The Work Sphere: Dividing the Personal and Professional

“Professionalism: It’s NOT the job you DO, It’s HOW you DO the job.”
– Anonymous

How often have you heard the following when a coworker picks up their phone: "Hello? Hi Mom. No, I'm at work... at work, Mom. I can't talk to you right now." And the conversation goes on for another 10 minutes. This is a huge pet peeve of mine, but more than that, I think it indicates a lack of professionalism in the workplace.

 

The workplace is just that... a place for work. A place for you to get paid for the tasks you do there. If you simply must take a call during work, direct it to your mobile and step out of the room to take it. Seems simple enough to me.

Some of you may think this is a little harsh... that I'm too much of a buzzkill. I'll allow it. Do I want you to be miserable at your work? NO! Do I want you to make friends with your colleagues? OF COURSE! Enjoying what you do and liking your workplace leads to happier employees, who in turn do better at their jobs. I just believe that we can be a little too lax in our measures of professionalism.

Many workplaces have a set of standards for professionalism and integrity that are laid out in an employee handbook. These can include everything from dress code to personal calls to internet browsing (do you really think your company isn't aware of what exactly you're checking out on the world wide web?) As an employee of any company, you have a special responsibility as their representative to project the image they want their customers to see, even if you aren't actually client-facing. It's also important to note that this responsibility extends to any and all mediums in which you can be connected back to the company.

To bring it back to a PR standpoint, think of your personal branding. Your personal brand is the "you" that other people see - it's what they think when your name comes up in conversation. A personal brand is synonymous with a reputation so it's very important to cultivate a good one. Blade Creative Branding wrote a great blog post on the importance of personal branding and it's definitely worth a read.

What do you think? Am I being a little too harsh or do you think we're allowing our professional/personal lives to blend a little too much?