Ajman

5 Unprofessional Things You Should Never Ever Say At Work

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The Bible tells us that our words have incredible power. You can use your tongue to bring blessings, curses, and life. Through words, you can hurt or heal. Your words can inform, educate, motivate, unite and can divide.

The same Bible, therefore, instructs us not to use foul or abusive language. Everything you say should be good, helpful and encouraging to others listening to you.

Whether or not you agree with it, our tongues can be the most challenging thing to control.  Sometimes they may leave us with great regret if we are not careful. The good news is you can control the words you speak!

Remember you spend most of your time at the workplace and it is best to remain professional always to maintain a good reputation. You can’t afford to lose friends at work just because of some simple words or phrases that come out of your mouth.

In this article, I have compiled a few things you should never say at work and how to avoid them.

1. ‘That is not my job’

There are times your colleague or boss will ask you to do something that’s completely not related to what you do. It has happened to me, so I know.

Sometimes you may feel it is not your responsibility and you resist doing it.

So how do you react when you know you can’t do it? Do you pull the “This is not my job” response? If you say this, you will not portray yourself as a team player.

Instead, you can say something like “I have not done this before but I will do it for you.”

This is a bit professional as it indicates your willingness to collaborate and embrace new challenges.

2. ‘You look pregnant’

This is absolutely weird. You may have developed great friendships with your colleague to a point where you are free to ask or discuss anything with them. But the rule is, keep personal space between you.

Asking questions like “Are you pregnant?” doesn’t sound cool. It’s intrusive and disrespectful, to say the least. Just never say or mention something like this.

If your colleague is in that state, it is upon them to tell you when they are comfortable to. If you are wrong, things get really uncomfortable.

3. ‘I’m sorry’

Making mistakes is natural. There are several ways you can be in the wrong at work without even realizing it.

And when it happens, acknowledge your faults and apologize. This, however, does not mean just saying sorry openly. There’s a professional way of doing it. Say something like: “Excuse me. I know this was wrong, and it would not happen again.”

4. ‘That’s impossible’

This is one of the negative statements that can greatly affect your productivity in life.

You have probably heard successful people say ‘Everything is possible’. This is 100% true but why do you think yours is impossible?

Even if you have tried almost all the possible solutions and you think you are now exhausted, remember there are more than 1001 other options to do it better.

You can communicate through your words what you can do to improve the situation. Say something like “Let’s discuss and find out what’s possible under these situations.”

5. ‘I’m too busy’

I am not saying you are not a busy person. I know you have several things to accomplish within a short time. Sometimes you are faced with limited time that you are unable to attend to others. However, you should not use this as an excuse to avoid offering assistance to others.

Saying something like “I’m too busy” makes others feel less important. As a professional, your aim is to build and maintain positive relations with others.

Always, learn to exercise empathy when addressing other people.

In the end, you will realize that these are just but a few common phrases that come up in our everyday conversations at work but the trick is to be conscious and aware of the language you use. Be observant in meetings, presentations, and arguments and in no time you will be communicating positively with confidence.

The UAE’s rich history

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The UAE’s rich history is rooted in trade and tied to Islam, which came to the region in AD 630. The Emirates’ location between Europe and the Far East attracted merchants from India and China and was prized by Europeans, particularly the Portuguese, Dutch and British.

While Europeans sought control of the coasts, inland, the Bedouin made the sandy deserts of Abu Dhabi and Dubai their home. The town of Abu Dhabi became an important center.

In the 19th century, the British signed a series of agreements with individual Emirates that resulted in an area known as “The Trucial States.” The Emirates agreed not to cede any territory except to the United Kingdom and to refrain from engagement with any foreign government other than the United Kingdom without prior consent from the British. In return, the British promised to protect the coast from all aggression by sea and to provide assistance in the event of an attack by land.

The pearling industry thrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries, providing income and employment to the people of the Gulf. Many inhabitants were semi-nomadic, pearling in the summer and tending date gardens in the winter. But the economic depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s coupled with the Japanese invention of the cultured pearl irreparably damaged the pearling industry.

New Beginnings

In the early 1930s the first oil company teams conducted geological surveys in the UAE. Almost thirty short years later, in 1962, the first cargo of crude oil was exported from Abu Dhabi. With the economy steadily progressing, HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was chosen as the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966. Under Sheikh Zayed, the steady oil revenues resulted in an infrastructure overhaul with the construction of schools, housing, hospitals and roads throughout Abu Dhabi.

One of Sheikh Zayed’s early actions was to increase contributions to the Trucial States Development Fund, with Abu Dhabi becoming the Fund’s largest donor. Meanwhile HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, de facto Ruler of Dubai since 1939, replaced pearling revenues by becoming a part of the shipping industry. And, in 1969 as the Emirate of Dubai began exporting oil, Sheikh Rashid focused his attention on developing programs aimed at improving the quality of life of his people with the new oil revenues. In 1968, with the British announcement of its withdrawal from the Arabian Gulf, Sheikh Zayed stepped into action to quickly establish closer ties among the Emirates. Together with Sheikh Rashid, Sheikh Zayed called for a federation that would include not only the seven Emirates that together made up the Trucial States, but also Qatar and Bahrain.

An agreement was reached between the rulers of six of the Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Fujairah and Ajman), and the federation to be known as the United Arab Emirates was formally established on 2 December 1971. The seventh Emirate, Ra’s al-Khaimah, acceded to the new federation the following year.

