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Latest News

Greeting blunders haunt office workers

by Personnel Today 20 Feb 2004
by Personnel Today 20 Feb 2004

More
than eight out of 10 office workers admit to having seriously misjudged the
manner in which they’ve greeted a colleague or a client, according to research
by recruitment firm Office Angels.

The
survey of 1,500 office workers showed more than two-thirds admitted that
‘getting it wrong’ had caused them acute embarrassment, while half said it had
affected professional relationships.

Office
Angels managing director Paul Jacobs said staff should always choose a greeting
that was too formal over one that was too informal.

The
top five ‘greeting blunders’ are:

1.
‘The Continental’ – Attempting to ‘go continental’ with a two-cheek kiss –
while the other person leans in to kiss just once (32 per cent)

2.
‘The Bone-crusher’ – Giving a ‘bone-crushing’ handshake to show your eagerness
(27 per cent)

3.
‘Turning the other cheek’ – Going for a handshake when the other person offers
their cheek (21 per cent)

4.
‘The Smacker’ – Misjudging a kiss and almost planting a ‘smacker’ on the lips
(12 per cent)

5.
‘The Bear Hug’ – Being too enthusiastic and ending up giving the recipient a
hug (8 per cent).

By Ross Wigham 

Personnel Today
Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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