I feel like women have it much tougher when it comes to proper business attire. It’s pretty hard for men to go wrong with a suit (although my former boss and his “fun” ties with dumb prints on them sure did his hardest to disprove that statement), but women have to navigate everything from skirt length to heel height. If you’d asked me what I thought about wearing makeup at work, I would have guessed that women wearing obvious makeup at work was a faux pas, but a recent British study seems to prove me wrong:
64 per cent of directors said that women who wore make-up look more professional and 18 per cent of directors said that women who do not wear make-up “look like they can’t be bothered to make an effort.”
This Times of London article, which wants to present itself as helpful but is actually totally condescending, advises women on their makeup options. The author suggests going to a department store and getting a makeover from the consultants (and probably buying a lot of expensive products as well, right?), plucking eyebrows, using self-tanner and/or a bronzer, and even goes so far as to suggest that men should try sporting makeup as well.
Maybe some people think wearing makeup is the answer. I think “stop judging people by their looks as long as they’re presentable and dressed professionally” is a more efficient plan, but perhaps I’m in the minority on that one. After all – I work from home. It’s a miracle when I put on clothes instead of pajamas.
What about you? Do you feel pressure to wear makeup or to put on a certain kind of makeup for work?
Have you ever seen that 30 Rock episode about The Bubble? Tina Fey’s character Liz is dating a guy played by ultra-dreamy Jon “Don Draper” Hamm of Mad Men fame, and she realizes that his life is charmed because he’s good-looking. He can order stuff that isn’t on the menu at restaurants, people give him free stuff all the time, and Calvin Klein stops him on the street to ask if he can model in his new campaign. Liz tries to explain to her boyfriend that he lives in a bubble, but he’d rather just keep living a charmed life than have to deal with the fact that he gets preferential treatment for being hot.
According to a recent study, “the bubble” does kind of exist. ScienceDaily reports that “attractiveness, along with confidence, may help job-seekers stand out to employers.” While intelligence also plays a big role in determining confidence and self-worth, it’s far from being the only factor.
The researchers found that physical attractiveness had a significant impact on how much people got paid, how educated they were, and how they evaluated themselves. Basically, people who were rated good-looking made more money, were better educated and were more confident.
For more info on the study, “facial symmetry” theory, and more, check out the full report. Or hit Sephora during your lunch break and spend the rest of the day hating yourself for not being a supermodel. Whatever’s easier.
It seems like getting promoted would be awesome for you – you’d earn more money, get a better parking space, and be able to boss people around. However, a recent study at England’s Warwick University claims the opposite. After interviewing 1,000 workers who had been promoted into management roles, researchers determined that a promotion caused one’s mental health to decline.
Experts said being given extra responsibility could lead to more stress, anxiety and depression.
They said the problems could be exacerbated by workers who were promoted having less time to access health services.
GP visits fell by 20% to less than two a year after promotion, the study found.
But what about that major ego boost that comes from getting promoted?
Lead researcher Chris Boyce said: “Getting promoted at work is not as great as people think.
“Our research finds that the mental health of managers typically deteriorates after a job promotion and in a way that goes beyond merely a short-term change.
“People given senior positions need to be given the proper support and training to handle the extra responsibility.”
I feel weirdly vindicated by this article. Maybe they should hire me to do a study about whether being unemployed, conversely, makes people happier? I’d venture to say yes.
Have you ever watched an episode of The Office and wondered what it might be like to actually have to work with Dwight Schrute? I mean, the guy’s hilarious on TV, but would he amuse the hell out of you in person, or make you want to kill him?
A researcher at Brigham Young University, Dr. Katie Liljenquist, had that same question. She did a study about “socially distinct newcomers” and their effect on offices. She believes that “Dwights” can make cause offices to become more cohesive and work better as a team while they deal with the weirdness or intractibility of their new coworker.
Insecure and conflict-averse employees who are comfortable in their groups often bristle when a newcomer arrives.
That’s because their social cohesiveness is threatened, says Prof. Liljenquist… If one person agrees with the outsider, the group is spurred to brush aside that discomfort and sharpen its focus on the task at hand. Members will open up to new ideas, have a few productive, yet civil boardroom tussles, and voilà: A higher-quality team session will ensue.
Not sure I buy it, but an interesting theory nonetheless.
There’s an entire cottage industry based around hating Mondays (Garfield comics, the Boomtown Rats song “I Don’t Like Mondays”) and loving Fridays (TGIFriday’s, anyone?). But according to a new study, the most stressful time of the entire workweek is … Tuesday at 11:45 AM. What?
According to the study, which was conducted in the UK:
Most workers coast through Monday getting their brain in gear and catching up with gossip from the weekend through social networking sites.
But on Tuesday reality sets in and staff spend the first part of the day going through emails they ignored on Monday before planning the week ahead.
I can kind of buy this logic, except that I spent time checking Facebook and blogs pretty much every day of the week and not just Monday. I’d be curious to see some data on what times of the week people are most likely to schedule insanely dull marathon meetings, since that was what always caused me the most stress.
A recent study found that less than half of American workers think that their office encourages or fosters creativity. The Workplace Democracy Association, who sponsored the study, found that at least a quarter of workers are in a “dictatorship” situation at the office, meaning that they are expected to fall in line with commands from someone in an absolute position of power.
This news shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who is or has been an assistant. In fact, the boss/personal assistant relationship kind of defines “dictatorship”–they’re the general, and you’re the lackey who picks up dry cleaning and makes lunch reservations.
So how can we make workers feel like they have a say in what happens between 9 and 5? 80 percent of respondents wanted the ability to make their own decisions about how to do their work. 18 percent suggested that they new employees be hired by a group of coworkers instead of a single boss. If they had called STA HQ to ask our thoughts, “treating us like human beings instead of drones” would have been high on the list, as would “no yelling, throwing things, or name-calling.” Come to think of it, the latter would really be appropriate for a kindergarten as well.
This may come as a shock to you, but your job is getting more demanding. I know, I know, as soon as you’re done peeling yourself off the floor, come back to the post and we’ll explain to you that a recent study proves that despite advances in technology, the average output expected of an excutive assistant has increased. Note:
Executives were asked, “During the past five years, how have the responsibilities for administrative assistants changed?” Their responses:
Increased significantly………….23%
Increased somewhat………………50%
No change………………………14%
Decreased somewhat………………11%
Decreased significantly…………..2%
Executives also were asked, “Does an administrative assistant have more or less of a career-growth track than five years ago?” Their responses:
More…………………………..57%
Same…………………………..25%
Less…………………………..17%
Don’t know………………………1%
Is this consistent with your own experiences, or do you think it’s total hogwash? Personally, we think they should have surveyed assistants, instead of their bosses, since we’re all aware that assistants are the ones doing all the heavy lifting every day. Full results and commentary are here.
