Dinner Etiquette for Business Meals

July 14, 2008 Culture, Job Search, Networking No Comments

One natural development in our society from the increase in two-income families is that families are eating more meals on the go. This has contributed to strong decline in proper dining etiquette and table manners that used to be commonplace. Many colleges and universities have begun implementing dinner etiquette seminars and programs in order to better prepare their students to enter the demanding business world.

Many people might wonder why dinner etiquette skills are important in business and industry. Certainly, some industries have greater demand for these skills, but building better rapport with bosses, colleagues, and clients is always more possible if they appreciate the basic etiquette and manners you demonstrate.

The reality is that many business and organization meetings and decisions happen around a dinner table. Meetings with clients often include lunch or dinner. Bosses sometimes take their employees to lunch to discuss important issues. Coworkers sometimes use a meal outing as a way to build camaraderie. These job-based requirements have prompted many companies to use meal-centered interviews to see if they would be embarrassed to introduce the person to a client or partner.

There are too many detailed rules of dinner etiquette for us to explore them all here, so let us focus on a couple suggestions in sometimes overlooked areas that make a difference:

1) Don’t focus on the food – What does this mean? One thing to keep in mind in professional meal situations is that dinner etiquette is about making the other personal comfortable and you look professional. Be cautious about ordering your favorite food if it means getting spaghetti sauce on you or them, or having a thick sandwich that you can get your entire mouth around. Order something easy to eat and do not overdo it.

2) Your mom is not watching – When we are little kids, our parents often cut our meat into little tiny pieces before tending to their own meal. This is not the way of the proper etiquette eater. Meat, such as steak, chicken, or fish should be cut one piece at a time. In the US, we typically cut with our right hand and bring the bite to our mouth with the left. More formal European styles require switching the fork to the right hand after each cut.

Find an organization with the “right fit”

June 18, 2008 Culture No Comments

Career counselors often tout three key areas that job seekers need to consider when trying to find the best job fit. These include:

1. Your interest in the position
2. Your abilities to succeed in the position
3. The appropriateness of the organization’s culture for you

Some people do not take any of these into account but rather are mainly concerned with income and benefits. Many more job seekers understand the importance of finding a job they are interested in and that they can succeed with. Unfortunately, it is the third area of cultural compatibility that often is under considered.

What is cultural compatibility? Simply stated, it is a desirable match between the employee’s personality and values and the organizational culture or values of the organization he or she works for. Why does this matter? After all, an employee’s job is to produce or create something of value for their employer. In return, they are to be paid a wage that is fair and acceptable to them for performing the work.

It does matter - Just ask the countless number of people who toil in positions that cause stress, heartache, values conflicts, family drama, and more. While these things can result from someone working a job they have no passion or ability to do, it more often comes from people performing work they do not believe in, feel is unethical, or feel has no value to themselves or society.

There is no guaranteed path to happiness in life or at work, but many career experts recommend that peace with work is a common characteristic of happy people. Job seekers need to ask questions and consider the culture and values of companies before taking a new position. It is often difficult for people once they start working to walk away from a paycheck. This is why some people spend years working jobs even though they struggle with many of the symptoms previously identified. People need to know the cultural elements and values that make an organization the right fit, and then find the right job within the right organization.