Silent Career Killer: Bad Manners

It’s not as simple as just saying “Please” and “Thank You.” The way business works has changed more in the past 30 years than in the 100 years prior.

One obvious change has been technological and has been fraught with danger due to its rapid acceptance and growth, ease of use and speed of delivery (Have you ever hit ‘enter’ too fast?) Rules that applied in written communication often were not translated into online and email communication. Basic salutations have been lost and punctuation has seemingly disappeared. But, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Global Workforce

The more dramatic changes, with even less rules provided, are the cross-cultural make-up of the workforce. We are all taught, from youth, the basics of general niceties, but knowing how and what that means in a global environment requires intentional understanding of the protocol of the world around us. A few examples:

• Shaking the head in a horizontal direction in most countries means “no”, while in India it means “yes.”

• Showing the thumb held upwards means in “everything’s ok”, while it is understood in Islamic countries as a rude sexual sign.

• Creating the sign with the thumb and forefinger forming an “O, with the other three fingers extended” is known as “okay” in North America and western European countries. In Japan it means “now we may talk about money”. In southern France it means the contrary of Japan, “nothing, without any value”, and in Spain, some Latin American countries, Eastern Europe and Russia it is an indecent sexual sign.

• In Africa, saying to a female friend one has not seen for a while that she has put on weight means she is physically healthier than before or had a nice holiday, whereas this would be considered as an insult in Europe, North America and Australia.

What To Do

This enhanced development of the soft skill, good manners, is necessary for advancing your career and increased credibility. Because of the differences, we need to rethink and redefine what business etiquette means in this new workforce. You should:

• Promote the right sort of relationships in the global office – Don’t be ‘clicky’

• Foster general goodwill with co-workers – Should be a given

• Be mindful of gender, race and sexual orientation – Embrace differences

• Seek first to understand – All experiences are valuable

All else remaining equal, having these skills will mean the difference between being pigeonholed in your current position and being offered a new opportunity.

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