Woman explains how to 'corporate flirt' to appear charismatic in workplaces: 'Energy is infectious'

A new workplace and colleagues can be intimidating if you haven't broken the ice. However, it's not as hard as we think.​ Sirnidhi Rajesh—who goes by @srinidhi.rajesh on TikTok—shared a simple hack to use on your colleagues to get ahead. In her video, she shared her discovery of a shrewd idea known as "Corporate flirting." She mentioned that she had heard on a video that charisma determines how you’re perceived in terms of success. To elaborate and branch out from this, Rajesh came up with the idea of corporate flirting and explained three different stages of the same.

“My best friend and I came up with a foolproof way to speak and act with charisma in almost any situation, especially corporate ones. We call it ‘Corporate flirting.’” She then used the example of a date where we often try to break the ice by asking questions that can evoke a discussion or response. “Someone who is at work at your level and you want to talk to, you’re gonna go up to them and introduce yourself and ask a basic question,” Rajesh said. She suggested examples of questions like ‘Where did you complete your graduation?’ among others. "They will give you a simple response like, 'Oh, I went to Northwestern.'"

The trick is that though the questions are simple and boring, you create a response that sparks the interaction. Before she could elaborate, she clarified that corporate flirting is nowhere close to the actual term of flirting. She then said, “The way to respond is, number one, to say something that lets them know you’ve heard them and number two, something that pokes fun at them.” She explained via her example, "Oh, so you're smart but you like to freeze yourself to death." She emphasized, "Poke fun not at them, but at the surrounding or environment." Rajesh again clarified that the fun has nothing to do with being mean or insulting but is rather a light-hearted conversation starter.

She added, “It shows that your guard is down and ready to have a friendly conversation and gives them a chance to do the same.” She also mentioned that the term for this entire act is "banter" but given the corporate atmosphere, she stuck to the idea of corporate flirting. She then shared how to corporate flirt with someone who is not on the same level as you, maybe a mentor. She mentioned that in such scenarios, one would ideally ask for advice or have a standard question. Sharing an example she said, "What can I do as a first-year analyst to succeed?" Adding her idea of corporate flirt to the question, Rajesh suggested updating the person on how their advice worked. "I hope it's not too much of a bother but I'm gonna circle back on this with you about this and keep you posted," she said.

“You’re kind of adding an action term and poking fun at yourself,” she added. "I'd joke about becoming analyst of the year. Obviously, there's no analyst of the year." This lets the person know that you’re putting an effort into engaging with them. Lastly, Rajesh spoke about corporate flirting with someone superior to you, presumably senior to a mentor. “Even if they keep a poker face, you’re going to bring all of your energy into the conversation,” she said. "Hi, I'm XYZ and I'm so excited to be here. Energy is infectious. It is why people are called the life of the party or charismatic.”

She concluded, "Your excitement makes the person feel wanted and safe and welcomed to be there and that is valuable." People were in complete agreement with her plan. Several HR professionals shared that a charismatic personality is one of the items to check before they can hire a candidate. @phatfairy said, “Being charismatic doesn’t give you competency but it will buy you grace while you’re building it.” @yadanapai said, “As someone who has earned success from this, it is legit advice for professionals.”