Business is booming, etiquette trainers say

FRESNO BEE

If you’ve ever overheard a co-worker’s loud cell phone conversation, noticed underwear peeking from the tops of his or her pants, or become nauseated watching one talk with a mouthful of food, you are not alone.

Business etiquette experts say a lack of social graces and general rudeness have become all too common in the workplace.

“I have seen some people walk through buffet lines stacking their plate 3 feet high,” said Maria Everding, founder of the Etiquette Institute in St. Louis. “Or you see others trying to drink out of a coffee stirrer because they think it’s a tiny straw.”

The line between what is acceptable and unacceptable is blurring as a new generation of employees enters the work force, bringing with it personal technology — cell phones and MySpace, for example — and a more casual attitude and fashion sense.

The boom in bad manners has been good for the etiquette business, whose experts are finding their talents in demand. Businesses are also discovering that polishing their employees’ behavior pays off in increased productivity, better sales and a more cooperative workplace.

Everding, who has taught etiquette for more than 20 years, trains and certifies at least 10 consultants a month, up from an average of four just two years ago.

The trend doesn’t surprise California State University, Fresno, business management professor Julie Olson-Buchanan, who says companies want to re-establish the ground rules for how employees and managers conduct themselves at work, especially the use of technology.

Twenty years ago, most people would have frowned at someone carrying on a loud personal conversation while in line at the grocery store. But cell phone conversations go on all the time now, including at work.

“There has been a slow erosion of what is OK and what is not OK, and it is happening with clients, customers and co-workers,” Olson-Buchanan said. “It is hard to balance work and personal life, and the use of cell phones allows us to easily slip back and forth all the time.”

Generational differences among workers also can create conflict. What may be acceptable to a younger employee, such as text messaging a friend while at work, may not be acceptable to a baby boomer, Olson-Buchanan said.

Rude and disrespectful treatment also has the potential to bring down morale and reduce productivity.

“When you are treated badly at work, it stays with you and you carry it home,” she said.