South African Workplace Habits – The Truth Revealed!

If you’ve ever heard people referring to South Africans as ‘cliquey’, they wouldn’t be entirely wrong, at least when it comes to the workplace.

CareerJunction recently conducted a survey which explores office etiquette in South Africa. Nearly 2,000 people took part in the survey and while there were many interesting workplace habits revealed, one finding was clear; South Africans like to keep to themselves.

Silence is Golden

Let’s face it, the workplace is a completely different ball game which comes with its own unique set of challenges. Sharing space with others can be tricky, especially in an open plan office environment, which is the norm for over 70% of respondents.

Interestingly though, most respondents said they prefer to be separated from their colleagues. Their reasons? Peace and quiet.

When asked about their preferred type of office space, only 21% of respondents chose an open plan office while over 55% opted in for closed or sectioned off spaces. And surprisingly, only 20% preferred to work from home.

Collaboration

It’s safe to assume that the intention behind open plan offices is to increase collaboration between colleagues and perhaps to create a more fun working environment. However, South Africans seem to be in two minds about whether this holds true, with half admitting they don’t agree, and the other half being in agreement/uncertain.

When looking at respondents’ behaviour at work, this ambivalence is clear. About half seem to wear their headphones and list things like interruptions and background noise as their biggest pain-points, while many claim that they can’t really be bothered by these things and just ignore it.

Politeness – Just Smile and Wave

Inappropriate use of language, weird smells and personal phone calls are also on the list of major irritations for people surveyed, however, the majority seem to keep it together and stay professional.

75% of respondents also said they will only approach colleagues if it’s urgent and won’t bother them with emails or instant messages unnecessarily.

Polite or patient? Well, over 60% of respondents admitted that they believe being friendly and courteous towards their colleagues will have a positive impact on their careers. We’ll go with polite!

Of course, there are always a few sour apples. Some workers seem easily pushed over the edge; for instance, nearly 15% of survey respondents said they would wave their hands close to their colleagues’ faces to get their attention if they are wearing headphones and 2% said they would go as far as to throw something at them. While more than a third of respondents said they never ask their colleagues to be quiet, the majority admitted that they will tell them to use their “inside voice”. 5% admitted that others’ ringtones drive them mad and over 40% said that colleagues arriving late for work/meetings irritates them.

Personal vs Private Lives

So, with many South Africans sharing office space, one can’t help but wonder how many manage to keep their private lives private.

Generally, many workers seem to achieve this, with 70% saying that they don’t mix work and personal life and don’t mingle with their colleagues outside office hours.

Office Politics

Survey respondents confessed that they are all too familiar with office politics.

When asked how they handle conflict in the workplace, most respondents said that they prefer to go to a co-worker directly if they have any issues with them instead of going to a manager first (11%) or directly to HR (1.5%).

Favouritism in the workplace seems to be an issue with 43% of respondents saying that they’ve been negatively affected by it.

The conclusion? Most South Africans are very pleasant to work with – just don’t invade our private space.

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