"here's where you're going to corporate flirt."
A TikTok user has gone viral for popularising a networking hack she calls “corporate flirting” to be successful in the workplace.
Srinidhi Rajesh works as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company in New York.
She posted a video – which has since been made private – explaining how to make friends and allies at work, drawing on examples from dating situations.
Srinidhi said: “A couple years ago my best friend and I came up with a foolproof way to act and speak with charisma in almost every single situation, especially corporate ones.
“We called it corporate flirting and I’m gonna show you guys how to do it.”
She stated that the easiest way to get to know someone at work is by introducing yourself to them and asking a simple question.
“They will give you a very simple XYZ response like ‘Oh I went to Northwestern.’ So far this conversation is really boring.
“Nothing has happened of significance but here’s where you’re going to corporate flirt.
“You’re going to respond with an answer that number one acknowledges that you were listening and heard what they said and shows that you have some kind of outside context to the situation, and two that kind of pokes fun at them not in a mean way, not in a way that puts them down, but more at the situation.”
According to Srinidhi, an example response is:
“Oh so you’re really smart but you like freezing to death for half the year?”
She said that this gives the other person the opportunity to joke back and build on the conversation.
Srinidhi went on to say that “corporate flirting” can also be applied to senior colleagues and bosses.
Giving an example, Srinidhi said:
“Have you ever been on a date with someone and then you get home and maybe the next day they text you saying ‘Hey I passed by this flower shop and it reminded me of you’.”
“How does that make you feel? It makes you feel like wow they’re so thoughtful, they remembered, they care about me, and they’re putting an effort to engage with me. Same thing in corporate America.”
She stated that after receiving advice from a senior colleague and applying the tips, it is good to thank them over email or in person.
This helps to build “camaraderie” with the person.
Some companies like KPMG are offering communication classes to some of their new employees who graduated during the Covid-19 pandemic because studying remotely hindered their networking and etiquette skills.
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