Business etiquette training is very important in the 21st century, especially for your organization’s leaders and its workers who are from newer generations.
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Here are six best practices you should follow if you’re interested in training your employees in 21st-century business etiquette.
1. Offer Hands-On Learning Experiences
Allow your learners to eat at a table when they’re learning dining etiquette. Allow them to be present in a meeting room when they’re learning how to interact with others during business meetings. Hands-on learning experiences will help learners understand the business etiquette concepts that will be covered in your course firsthand.
2. Provide Blended Learning Experiences
While a lot of business etiquette skills should be learned in person, many skills can be tested via mobile courses or e-Learning modules, too. For instance, certain greetings from around the world can be covered via online learning materials and experiences.
And learners can engage with their peers and instructors via mobile devices and apps as they learn proper etiquette for electronic business communications. Overall, having both in-person and e-Learning experiences will be necessary as your employees learn business etiquette skills and practices.
3. Include Emotional Intelligence Skills
Emotionally intelligent employees are polite and engage in positive and constructive communications, actively build trust and rapport with others, and consider others as they interact with them—all of which are very important when learning business etiquette.
For more details, read “4 Reasons Why Your Employees Need Emotional Intelligence Skills.”
4. Create a Guide or Handbook
Create a guidebook or handbook that employees can access at any time or refer to when they interact with their clients, coworkers, and bosses. Include information regarding common greetings and phrases, tips for drafting e-mails, etc.—information that will prove helpful in most common or important business-related dealings and interactions.
5. Consider Technology
As part of their business etiquette training, employees should learn how to use common technology for conducting virtual meetings, displaying presentations in meeting rooms, etc. Because oftentimes, punctuality and trust are broken due to technology-related errors or mishaps.
For instance, meetings will go over their allotted time limit because someone doesn’t know how to use his or her conferencing technology, or important documents aren’t sent because of technology-related errors.
6. Hire a Consultant
To ensure your employees receive the best business etiquette training possible, hire a consultant to help you design and implement course materials. He or she will most likely have proven training strategies and content that work.
If you want your employees to be well versed in 21st-century business etiquette, be sure to follow the six best practices mentioned above.