We need to talk…but please stop (expletive deleted) swearing at us!

During the course of this week, I took a call from a job seeker, who had a complaint they wanted to make. This is not so unusual, as issues can arise from a myriad of situations, such as being unable to get timesheets approved as line managers are away, issues with a workplace colleagues, even queries about weekly wages payments.. you get the idea. I understand that these kinds of situations can have a real effect on people’s daily working lives and their salary and wages.

So when I picked up the phone this week, I wasn’t expecting the ‘F bomb’ to be then followed by a series of ‘F bombs’. Now anyone who knows me can tell you, I am no shrinking violet and I am certainly no prude. But may I humbly suggest, that if you have an issue which has to be dealt with, unleashing this kind of verbal tirade against the person who may be able to resolve your issue, is not best practice.

As frustrated as we all sometimes feel when we think we aren’t being taken seriously or being listened to, this is not going to be resolved by abuse. So after I let this person run out of breath, we then had a discussion about what the situation entailed and what could be the next course of action. I understand the need for people to be able to vent their frustrations and that is actually fine with me.

But throwing verbal ‘bombs’ is not.