Look next time you go to eat at a restaurant or cafeteria with family or friends. When the waiter comes to remove the plates to serve the next course or because the meal has finished, someone at the table, spontaneously and instinctively, will bring the plates closer or group them even before the waiter arrives to make his task easier.
It is an almost imperceptible gesture for most, but according to the psychologist Francisco Tabernerothis very common and spontaneous gesture can reveal much more information than it may seem. “That simple gesture of helping the waiter means several things,” says Tabernero.
It’s not just good education
Beyond being a gesture of good manners, the act of selflessly and spontaneously carrying out a collaborative action with the waiter shows two personality traits very well defined main ones. Tabernero highlights that, on the one hand, “providing selfless help to the waiter denotes a trait of empathy,” which is manifested by “helping simply out of altruism.”
This behavior can be considered a sign of what psychologists call prosocial attitude. That is, voluntary behaviors that benefit other people without seeking any direct compensation or recognition.
People who help clear the table at the end of a meal may be demonstrating internal capabilities such as empathy, humility and social responsibility, which are often not seen at first glance but which have significant weight, even in the professional environment.
Although the studies carried out Regarding this type of behavior, they attribute much of the credit to acquired habits and parental modeling. There is also evidence that this type of behavior connects directly with an active understanding of other people’s efforts.
Deficit in assertiveness and social judgment
Likewise, Tabernero highlights that this behavior can also demonstrate a type of passive assertiveness, which “causes excessive fear of the negative evaluation of others. This trait is observed in people who are excessively helpful both to their acquaintances and to their strangers.”
According to the psychologist, “sometimes it is no longer just that altruistic gesture, but rather a need to please and avoid being negatively evaluated prevails. It is a need to ‘be well seen’.”
What all recruiters are looking for: team spirit
The expert also recognizes some features of prosocial behavior represented in the proactive initiative of collaborating with the waiter to make his contribution to ensuring that the work that occupies his attention at that moment (clearing the table) is carried out. with the greatest speed and efficiency possible, showing involvement even when it is an unrelated task.
This collaborative attitude is included among what has been called Soft Skills or soft skills that are increasingly taking a greater role in personnel recruitment.
A meta-study collected in the Journal of Applied Psychology concluded that employees who show prosocial behaviors They consistently improve productivity and reinforce the environment in work teams. The study collects data from more than 9,800 employees from multiple sectors and reveals that this type of gesture generates less internal tension and greater cohesion within teams, which is why they are profiles highly valued by companies.
According to a published work for the Harvard Business School“teams with the greatest number of employees who act on their own initiative for the benefit of the group showed an increase of 16% in productivity levels and a 12% increase in internal cohesion indicators.”
However, Tabernero highlights that, in this case, the action of “collaborating to clear the table may be more linked to a previous condition of the person (being very restless or nervous),” which leads them to everything that happens around them having to be done immediately, rather than to a conscious and premeditated attitude of collaborating with the waiter or helping them to be more efficient in their work.
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