Reference no: EM133243721

Question: Saul, aged twenty-?ve, has just started a new job where everyone works in an open-plan office. He's been there about three weeks and is content. A music lover, he has been wearing headphones during the day while working on the computer. Yesterday a colleague who Saul guesses to be about forty to forty-?ve years old, offered him some "advice." "You should take off the headphones in the of?ce," she said, "that's not the way we do things here. People are starting to say that you aren't friendly and tend to be a loner." This caught Saul by surprise since he has the headphones on most of his free time as well, and he thinks the music helps him stay relaxed and focused while doing detailed computer work. Nobody said anything about such things when he interviewed, and he can't ?nd any company policy or rule that forbids wearing headphones at work. He likes the job, even likes the people, but he doesn't like being told to take the headphones off. What do you think is going on here?

How should Saul interpret this "advice"? (Is his older co-worker just being pushy? Would referring to policy help to resolve this matter? You may want to argue against an alternative to an approach you rejected explain how it may hinder Saul's long term goals.