Stiffening the Loosened Handshake

Early morning when I cross you, I acknowledge your presence with a smile, and an extended hand indicating a ‘Good Morning’ handshake. Pleased you offer your hand, and we retract our hands at the end of the 3^rd shake. We move ahead to our respective ways, with a warm feeling conveying trust, balance and equality among us. Probably this being the most apt defined purpose of a handshake at the end of the day.

Handshakes are an important introductory ritual in all manner of social contacts, and the research shows that the quality of the handshake makes a real difference, as quoted in “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” by William F. Chaplin et al., 2000. In fact the ‘Handshake Psychology’ has been an interesting phenomenon that has been several times under the scanner of research and easy ways of deciphering about people.

Our corporate houses are the places closest to observing the Handshake Psychology, as and when we come across several people/employees. And we cannot help but form an opinion about an individual and make judgments with the kind of grip, vigour, texture, strength and eye contact that follow.

Maybe one fine day we would find an altogether strong and enthusiastic handshake, and we would smile back at the new intern, or the employee who just received an incentive, or the employee who began his day wonderfully. Other days we came across a grip very much dead and wet conveying a nervous person, or an employee who just received some reprimand. All said and done, everyday we come across several hands that indicate the kind of mood and atmosphere the employee is going through.

Nevertheless a parallel interpretation exists as well, which talks about the spirit of togetherness – an enhanced version of equality, specially at places or offices whereby each morning the very first thing an employee entering his department does is, shake hands with all those already present in the department. More or less it becomes a ritual every morning, and more than a hand extended in pleasure, it becomes something out of mechanical habits. The employee entering the door, goes around each table/cubicle calling names of the concerned people, shaking hands; and before somebody decides to respond vocally the employee is already at the next cubicle. In the days that come, the employee merely goes and stands at the table/cubicle, pushing his hand across the others ' personal space; and quietly moving to the next. The routine gets so much in the system, that with a few more days that progress, the handshakes now resemble a three-finger grip, no eye contact, and worse a mere touch of the fingers. Plummeting goes their self-esteem and confidence, each passing day. Lack of trust heightens in the months and years that follow. Employees of the same department have very less to share and talk about, and they are busy suspecting the intentions of their colleagues. They despise each other and office politics is raking high in demand. But what doesn’t change is the mechanical handshake every morning, to mark the camaraderie and the culture that began with the vision of the top management. But what really makes the difference is now all the human touch is diminished, and the employees see each other as competition. Or maybe not, instead just robots working endlessly trying to achieve the set outputs and production levels. Missing the human feel and missing out calling on assistance to act on synergy at departmental and organizational levels.