Clearly Goldman Sachs admires this lovely gang of geniuses
Goldman Sachs has banned the use of profane language.
This is, quite frankly, fucking ridiculous.
For one, the resources that will go into policing language could be better spent in other places. (Trust me, I live in a place that has wasted gazillions on misguided attempts to monitor language for years)
Two, this is an attempt to control a specific human behaviour that should be left in individual hands. If someone swears so offensively, so often, or so uncouthly then fire their dumb ass. I wonder if this will adversely effect morale? It might.
Three, there is nothing wrong with a little swearing in the modern workplace. In fact, in my view (and swearing is one of my favourite pastimes) it humanizes work.
We live in an era where companies and those who work for them are rewarded for being human. The days of the stiff, boring firms with zero edge to them are (or should be) done. Would you like to work in some lifeless place where people are monitoring your language.
I thought not.
Get over yourself Goldman Sachs.
WTF? I get where you’re coming from- if coarse languge is emulated and a part of the Wall Street culture, then why should it be struck from staff e-mail communications? Is it not the “essence” of the stock exchange brand? Would Gordon Gekko put up with this??
But then again, there is that infamous grilling from the congressional hearings when all the world heard cuss words for the first time on C-SPAN. I suspect a blanket regulation like this for a large corporation like G-S is simply to prevent further dings to their corporate reputation. It seems trivial at this point because the damage has been done, but the use of harsh language in the context of the congressional hearings didn’t help their case in the court of public opionion.
Hey Krista!
Thanks for the comment
I know this is a reaction to the reputational issues you refer to. However, I think the reaction is misguided. In cleaning up the house GS risks burning down the village.
Employees – even at a large “straight edge” firm like GS – should be allowed to be human. Bringing in Big Brother and enacting censorship of this nature is likely to be counter productive.