If you think if would be nice but not necessary to know the rules of corporate etiquette, consider that studies by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and the Stanford Research Institute have concluded that success in getting, keeping, and advancing in a job depends 85 percent on people skills and only 15 percent on technical knowledge and skills.  Qualifications are one thing and, of course, important.  Still, most decisions come down to the person—to the relationship we have with individuals.

Mastering the rules of business etiquette, then, can help your career.  The first thing you should know is that these rules do not have the same foundation as those you may have learned as a child.  Your childhood rules evolved from the code of chivalry, which called for deference to others on the basis of gender and/or age.  However, relationships in the business world (or corporate culture) have always been based primarily on rank, much like any military system.  Rank, or the degree of power vested in different individuals, gives a business organization the structure it needs to function effectively.

How you behave toward a peer or toward someone of another status varies with the kind of business and the style of the individual business.  Corporate and social behavior in a bank, for instance, tends to be more formal than it would be in an advertising agency.  And behavior in a newspaper city room makes an advertising office seem severely structured.

Moving through the ranks these days requires something more that a rough-and-ready willingness to work.  In doing research for his book, Malloy’s Live for Success, author John Malloy found that almost every executive he interviewed considered social skills as a critically important prerequisite to success in the business world.  These included practicing good table manners, knowing how to introduce people, being able to carry on a polite conversation, and having a firm grasp on the basic rules of courteous behavior.

Some programs that will help explain the rules, why they are important, and how best to follow them include:

• Class Acts Essentials
• Top Ten Business Blunders... and How to Avoid Them
• Developing and Retaining Clients Through Social Skills
• How to Make Lunch = Money
• Fine Dining for the Professional
• World-Class Service for the Global Economy
• Support Staff:  The Image of Your Company
• One-World Market:  Crossing Cultures
• Train-the-Trainer Programs in Business Etiquette Fundamentals

Articles on Etiquette:

• Avoid These Mistakes
• Face-Saving Tips When Drinks Mix With Work
• When a Colleague is Abusing Alcohol
• When a Colleague is Abusing Drugs
• Helping Someone With an Eating Disorder
• Summer Style at Work

Focus.  Energy.  Confidence.

Motivate Your Team.

Improve your performance.

Achieve your goals.

Good manners.  Good relationships.  Good business.