In an age where it is not unheard of for city-based office workers to turn up at the office in shorts, it seems that we may have finally tired of informality and inappropriate familiarity.
Research by Kristina Hultgren of Oxford University's Faculty of English has shown that the chatty language used by call-centre staff is beginning to grate. Customers are bridling, in particular, at the use by strangers of their first names. This odd familiarity is down to training. Call-centre staff, regardless of the markets in which they are dealing, are being asked to use that 'Have a nice day' American style of chat that doesn't go down particularly well with us more formal Europeans. While under pressure to deal with a certain number of calls per hour, staff are still expected to simulate a personal relationship with customers - addressing them by their first name seems to be the fastest way to achieve this.
And while call centres are not representative of society, the decline of formality is undeniable. Opinion is very much mixed as to whether or not this is a good thing. The relaxing of dress codes - certainly outside the City and more corporate environments - seems to be working well. Many people feel more comfortable, and more confident, in slightly more casual clothes, and are every bit as professional as when suited and booted.
It's informal behaviour, rather than dress, that could cause problems - particularly bearing in mind that the next generation of employees are much less formal outside work. Should we expect a generation brought up on FaceBook and texting to know how to address their workplace seniors? Should organisations have to take responsibility for teaching their staff how to behave in a business context? Or should we just accept that we will end up talking to the chief executive as if we met them in the pub?
Comments (3)
Posted by Ben Moss | October 29, 2008 3:09 PM
The use of customers’ first names by call centre staff, while irritating to many, is just a symptom of a bigger problem. The thing that really grates – in all aspects of business from leadership to front-line customer interactions - is a lack of authenticity. A negative reaction is almost inevitable when you know that someone is sitting in a huge warehouse with hundreds of other ‘battery hen-like’ operators who are using the same lines and then he/she is insincerely over-familiar with you. On the other hand, some staff are actually able to implement this customer service ‘tactic’ very effectively because they are genuinely out-going and well suited to interacting with others – even if they are strangers. This underlines the fact that the key issue is authenticity and not informality in itself.
In terms of more informal dress, my colleague Professor Cary Cooper posted a blog on this very subject in August. He commented on a report in the FT about how sales of ties are bucking the downward trend in high street sales – and actually increasing. The explanation was that just as politicians like Gordon Brown and Barach Obama have reverted to wearing ties to project a more serious countenance during the downturn or running up to an election, working men are becoming worried about their jobs and have decided that “smartening up” might help them to avoid redundancy. This supports your contention and has surely only become more relevant over the last few weeks. You can read the full post at http://carycooperblog.com/2008/08/01/do-ties-save-jobs/ .
Posted on October 29, 2008 15:09
Posted by Steve Bavister | October 29, 2008 3:11 PM
While personal impact is, to some extent, in the eye and ear of the beholder, members of the public have certain expectations when dealing with people representing an organisation. Those expectations, however, have been in a constant state of change for some time.
It used to be easy. Everyone knew the rules. The man behind the counter wore a suit and tie. The woman on the phone called you Mr or Mrs. But a generational shift to a more informal style of communicating means the old certainties are gone.
As a trainer who runs courses for Speak First (speakfirst.co.uk) on making the right impact face-to-face, over the phone and in emails, I constantly encounter participants who are confused about how they should address others –whether it’s okay to say ‘Hi’ in an email to a customer or call a prospect by his or her first name.
It’s a minefield. What builds rapport with one person will irritate another.
Organisations do ‘have a responsibility for teaching their staff how to behave in a business context’. They need to train people to ‘read’ the individual they’re dealing with – on the basis of behaviour, age and a host of other factors – and adapt their behaviour accordingly. Only then will successful relationships be developed.
Posted on October 29, 2008 15:11
Posted by Andrew Kakabadse | October 29, 2008 3:12 PM
London, until two weeks ago, was supposedly the world’s financial centre. The evident decline in formal dress has given rise to both negative and positive comment. Why just think of London and the City? Go to New York, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Sydney, Copenhagen and lack of formality is now a norm. Even wearing a tie is viewed as stuffy and constraining.
The critical point here is doing business that wins the contract or gets the deal. What counts is forming a relationship with potential clients and customers in a way that favourably disposes them to your business proposal – and that is all that counts.
Thus, the critical question has nothing to do with formal/informal/casual behaviour in the workplace but rather having the skills, sensitivity and insight to know how to handle customers and clients for the enhancement of business. There is only one thing worse than having a casually dressed incompetent manager who comes over as a slob and that is a formal, stuffy, rigid executive who only wishes to sell what they have and does not listen to the client.
Posted on October 29, 2008 15:12