Call everyone "teacher"? How to choose the right workplace title

Compared with people who have worked for many years, newcomers in the workplace have less work experience and are not strong enough to adapt, so they are more likely to be confused about the symmetry problem.

In Li Yiyi's work group after the 90s, "teachers" appear at an average frequency of 30 times a day. Li Yiyi works in marketing in Beijing, a title that has become a staple in her communication with the people she works with.

Li Yingying, who works in Langfang, Hebei Province, has nearly 10 years of workplace experience. Most of the time, she calls each other by "surname + position" or "sister and brother", but in situations such as training or meetings, she still calls the other party "teacher", which is polite and kind.

A few days ago, CCTV launched on Weibo "Do you often call others 'teacher'?" 100,000 people participated. According to the survey results, about one-third of people regularly refer to someone else's teacher.

As an important part of building a good professional image, workplace salutation affects the effectiveness of interpersonal communication. The "teacher" who is both respectful and easy to make mistakes can be described as the "golden balm". However, while the term "teacher" is widely used, many people think that it is a misuse of words and disrespectful to teachers who teach and educate people. So how should we use the term "teacher"? How to choose the right workplace title?

When the term "teacher" is called "inflation"

Wang Xin, who works in operations at a technology company, hates calling others "teacher" and thinks it's fake politeness and pretending to be culture. Although she sometimes uses it, it is usually to "go with the flow". At work, she prefers to be addressed by her peers by her first name, and to older people she is called "older sister" or "boss".

At first, Fan Yangyang, a teacher of human resource management at the Sino-Swiss School of Hotel Management of Beijing Second Foreign Chinese College, was also puzzled by this. "For a lesson, we consulted a lot of books and materials in the early stage, summarized and sorted out, and passed on knowledge, so that we could be called 'teachers'. Yet now a lot of people don't do anything and are called that. She felt that this was an abuse of the professional title.

However, Fan Yangyang gradually accepted and understood this phenomenon. "If you are a threesome, you must have my teacher." She believes that nowadays there is more group communication, and classes are not the only way to acquire knowledge. If a person can learn from others, then the other person is his teacher. "On the surface, it seems that anyone can be called a 'teacher', but in fact, many people have a 'scale' in their hearts. He will only use this title when he is facing someone who truly respects and recognizes the other person. Fan Yangyang said.

For the workplace title, Zhao Qiu, a post-95 Northeast girl, has experienced some exploration. During her school days, she never addressed anyone outside the school as a "teacher". When she was in her third year of graduate school, Zhao Qiu interned at a public examination training institution, and because many employees of the company were both employees and teachers, she directly called her leaders and colleagues "teachers". After graduation, Zhao Qiu entered a logistics and transportation-related company in Harbin, and her colleagues often used "brother and sister" to refer to her, and she also followed this habit.

It was only a year ago that Zhao Qiu actually called others "teacher". At that time, she was seconded to the Beijing headquarters, and there were many staff members from other regions who had passed over during the same period. "At that time, my colleagues called each other 'teacher', and at first I thought I didn't know everyone well, so I called it so out of respect, but later I found out that it was a common title." In her opinion, many times everyone just learns from each other at work, "especially the person who takes you when you first join the company, which is equivalent to your master, and there is nothing wrong with calling 'teacher'."

As a middle school teacher in Shenzhen, Ding Hua is able to accept that the title "teacher" is widely used. "Surnames are easier to remember than names, and it's more respectful to call 'teacher'." Since she works in a school, it is a natural thing for her to call each other teachers with her colleagues. However, there are occasional exceptions, she says: "The school's finance and administrative staff are not teachers, but it is a bit embarrassing to call them by name, so I also call them 'teacher' at the end." ”

In the view of teachers from the Department of Industry and Human Resource Management of Hangzhou Business School of Zhejiang Gongshang University, "teacher" is a way to avoid embarrassment. "In the work environment, titles evolve along with careers. Sometimes you don't always know what to call each other, and the term 'teacher' can be used regardless of gender, rank or industry. She said.

Salutation is important, but professionalism is even more important

Lai Banfen believes that salutation defines the social relationship between people and is also a cultural embodiment. Through the title, you can see the distance between two people, and the honorific title can also show respect for each other.

The reporter observed that in different industries and facing different people, there are differences in appropriate workplace titles: Internet companies are often referred to by nicknames or "× classmates"; Foreign companies are accustomed to using English names; Some industries prefer to call occupations, such as "× doctor" and "× director"; Others call them by their first names or "older sisters" by age......

In the face of the ever-changing workplace environment, titles pose challenges for professionals. Due to improper titles, embarrassing situations often occur.

