Workplace No Hugs Fist Bump Only

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Avoid touching people you work with, and definitely not women. You don’t know how it will be received and perceived. You don’t want to be accused of sexual harassment. If possible, there must be a third person in a room, when a man and a woman have meetings. Better still, they must be conducted in open spaces.

No touching. You must also learn how to anticipate being touched and move away. Isn’t that extreme? We all want to be seen as friendly, promotion material. Talking about promotion. That’s why you must avoid being clamped on the shoulder by the boss. You were not promoted despite your long hours and innovation that generated millions of dollars. They have moved you from your office to prepare it for the new guy.

The boss is telling you something when he clamps your shoulder. It’s not a friendly gesture. It is a rubber stamp. The company made the right decision to hire somebody else. The boss might even predict you’ll like him. Translate that into he’s African American or he was born in India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Nigeria or Morocco. That clamp on your shoulder is to incinerate any thought of racism from your brain. Company owners discuss these things when they meet in parking lots of private schools, during kids’ drop-off and pick-up.

Don’t exaggerate. Mr. Stringent-Williams is a friendly boss. No. He’s not because you cannot clamp his back, to return the friendliness favor. When the new manager arrives, be on the alert. Watch  his hands. You don’t want him to clamp you on the shoulder, as a demonstration of ‘We boys’ or ‘Whats’up?’ He's there to solve a problem. You.

The hand shake is all you need at work and that’s even debatable, because of COVID-19. The rule of thumb is no hugs, no slaps on shoulders and definitely the boss must not use the clamp on people who report to him or her.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

 

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