An article from PR Tactics and The Strategist Online about cultural etiquette caught my eye. I imagined the article by Susan Balcom Walton would discuss dealing with other countries and their cultures in the professional world, but the article surprised me and conversed about various employee cultures within one building. The discussion presented a “well-groomed, clever, capable young man” who landed the “perfect” internship in a booming city–and was fired within 12 hours on the job.
What happened? Sulking with his tail between his legs, the student responded: “I said everything they said I said, but I didn’t mean what they thought I meant.”
He didn’t understand culture etiquette. Read closely so you don’t make the same mistake.
Whether we are entry level employees or the top dogs, we need to follow Walton’s three steps to eliminate this problem:
1. Understand and hone the cultural attributes your organization values: You now represent your organization. Respect your company’s values even if they are not your own.
2. Close the gap between the what and the how: Close the gap between what you mean to do and how it is perceived by others.
One of my favorites:
What you did:
- Bombarded your supervisor (and her supervisor) with detailed e-mails about all your activities.
What you meant:
- You wanted to be sure everyone knew how hard you were working.
How it was perceived:
- You wanted people’s admiration and favor. You were wasting everyone’s time.
Please note that situations such as this one do happen, they happened to me last summer while working for Lockheed Martin. You’ll feel stupid–just learn and get over it.
3. Exemplify universal standards of workplace professionalism
- Be appreciative and humble
- Don’t go around your boss
- Get appropriate input before doing
Follow these rules for cultural etiquette and you’ll be a rockstar. Just don’t go around telling everyone how awesome you are…they may take it the wrong way.
