{"id":2077,"date":"2016-01-25T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-01-24T22:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/?p=2077"},"modified":"2021-07-01T09:49:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T01:49:03","slug":"expats-guide-how-not-to-offend-a-local-workmate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/2016\/01\/25\/expats-guide-how-not-to-offend-a-local-workmate\/","title":{"rendered":"Expats&#8217; Guide: How Not to Offend a Local Workmate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2078\" src=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/01\/offending-workmate.jpg\" alt=\"offending workmate\" width=\"561\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Working in a foreign country like the Philippines means that there is a chance you will also be working with a local colleague. There are times that you will have to converse with them and talk about things outside work. Just like any other countries, there are things that can offend people, so you really need to be careful if you don\u2019t want to leave a bad impression in your workplace. To help you out, here are some of the things you should know so as not to offend a local colleague:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">1. Do not ask about Gender, Race, or Insecurity<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">If you really don\u2019t need to ask about these things, don\u2019t do it. Sometimes, locals are sensitive with talks that can become too personal in nature. Especially if you\u2019re not too close with that colleague, better just ask interesting questions that can help build a great working relationship which can eventually lead to friendship in the long run.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">2. Never point fingers<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Even outside the Philippines, you should be very careful when using non-verbal gestures. Here in this country, pointing fingers is usually offensive. It is somehow a rude and impolite manner of emphasizing things. The best way to do that is to use the palm of your hand when explaining things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">3. Do not make general derogatory comments<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Oh no, you didn\u2019t just insult Pia Wurtzbach and Manny Pacquiao, or basically just any personality with Filipino blood! If you really want to build a rapport with your colleague, don\u2019t mess with Filipino pride. If you have unnecessary comments, keep it to yourself. Filipinos are generally sensitive so one big mistake; you might just get bashed by the whole workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">4. Do not compare cultures<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><em>\u201cIn [insert name of country here], we don\u2019t do it like that!\u201d<\/em> But the thing is, you\u2019re not in your country and it\u2019s done here this way. Do not expect people to conform to your rules just because you do it that way in another place. That\u2019s rude, and also annoying if you mention it all the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">5. Do not reject straightaway anything that your workmate gives you for free<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">If Workmate A gives you free cookies and you don\u2019t like cookies, refuse politely. If you reject it right away, your workmate might think you strongly don\u2019t want anything from him\/her. Appreciate the thought and who doesn\u2019t love free, anyway?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">6. When in a conversation, speak a language understood by everybody<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">When in a conversation, be polite to use a language understood by many. For example, if you\u2019re working with a Filipino even if majority of you are Korean, you should speak English so as not to let the other person feel left out. Especially in meetings, wherein everybody is involved, it can also be a form of respect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Have you thought of other things than can help not to offend colleagues? Share it with us!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1855\" src=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/11\/border3.png\" alt=\"border3\" width=\"850\" height=\"5\" srcset=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/11\/border3.png 850w, https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/11\/border3-300x2.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt\"><em>Comics from Dilbert.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Working in a foreign country like the Philippines means that there is a chance you will also be working with a local colleague. There are times that you will have to converse with them and talk about things outside work. Just like any other countries, there are things that can offend people, so you really need to be careful if you don\u2019t want to leave a bad impression in your workplace. To help you out, here are some of the things you should know so as not to offend a local colleague: 1. Do not ask about Gender, Race, or Insecurity If you really don\u2019t need to ask about these [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1730,1729],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-history","category-everyday-life-hacks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2077"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9235,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2077\/revisions\/9235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}