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Why is the gender important?
Excellent observation. Would it have mattered if both were of the same gender? It's like saying your male boss should not tell you to observe dress code just because you are a female employee. Yes, he could invoke HR, but wouldn't that be excessive?
Yeah, I’m always a little perplexed as to why people are so offended by this feedback. We work in the customer service industry, so it’s prob not good to look angry or flat. It’s good to show some enthusiasm. I’m a woman too. Maybe just take the feedback?
That’s reaching a bit. Being told to smile more is in no way saying it’s our job to “entertain men”. We work in client services, just be pleasant.
I think the problem is do you think a male manager would tell another man to smile more? (Never gotten that feedback before and I have the equivalent of resting bitch face for men)
I'm a guy and was told by a guy that I looked too intense at work and should smile more. It may be less common, but it is not unheard of.
He gave you feedback that seems helpful and pertinent.
If he had said, you have a resting b face, then you can take that to HR.
Thank you for sharing this; could you help me understand why the phrase might be sexist? I am not trying to troll but genuinely want to grasp what makes it problematic. This relates to the comment below, which notes that feedback would not be offered to a man.
Tell him you're super self conscious about your teeth and need a raise to go to a good dentist
Op made it up but forgot to post it on Reddit. Or you are grossly oversimplifying the feedback to offend yourself. Most likely they told you to be present and be approachable when it comes to client interactions. That is the job
If you are not looking for internet points, and then you can report a feedback like that
I wish I was lying!🤥
I'm a man and had a manager who told me to smile more around clients. It was good feedback. I've found that a genuine smile goes a long way when building trust.
HR probably won’t be helpful but maybe talk to other women above you and see what they think about the feedback. I can see women I work with going scorched earth if they found out someone had the nerve to give this feedback.
HR won't do anything because the guy didn't do anything wrong.
The women who would scorch the earth should get fired.
I am a man on a team of 5 men and the client (male) complained that 3 (m) on our team never bring any energy to calls or enthusiasm. He said they comes across as unapproachable and not engaged. He wanted those 3 guys replaced with people with more positive energy for the work. It’s essentially smile more and be more jovial. The same feedback, just framed differently for men.
I agree. It depends on the client. In truth, when the client shared the feedback with the Director. I actually agreed with the client. My team mates are all competent, but with dreadfully boring personalities I myself don’t like collaborating with them. It’s a preference thing and in client service we adjust to our clients (within reason .
I am honestly shocked at the responses in this post. This is such a sexist comment to make. It goes with the women are supposed to be pleasant and nice and accommodating trope. There are so many studies on this topic and its implications for the workplace. This person needs some coaching on how they phrase their feedback. Being more engaging and personable - that is objective feedback. But don’t tell me to smile more. I’m not Barbie.
Personal experience! I was asked to smile more. M 43 here. I argued back with saying how about we go back to our clients and find out how many of my engagements think I don't do my job well enough.