward a superior. This includes yelling, making threats or acting in an abusive manner. Insubordination is the refusal to follow manager’s suggestion or to perform tasks.

 Bad Manners

Many different types of behaviors can fall under this category. Very strong examples could be constantly lateness; disturb your colleagues through loud phone calls or music; be rude either to your co-worker or the clients; be messy in the workplace and so on.

In order to avoid problems, all of us should follow some tactics such as:

Separate your lives

Keep your professional and personal life apart. Involving your colleagues to your personal life is not a good thing especially for your professional reputation. Everyone is dealing with a lot of things outside work, however, you should share them at work only if your personal problems affect your work performance and you have to choose the most appropriate person such as your manager or the HR.

 Check your attitude

Even if you have a bad day, keep in mind that your attitude will affect the people around you as well. In difficult situations, try to calm yourself, otherwise the situation will probably get worst. Getting calm, will help you to see things from everyone’s perspective and also find a solution easier and faster. It is always better to work with your team and not against them. This will lead to better results for all the team members.

 Respect

Respect everyone you are working with but more importantly yourself. Be professional at all times and behave with integrity. Remember to say: “Please”, “Thank you”, “You’re welcome”, as part of your everyday courtesy. Try to avoid yelling to other even when you are to upset and most important (!) avoid gossip – talking about other people and especially behind their back is never good. Another way to show your respect towards your colleagues would be to keep your cell phone to mute in order to avoid disturbing them, make sure that you are not speaking very loud inside the office and make sure that if you want to listen to music you will not disturb anyone else in the office.

 Think before you speak

Think before you conduct any kind of communication either it is written or verbal. Our actions having impacts on both us and the receiving person, so we have to think every time before we speak and especially in the workplace.

 Push back on disrespectful behaviors

In case you witness an unacceptable behavior, have a conversation with the employee to name the specific behavior and the impact the behavior is having on you or the team.

 Be a positive role model

If a manager is well behaved, employees are following. It is up to the manager to promote what sort of behavior they want their employees to adopt.

 Concentrate on Your Work

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