The rudest thing you can do at work is to use profanity.
That's the word from a Harris Interactive survey of 2,318 employed adults conducted for Randstad USA, a leading workforce solutions company, about behaviors that interfere with work performance. Fully 91 percent of those surveyed cited profane language as the rudest workplace behavior.
Top 9 office etiquette pet peeves:
* Using profanity: 91 percent
* Being spoken to in a condescending tone: 44 percent
* Public reprimand: 37 percent
* Micromanaging: 34 percent
* Loud talkers: 32 percent
* Cell phones ringing at work: 30 percent
* Using speakerphones in public areas: 22 percent
* Personal conversations in the workplace: 11 percent
* Using PDAs during meetings: 9 percent
Swearing at work--even if it seems like everyone else is doing it, too--can leave a bad impression, according to James O'Connor, founder of Cuss Control. Not only that, but it makes you unpleasant to be around and can endanger your relationships as people lose respect for you. Most of all, it shows you don't have control and could even lead some to think you have a bad attitude or a lack of character. "Swearing is complaining, and it can be infectious," O'Connor told Training magazine. "It also reflects on an individual's lack of maturity and inability to cope with daily aggravations."
To help you stop swearing, devise a new list of tension-releasing words. For example, instead of saying you're "pissed off," try one of these: angry, mad, livid, fuming, irate, furious, enraged, incensed, upset, infuriated, spitting mad, disappointed or frustrated.
That's the word from a Harris Interactive survey of 2,318 employed adults conducted for Randstad USA, a leading workforce solutions company, about behaviors that interfere with work performance. Fully 91 percent of those surveyed cited profane language as the rudest workplace behavior.
Top 9 office etiquette pet peeves:
* Using profanity: 91 percent
* Being spoken to in a condescending tone: 44 percent
* Public reprimand: 37 percent
* Micromanaging: 34 percent
* Loud talkers: 32 percent
* Cell phones ringing at work: 30 percent
* Using speakerphones in public areas: 22 percent
* Personal conversations in the workplace: 11 percent
* Using PDAs during meetings: 9 percent
Swearing at work--even if it seems like everyone else is doing it, too--can leave a bad impression, according to James O'Connor, founder of Cuss Control. Not only that, but it makes you unpleasant to be around and can endanger your relationships as people lose respect for you. Most of all, it shows you don't have control and could even lead some to think you have a bad attitude or a lack of character. "Swearing is complaining, and it can be infectious," O'Connor told Training magazine. "It also reflects on an individual's lack of maturity and inability to cope with daily aggravations."
To help you stop swearing, devise a new list of tension-releasing words. For example, instead of saying you're "pissed off," try one of these: angry, mad, livid, fuming, irate, furious, enraged, incensed, upset, infuriated, spitting mad, disappointed or frustrated.
