Was the past a bit TOO touchy feely?

Thirty years ago, I started my first proper job. I worked in a small branch of a well known British bank, situated in one of the more well-heeled parts of London. (Our customers included a cousin of the Queen, as well as several famous actors, artists and other early 1980’s celebrities).

However, unlike our customers, the behaviour of some of the staff was far from well bred. There was one man in particular (one of the longer serving staff members) who made it a habit of - and I can’t put this more delicately - touching up the female staff. Correction – some of the female staff; the young, pretty ones.

Looking back, it was quite extraordinary how he was accorded a kind of droit de seigneur, regarding it as his right to enjoy tangibly the physical attributes of his colleagues. Even more extraordinary was that the victims of his attentions did no more than mildly demur. Management turned a blind eye because Stan was a bit rough around the edges, but a “good sort”.

Another characteristic indication of this bygone era was the fact that smoking was tolerated in the office, an indulgence that was taken advantage of by all - half the staff smoked actively, the other half passively. The only place where smoking was not allowed was near the tills, but that was because it didn’t look very classy.

Fast forward thirty years, and both behaviours are now not only regarded as shocking, but are also actually unlawful, both in the UK and in New Zealand. It’s hard to imagine it any other way.

Thinking of all this, I was set to musing about how things will be 30 years hence. While it’s tempting to say that acceptable workplace behaviour will be even more codified and circumscribed (e.g., universal no-dating-colleagues policies, no Christmas parties, compulsory 50:50 splits between male and female memberships of boards of directors) I think it will all depend on the state of the economy over the next thirty years. When things are comfortable, respect for human rights and dignities prevails. When things get tough, more pressing needs take precedence.

Any predictions how the typical New Zealand workplace will look in 30 years time?