Professional Etiquette for Hoteliers

Chapter 6

Business and Professional

Excellence
Learning Objective

6.1 Getting to know the diverse workplace

6.2 Strengthening teams
6.3 Technology in the workplace
6.4 Office politics and conflicts
6.5 Social responsibilities at work
Getting to know the diverse workplace

• Learning about workplace culture is critical to

your success.
• Part of the assimilation process involves
getting to know the people who make up your
organization.
• A common mistake among so-called
professionals is neglecting to take an inventory
of others in the working environment.
Getting to know the diverse workplace
(cont..)
• Getting to know your diverse workplace is
important for two reasons.
For you to succeed in any professional
environment, you must be aware of and sensitive
to differences between yourself and others.
Your ability to communicate effectively when
encountering difference (e.g., ethnicity, race,
language barriers, religion, spirituality, marital
status, sexual orientation, age) is an essential
component of professional excellence.
Getting to know the diverse workplace
(cont..)
• As the economy has gone global and customers and
clients have diversified, many organizations have
increased their efforts to diversify their workforce.
• There are many advantages to diversity among
employees, such as multiple perceptions in decision
making and increased understanding of the customer
base.
• Gender, ethnicity and race, language differences,
religion and spirituality, disabilities, and age are just a
few examples of the diversity you’ll encounter in the
workplace.
Strengthening teams

• Another common experience for professionals

across industries is working in a team context.
• Working in a team context can be both a rewarding
and an exhausting experience for any professional.
• There may be one team member who has
leadership title such as manager, vice president, or
coach, but all team members demonstrate
leadership when it comes to defining goals, making
decisions, and implementing ideas.
Strengthening teams (cont..)

• Strategy for strengthening teamwork

Ensure that all team members have a fair say in
the decision-making process.
If team members are having difficulties with their
responsibilities, make sure the team is equipped
to help them.
Be an active listener and doer in all phases of the
team exercise or project.
Technology in the workplace

• Technology in business and professional contexts

is central to communication, planning, marketing,
networking, organization, research and the like.
• Technology allows you to communicate faster
than in years past with the use of e-mail, personal
digital assistants, social media and a host of other
devices designed to make the exchange of
information in business instant rather than
delayed.
Technology in the workplace (cont..)

• Impact technology has on business and

professional communication:
The way you communicate when using technology
influences the impressions other people have of
you.
Communication and technology help you establish
contact and maintain professional networks and
relationship with coworkers, leaders, and clients.
Technology in the workplace (cont..)

• Drawback of technology:
Workplace surveillance
 Companies and organizations are using workplace surveillance
systems in an effort to monitor and track employee behavior in
terms of the information they access or communicate while at work.
Time management
Electronic message can occur in asynchronous time – message are
posted at one time, and then read at another time but also offers
more interactive features such as communication in synchronous
time.
As a result, e-mail systems and other forms of communication
technology make employees more efficient while simultaneously
increasing their workload.
Technology in the workplace (cont..)

Information overload.
Information overload occurs when information, request
for feedback, new projects, responses to questions,
phone calls, and required online classes for work – on top
of taking care of loved ones, children, pets, and other
family matters, leave you feeling as though things are
spinning out of control.
Electronic aggression.
The dark side of electronic exchanges is electronic
aggression – a form of aggressive communication filled
with emotionality that is used by people interacting
about professional topics.
Office politics and conflicts

• Office politics
Office politics arises when employees tend to misuse
their power to gain undue attention and popularity at
the workplace.
Employees indulge in work politics simply to tarnish
their colleague’s reputation to obtain advantages and
come in the good books of their superiors.
Politics reduces the productivity of individuals and
eventually the organization is at loss.
Individuals find it difficult to concentrate on work due to
unnecessary politics at the workplace.
Office politics and conflicts (cont..)

Reasons for office politics:

Employees aspiring to come in the limelight easily
without much hard work depend on politics.
Politics arises when employees aspire to achieve
something beyond their authority and control in a short
span of time.
Lack of supervision and control at the workplace.
Too much of gossip at work lead to politics.
Arrogant superiors.
Jealous colleagues.
Office politics and conflicts (cont..)

• Conflicts
Conflict may be defined as friction between
individuals due to differences of opinions, ideas,
beliefs, values, needs or objectives.
Types of conflict
Intrapersonal conflict
Interpersonal conflict
Functional conflict
Intergroup conflict
Office politics and conflicts (cont..)

Why does conflict arise?

No two people are alike
See things differently
Different ideologies
Different approaches to problem-solving
Poor communication channels
Competition for limited resources
Differences in goals and values
Organizational inter-department friction
Social responsibilities at work

• Social responsibility is a concept that implies

that any individual or organization has an
obligation towards society at large, to perform
so as to maintain a balance between economy
and ecosystems.
• Such practices can have greater impact on
building a company’s trustworthiness in any
kind of business it is in.
Social responsibilities at work (cont..)

• Although social responsibility as a whole is very

important, perhaps the biggest effect it can have in
the corporate environment is actually connected
to the workforce – young employees to be exact.
• One of the main characteristics of the millennial
generation is exactly its social responsible traits.
• It is highly important to the youth to be working
with like-minded organizations, that will make sure
to do their part for a better future too.
Social responsibilities at work (cont..)

• It all gives youth a sense of purpose, of

understanding that the work they do will
enable better social conditions and
sustainability to the world.
• It make them both engage more with the
responsible organization, and put in
perspective a greater future working there.