Watch out for new workplace taboos

A new generation of workplace taboos is threatening chaos within businesses that refuse to set firm ground rules, experts warn.

While old workplace taboos – such as sexual harassment – persist, changes in attitude and legislation have created new taboos on issues once considered “the norm”.

Little more than 10 years ago, smoking in an office was accepted behaviour. Now, it is outlawed in most places with smokers often having to go outside for a cigarette.

The “smoko” break itself is even frowned on by some non-smokers who resent their smoking colleagues spending so much time away from
the workstation.

Attitudes to drinking in the workplace have also changed with employers now concerned about litigation they may face by allowing – even providing – any alcoholic drink for employees.

Personal internet and email use at work can get some into trouble while other employers allow and even encourage staff to use such facilities, including some social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Antony Young, a business ethics expert at Melbourne’s RMIT University, says the taboos in the modern workplace are increasingly
difficult to define.

“People get a bit flummoxed about what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable,” he says.

He points to a Melbourne supermarket manager who was sacked after 18 years of loyal service after he was found having a couple of beers one lunchtime with a colleague he was trying to counsel.

The company says he broke the “zero tolerance” policy on alcohol during working hours – including breaks.

At the same time as new taboos emerge, employers are mindful that any workplace rules they try to impose may land them in trouble with authorities, especially when it comes to any perceived discrimination on gender, race and religion.

Grant Michelson, a University of Sydney ethics expert, says taboos are about defining where to draw the line on acceptable behaviour
in a workplace.

“We all stretch the lines to some extent but where a taboo is broken or violated, it’s about crossing that line,” Michelson says.

He says the difficulty comes when the lines remain undefined by an employer which is why he believes a good employer will have a clear set of ground rules on expected behaviour.

“If people keep breaking taboos, that creates chaos and disharmony,” Michelson says.

“The purpose of a taboo is to bring a bit or normality, understanding, stability and structure to an organisation.”

Queensland University of Technology industrial relations academic Keith Townsend describes a taboo as something in a workplace that is not openly discussed, that can be used by employees to exploit their workplace or others in the workforce.

He says the case of surgeon Jayant Patel in Bundaberg is a classic example where staff came up against a perceived workplace taboo where nurses did not speak out against doctors.

“Toni Hoffman broke that taboo and spoke out at great personal cost,” he says.

Townsend says he believes employers should encourage more open debate among their employees to make sure any complaints and concerns can be brought out into
the open.

Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth says some employees are afraid to speak out in case they find themselves labelled as a complainer and then find their career prospects hampered.

She says that about one in 10 complaints she sees involve a form of workplace victimisation.

“There’s a perception that people who complain are not someone that’s wanted in the workplace but it’s your lawful right to say something. It means something is happening that needs to be fixed,” Booth says.

Encouraging staff into breaking some unwritten and damaging taboos can be good for business.

Happening People managing director Sam Day, who runs staff development training programs, says asking employees to identify the rights and wrongs of a workplace is an important exercise when teaching them how to reach their potential. That means bringing some taboos out into the open.

“For example, there may be favourites in an organisation which means a certain person or position is ‘taboo’ and questioning their role or capabilities is not the ‘done thing’,” Day says.

He says such taboos must be questioned and employees must be encouraged to speak out if they have concerns.

“If it’s taboo to question the status quo, then that has a dramatic impact on an organisation,” he says.

Day says the “whistleblower” idea needs to be embraced more by organisations to protect those who speak out – something he feels is not practised enough. “If someone questions the status quo, all of a sudden they get attacked and may lose their job,” he says.

“Australian employers really need to change on that. They need to be more open and honest and that helps develop trust in the workplace.”

Most taboos are not as complex or destructive.

A recent survey by Harris Interactive found most people thought falling asleep at work was the greatest no-no. Kissing a co-worker, stealing, spreading rumours and drinking alcohol on the job also are identified.

It is the “grey areas” of behaviour that can cause the most grief for employees and their bosses.

That is when a bit of innocent behaviour in a workplace crosses the line.

Michelson says a worker could be making fun of someone as a bit of larrikin behaviour and they go on and on until they say something inappropriate.

“The larrikin blurs into the breaking of a taboo but you have to be careful about whether what was said was an unconscious view or something that was taken too far that was intentional and malicious in intent,” Michelson says.

He says the way to deal with such action links back to the anthropological traditions of what a taboo is in the first place – usually a tribal ban on a particular area or action and breaking such a tribal taboo usually led to punishment.

Punishment in the workplace can be as simple as an employee being cast out from a particular social group, ignored by colleagues and given the silent treatment, he says. Usually an apology can end such a punishment.

Michelson says more serious punishment needs to be looked at in context with the severity of the taboo broken.

That again is where it is important for an employer to define what the taboos are in the first place.

Townsend says another threat to allowing taboos to be broken in a workplace occurs when management fail to monitor and manage their staff.

Bad behaviour can emerge from a worker who rebels against their employer.

“People go into a job and are told ‘this is what you do and this is the way to do it’,” Townsend says.

“One way of clawing back control can be just sitting on the phone talking with your mate on a Monday morning.”

If the worker feels they can get away with that, out of sight of their boss or supervisor, then the phone calls can get longer in duration.

Townsend argues that more they can get away with that then the more they could be tempted to break other more serious taboos – such as stealing.

Abuse of email and internet access – especially when viewing pornographic or other such inappropriate material – can be the same, although employers usually warn that any use can be monitored and checked if abuse is suspected.

“I think any employee who uses a work computer and work email for doing anything to access something that’s considered taboo, well that’s just stupid,” Townsend says.

“Set up your own system at home (for that). Don’t do it at work,” he says.

What you do that is taboo

Here are some workplace taboos revealed in a recent survey by Harris Interactive of 5000 workers in the US, for the CareerBuilder.com website, which asked what they confessed to when it came to bad behaviour at work.

* Falling asleep (45 per cent).
* Kissing a co-worker (39 per cent).
* Stealing from the office (22 per cent).
* Spreading a rumour about a
co-worker (22 per cent).
* Drinking alcohol (21 per cent).
* Snooping after hours (18 per cent).
* Lying about education (4 per cent).
* Taking credit for another’s work (2 per cent).