Workplace etiquette

Lesson 18

Theme: Revision Workplace etiquette Jobs Text: Workaholism

WORKPLACE ETIQUETTE

• Translate the proverbs into native and understand the meaning of them

Make hay while the sun shines. (Strike the iron while it’s hot.) –
Tastes differ –
Cowards die many times before their deaths –


In small groups, discuss how the quotations below relate to job etiquette.

“Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot”
“Your clothes speak so loudly, I can’t hear you”
“Be respectful and be respected”















WORKHOLISM
Most workers spend eight or nine hours on the job. They work because it’s unavoidable. They need to make enough money for necessities: food, rent, clothing, transportation, tuition and so on. They spend about one third of their lives at work, but they hate it. They complain count the minutes until quitting time each day-or the days until their next vocation. The situation is even worse for white-collar workers in powerful position. In many complains, they often put, in over 60 hours a week and don’t take vocations at all. To keep their jobs or get ahead, they feel they have to put in “face time”-to stay late at the office just to make sure the boss knows they’re there. By contrast, there are some people who actually enjoy work-in fact, they love to work. They spend many extra hours on the job each week and often take work home with them. These workaholics are as addicted to their jobs as other people are to drugs or alcohol in some urban centers, work holism is so common that people do not consider it unusual. They accept the lifestyle as normal Government workers in Washington, D.C, for example, frequently work 60 to 70 hours a week. They don’t do this because they have to; they do it because they want to. Hundreds of workaholics in New York City tried to go to work even in the famous blackout of 1977. There was no air conditioning, elevators, or lights but many people went to their offices anyway. They sat impatiently on the steps outside their office buildings and did paperwork or had business meetings. Work holism can be serious problem. Because true workaholics would rather work than do anything else, they probably don’t know how to relax; that is, they might not enjoy movies, sports, or other types of entertainment/ most of all, they hate to sit and do nothing.
The lives of workaholics are usually stressful and this tension and worry can cause health problems such as heart attack or stomach ulcers. In addition, typical workaholics don’t much attention to their families. They spend little time with their children, are their marriages may and in divorce. Is work holism always dangerous? Perhaps not/ there are, certainly, people who work well under stress. Some studies show that many workaholics have great energy and interest in life. Their work is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy. For most workaholics, work and entertainment is the same thing. Their jobs provide them with a challenge; this keeps them busy and creative. Other people retire from work at age 65, but workaholics usually prefer not quite. They are still enthusiastic about work and life in their 80s and 90s. Why do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several advantages to work. It provides people with paychecks, of course, and this is important. But it offers more than, financial security. It provides people with self-confidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction when they’ve produced a challenging piece of work and able to say: “I made that”.
Psychologists claim that work gives people an identity, through participation in work, that gets a sense of self and individualism. In addition, most jobs provide people with a socially acceptable way to meet others. Perhaps some people are compulsive about their work, but their addiction seems to be a safe even, an advantageous one.