"What I struggle with the most is to call people who are similar in age but have worked longer than me and hold certain positions." Ding Hua said that in the face of this situation, some people choose to use the title of 'sister or brother', but many people, including herself, do not like this title, "at least seven or eight years old to call me sister before I can accept it."

There was once a newly recruited colleague, although she was the same age as Ding Hua, but she kept calling her "sister". "Maybe in his eyes, he was respectful, but it made me very uncomfortable." After getting acquainted with the other party, Ding Hua explained her troubles, and even compared the date of birth with the other party in detail, and finally found that her colleague was older than her own month.

Because of the entanglement of workplace titles, Li Yiyi and Liu Fang in the consulting industry have also experienced it. Soon after Li Yiyi started working, she was assigned to be responsible for docking with an important customer. The communication was carried out online, and the other party called her "Teacher Li", Li Yiyi was flattered, feeling that she was still young and did not deserve to be called so. "Shall I tell him that I can be called 'Yiyi' or 'Xiao Li'?" Li Yiyi consulted a colleague, but the advice she got was not to say, "This is lowering your posture, which is easy for the other party to despise you and not think seriously about your problems." Although I don't know if the title will really have an impact on future communication, Li Yiyi didn't say it for the sake of insurance.

During the internship, when Liu Fang was sent to Party B to participate in the project, she was also called a mismatched title - "Mr. Liu". Unlike Li Yiyi, she immediately said euphemistically to the other party: "You don't have to be polite, just call me 'Xiaofang'." Liu Fang felt that she was not ignored because of the title.

"The inappropriate title may affect the level of attention of the other person, but the key is your own professionalism." Let's analyze it for half a point, if your professionalism is strong enough, the other party will not care whether you are "Xiao Li" or "Teacher Li"; If the other person is not interested in communicating with you, no matter what you call it, the other person will be perfunctory. "The title is important, but it's not as important as the content of the work that you are actually engaging with." She said.

Fan Yangyang believes that many people are very humble and afraid that others will exalt themselves. However, since both parties can cooperate, at least in the process of communication, you and the other person are in a kind of level-headed relationship. In her opinion, the title of "teacher" is a manifestation of equality, and the title of "little + surname" is often used between superiors and subordinates, elders and juniors, and it is inappropriate to use this title in cooperative relations.

If you want to get closer to the other party, Fan Yangyang feels that he can take the initiative to say his preferred name. "After you say it, the other party will weigh the relationship between the two, and if the relationship is not successful, the other party may still keep the original name unchanged." She said.

Prepare ahead to avoid embarrassment

Entering a new environment or meeting a new person, how to choose the right name?

It is suggested that from the perspective of occupation, status and corporate culture, several common occupations should be classified, and then the social etiquette of the industry should be understood according to the category. The intimacy of the relationship with the other party is also the criterion for judging the title, "when the relationship is close, the title can be more casual, and in more formal occasions, the title should also be formal."

Fan Yangyang introduced that some professions have specific titles, such as engineers are called "surname + worker", directors are called "surname + director", etc. "These specific titles are personalized, and using them shows how much you value the other person, but if you don't know or don't have a specific title, it's safest to call 'teacher.'"

The day before being interviewed by reporters, Fan Yangyang received a company's human resources director. The director's surname is "Fu", and if he is directly called "Director Fu", it is easy to have ambiguity with "Deputy Director", so everyone calls him "Teacher Fu" to avoid embarrassment.

According to the observation, compared with people who have worked for many years, newcomers in the workplace have less work experience and are not strong enough to adapt, so they are more likely to be confused about the issue of symmetry. She suggested that young people, in the face of unfamiliar people, can consult seniors or do strategies in advance to understand the appropriate name. "If there is really an embarrassing situation, be psychologically strong and adjust it in time. In general, people are more tolerant of young people. She said.

When introducing ourselves, let's think that we should depend on the occasion. If you're led by seniors and aren't the protagonist of this social occasion, it's best not to be too showy. Depending on the rhythm of the overall interaction, decide to what extent you want to introduce yourself. If you are visiting alone, please be sure to introduce it.

At the same time, I would like to remind you that the above practices are based on traditional Chinese culture and are not applicable to diplomatic and foreign affairs occasions. Foreign affairs occasions involve cross-cultural issues, so it is necessary to pay special attention to the title and prepare in advance.

For those who are called "teachers", Fan Yangyang hopes that they can ask themselves: can they be worthy of this title? "Teachers should bring positive guidance to people, and I hope that everyone who is called 'teacher' can be worthy of this 'teacher'." She said.

(At the request of the interviewee, this article is a pseudonym except for Fan Yangyang and Lai Banfen)