Follow our simple rules for surefire success. Although many of today s work environments and dress codes have become increasingly casual, a laissez-faire approach to etiquette is risky business. To get ahead, the savvy professional takes the business of manners very seriously. According to Hilka Klinkenberg, director of Etiquette International, a business etiquette firm whose clients have included American Express, Continental Airlines, KPMG Peat Marwick, Merrill Lynch and Sony, the basics of professional etiquette are really quite simple. First, understand the difference between business etiquette and social etiquette.
Business etiquette is genderless.
For example, the traditional chivalrous etiquette of holding the door open for a woman is not necessary in the workplace and, in fact, can have the unintended effect of offending her. In the work environment, men and women are peers. If you base your behavior on treating them similarly in similar situations, you won t go wrong. Secondly, your guiding principal should always be to treat people with consideration and respect. Although this may seem obvious, Klinkenberg cites this basic decency as a frequent casualty in today s workplace.