Since the formation of the union, the seven Emirates have forged a distinct national identity. The UAE’s political system has been designed to ensure the country’s heritage is maintained, adapted and preserved by combining tradition with a modern administrative structure.

Education in the UAE

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One of the UAE’s highest priorities has always been education. As President His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of the UAE, noted, “The greatest use that can be made of wealth is to invest it in creating generations of educated and trained people.”

The UAE has focused on educating both men and women. In 1975, the rate of adult literacy was 54 percent among men and 31 percent among women. Today, literacy rates for both genders are close to 95 percent.

New initiatives are being launched at all educational levels. A key area of focus has been to transform K to 12 programs, to ensure that UAE students are fully prepared to attend universities around the world and compete in the global marketplace. In addition, some of the world’s best universities are creating programs in the UAE, attracting talented students in the Arab world and globally.

The UAE’s commitment to education has helped the nation diversify its economy and prepared a new generation of young people ready to compete in the global marketplace. In 2019, young people surveyed throughout the Arab world identified the UAE(link is external) as the top country to live in and to emulate for the eighth year running, reflecting the opportunities available to youth entering the workforce.

K-12 Programs

The education system of the UAE is relatively new. In 1952, there were few formal schools in the country. In the 1960s and 1970s a school building program expanded the education system. Now, education at the primary and secondary level is universal. In the 2013-2014 academic year, approximately 910,000 students were enrolled at 1,174 public and private schools.

Education reform focuses on better preparation, greater accountability, higher standards and improved professionalism. In addition, rote instruction is being replaced with more interactive forms of learning, and English-language education is being integrated into other subjects, such as math and science. While general strategy is determined by the Ministry of Education, education councils set up in individual Emirates assist in implementing government policy. The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), the Dubai Education Council (DEC), the Sharjah Education Council and the UAE Ministry of Education are each tasked with reforming the educational program in the UAE while still preserving local traditions, principles and the cultural identity of the country.

Higher Education

The UAE is home to a wide range of universities, both public and private. UAE citizens can attend government institutions free of charge, and the UAE has one of the highest application participation rates in the world. Ninety-five percent of all girls and 80 percent of boys enrolled in the final year of secondary school apply for admission to a higher education institution. UAE public universities include:

  • UAE University, where enrollment was 502 in its founding year and has increased nearly 30-fold over the years. Women represent a majority of the student body. UAE University awards 70 undergraduate degrees in addition to graduate degrees with many programs that are internationally accredited. (www.uaeu.ac.ae(link is external))
  • Zayed University (ZU), established in 1998 as an all-women’s institution, and recently opened a men’s campus.  It is organized into five colleges—Arts and Sciences, Business Sciences, Communication and Media Sciences, Education and Information Systems—and the primary language of instruction is English. Zayed University has US accreditation, attesting to its high standards. (www.zu.ac.ae(link is external))
  • Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), the largest higher educational institution in the UAE with an enrollment of 16,000 students. Founded in 1988 with four campuses, HCT now includes 16 men’s and women’s colleges in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Madinat Zayed, Dubai, Ra’s al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Fujairah. The colleges offer more than 80 technical and professional degrees and certifications. More than 10,000 of the current students are female. (www.hct.ac.ae(link is external))

Private Institutions

Some of the key private institutions include:

  • American Universities of Sharjah and Dubai, both of which are US accredited
  • Sharjah University
  • Ajman University of Science and Technology
  • Abu Dhabi University, with campuses in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain
  • Al Hosn University
  • Khalifa University of Science and Technology

In addition to these institutions, the Masdar Institute for Science and Technology (MIST) began accepting students in 2009. MIST is the Middle East’s first graduate education and research university focused on clean energy and developing the next generation of solutions to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels.

Global Partnerships

A number of international universities have campuses and/or programs in the UAE.  Some are housed in special zones, including Dubai Knowledge Village and Academic City.

Other special programs include:

  • The Sorbonne opened its Abu Dhabi campus in 2006 and awards qualifications under French regulations and standards set by the Sorbonne in Paris.
  • New York University is the first comprehensive liberal arts and sciences campus with a robust research component to be operated abroad by a major US university. NYU Abu Dhabi graduated its first class in Spring 2014 with 150 students from 39 countries. The campus has a permanent home on Saadiyat Island to house 2,000 students.
  • Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health is helping establish a public health doctoral program in the Emirates.
  • Other US institutions include the University of Washington, Boston University and Rochester Institute of Technology.

Technical Education

Founded in 1997, the Center of Excellence for Applied Research and Training (CERT) is the commercial arm of the Higher Colleges of Technology and provides education, training and applied technology instruction. The company is the largest private education provider in the Middle East and is developing projects throughout the MENA region.

Other vocational and technical educational centers are sponsored by the:

  • Emirates Institute for Banking and Finance
  • Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Career Development Center
  • Petroleum Institute
  • Dubai School of Government
  • Emirates Aviation College for Aerospace and Academic Studies

Special Education

The government of the UAE strongly supports education and learning services for students with special needs. The UAE signed the optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and passed Federal Law 29/2006 guaranteeing rights for people with special needs.

Vocational and rehabilitation centers have been developed throughout the country. In addition, efforts are made to include special needs students in mainstream educational settings. The government of Abu Dhabi has partnered with the New England Center for Children, a Massachusetts school serving children with autism. The partnership has allowed the UAE to establish a comprehensive education program as well a training course for UAE nationals to provide services to students with special needs in Arabic. The UAE also participates in the Special Olympics.