As the regional manager of an international accounting firm, you place a high pr
ID: 346811 • Letter: A
Question
As the regional manager of an international accounting firm, you place a high priority on professional etiquette. Not only does it communicate respect to your clients, it also instills confidence in your firm by showing that you and your staff are aware of and able to meet the expectations of almost any audience.
Earlier today, you took four recently hired college graduates to lunch with an important client. You have done this for years, and it is usually an upbeat experience for everyone, but today’s lunch was a disaster. One of the new employees made not one, not two, but three calls on his mobile phone during lunch. Another interrupted the client several times and even got into a mild argument. The third employee kept making sarcastic jokes about politics, making everyone at the table uncomfortable. And the fourth showed up dressed like she was expecting to bale hay or work in a coal mine, not have a business lunch in a posh restaurant.
You have already called the client to apologize, but now you need to coach these employees on proper business etiquette. Draft a brief memo to each of these employees explaining why etiquette is so important to the company’s success.
You should draft a separate memo for each employee. Feel free to make up fictional names.
Explanation / Answer
1)Memo to the employee who made personal calls during team lunch
To: Jim Parker
From: Regional Manager, Accounting
March 11, 2018
Re: Importance of avoiding personal calls as a part of professional etiquette
The memo is regarding the importance of avoiding personal calls as part of professional etiquette be followed in workplace and work related activities. We have observed the violation of the same from you during team lunch yesterday.
Personal calls are considered as a bad professional etiquette as it affects the concentration and engagement of other members. Making or accepting personal calls offer a sign of employee’s low interest level in the meeting. The client who attended yesterday’s team lunch is very important for the company and we should ensure that we treat our clients well. The incident would have affected the client’s perception of our work culture and all the employees should ensure to follow proper professional etiquettes at work and related activities. The employees are allowed to use the phones only if necessary without interrupting others.
We expect you to follow professional etiquettes and avoid personal calls during work related activities. Please attend personal calls only if it is extremely important and make sure to attend the call outside the meeting rooms after apologizing to the members present which is considered as a good professional etiquette. Please contact me for clarification.
2) Memo to the team member who interrupted the client several times and even got into a mild argument
To: Tom Johnson
From: Regional Manager, Accounting
March 11, 2018
Re: Importance of avoiding arguments and interrupting others as a part of professional etiquette
The memo is regarding the importance of avoiding arguments and interrupting other’s conversation as part of professional ethics to be followed in workplace and work related activities. We have observed the violation of the same from you during team lunch yesterday.
Interrupting other members and getting into arguments is a bad professional etiquette and we do not expect our employees to follow such behavior. The employees should always respect other’s right to express their views and ensure to avoid unhealthy conflicts. The client who attended yesterday’s team lunch is very important for the company and we should ensure that we treat our clients well. Tom’s behavior to interrupt the client several times would have affected the client’s perception of our work culture and our relationship with the client. All the employees should ensure to follow proper professional etiquettes.
We expect you to follow professional etiquettes and avoid behaving unprofessionally during work related activities. Please ensure not to interrupt any members especially clients during meetings and avoid negative conflicts during interactions in work. Please contact me for clarification.
3) Memo to the member who made sarcastic jokes about politics
To: Steven Gomes
From: Regional Manager, Accounting
March 11, 2018
Re: Importance of avoiding sarcastic jokes about politics as a part of professional etiquette
The memo is regarding the importance of avoiding sarcastic jokes about politics as part of professional ethics to be followed in workplace and work related activities. We have observed the violation of the same from you during team lunch yesterday.
Making sarcastic jokes about politics is considered as a bad professional etiquette as it affects the concentration and engagement of other members and makes the meeting uncomfortable. Our organization does not promote politics in workplace and we should ensure not to make any political comments in front of other members especially client. The client who attended yesterday’s team lunch is very important for the company and we should ensure that we treat our clients well. The political comments made by you would have affected the client’s perception of our work culture and all the employees should ensure to follow proper professional etiquettes at work and related activities.
We expect you to follow professional etiquettes and avoid behaving unprofessionally during work related activities. Please ensure not to make any political comments going forward in any activities related to work. Please contact me for clarification.
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