In Brief: Office Etiquette Standards; Top Leadership Traits

The New Standards for Office Etiquette

New research from global staffing firm Accountemps reveals that the nature of office etiquette has evolved significantly over the past 10 years. 

Ninety-one percent of the senior managers polled for this survey say workplaces are less formal than they were 10 years ago, an observation that they attribute to evolutions in social norms as well as a stronger emphasis on company culture. 

“Workplace policies today are designed to attract and retain employees, and that often means they’re more relaxed,” said Mike Steinitz, executive director of Accountemps.

According to the study, offices have specifically grown more tolerant toward forms of visual self-expression like tattoos and nontraditional hair colors. Yet, not every classic workplace taboo has been normalized; Accountemps found practices such as bringing pets to the office, spouting foul language and listening to music without headphones to still be quite gauche.

Leadership Traits of the World’s Top Managers

The functionality of a work team often hinges on the strength of its leader; according to Gallup, the quality of a manager accounts for an eye-catching 70 percent of the variance in team engagement. 

“In nearly every dimension of business success, the manager makes the difference,” writes Gallup writer Ryan Pendell. “From diversity and inclusion to productivity and retention, the manager plays a singular role in the life of an employee.”

Though they didn’t find a single, winning formula for overseeing a team, Gallup, in studying the habits of top business leaders, learned that the best managers make it a point to listen to and care about the views of their employees — whether it’s shining a light on their opinions in meetings, committing themselves to having one meaningful conversation a week with each team member or even lending an ear during a difficult time.  

“Managers should know, at an appropriate level, what’s going on in an employee’s life,” says Pendall. “Are they buying a house? Adopting a child? Cleaning out a flooded basement?”

How Gen Z Internet Habits Differ From Past Generations

Unsurprisingly, Gen Zers interact with tech for significant portions of a given day. According to GlobalWebIndex, young people ages 16 to 24 spent an average of seven hours per day online in 2019, with three of these spent exclusively on social media. 

However, the way Gen Zers use the internet and social media contrasts with the habits of millennials and Gen Xers, something that  marketers should take note of as they figure out the best way to target this prominent demographic. 

For instance, writes Vogue Business, more and more Gen Zers are opting to share content on private messaging apps or encrypted channels like WhatsApp and Telegram over Facebook Messenger due to rising concerns over data privacy. 

In addition, Vogue reports that Gen Zers don’t see social media’s primary function as a place for communicating with others and staying up to date like previous generations did. Instead, they see apps such as TikTok as an entertainment source and a way to fight boredom and spend their free time.

What Readers Want to See More of in News Stories

As more publications turn to paywalls to boost revenue, it’s becoming increasingly important for editors and journalists to ensure that readers are engaged and trusting in their work. 

Therefore, new research from the Center of Media Engagement on the improvements readers want to see across news stories is an essential one for journalism organizations — especially those concerned about retaining subscribers and reliable visitors. 

What are their recommendations? According to the study, readers want reporters to get better at avoiding jargon, guarding against bias, injecting stories with more background information, and providing insight into why they chose to cite a certain source. 

“Readers don’t have an inside look at your reporting process,” writes Katalina Deaven from the Center for Media Engagement. “They don’t know why you ended up with certain interviews and not others, who declined to speak, or who did not answer your request for an interview.”