Distinguish

Workplace behaviours

In any workplace the employer has certain expectations about their employees. They are expected to be committed and hardworking, polite and cooperative. Find out about personal qualities¹, workplace etiquette² and skills³ that are needed to succeed in today’s world.

Employer Expectations

Different employers have different expectations about what you, as their employee, should be able to do. Your employer expects you to be honest, reliable, punctual and much more. You may not naturally possess all of these qualities, but luckily, these are all qualities that you can work on.

Task

Workplace Etiquette

Whilst at work, an employee is expected to act in an appropriate manner. Explore etiquette and behaviours in a variety of workplace environments in the task below.

Task

Divide into three groups. Each group should watch a different video from the series on Workplace Etiquette Part 1⁵, Part 2⁶ or Part 3⁷.

Videos are on YouTube and will need to be shown by the teacher where access is unavailable to students on some school networks.

After viewing the video, within your group, discuss your observations of issues raised in the video scenarios. Create a summary of these issues to report back to the whole class.

After each group has presented its summary, work collaboratively as a whole class to create a set of guidelines for etiquette in the workplace. In your guidelines incorporate the issues raised in the three videos and suggest ways of dealing with them. Publish your guidelines in a format to share with the whole class. Consider sharing your guidelines through Microsoft OneNote, Office 365 OneDrive, Google Classroom or Google Drive.

Points to consider

Employer and employee rights and responsibilities

When applying for a job, you must recognise that employers and employees have responsibilities and rights and these are drawn from several sources. These include common law legislation, industry specific requirements or Industrial Awards, Enterprise Agreements or individual contracts.

Visit the following sites which outline the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers.

Workcover NSW⁸ is a NSW government body that oversees work, health and safety in the workplace and outlines the employers and employees responsibility regarding workplace health and safety. Fair Work Information Statement⁹ provides basic information on matters that will affect your employment. Fair work Australia¹⁰ has information for both the employer and employee about understanding workplace rights.

Task

¹¹

Teamwork

Distinguish

Workplace behaviours

Links