More Than A Good Practice: Ethics and Etiquette

As parents, we use every device at our disposal to encourage ‘polite’ behavior in our young children. Surely one of our objectives is to raise citizens whose behavior reflects basic respect for others. Attempting to ‘do the right thing’ while being singularly unable to treat others with consideration is likely to lead ethical decisions that reflect an inhuman approach.

If you take a walk through one of your local big-box bookstores, you might conclude that we are currently experiencing a veritable renaissance of etiquette consciousness. Business moguls have arisen to take up the battle cry. Good manners mean good business.

Do you consider yourself to be polite? Are you well-mannered? Are you respectful of others no matter what their place? Are you ethical? Perhaps we need to stop here. What is the relationship between ethics and etiquette?

If we examine the dictionary definitions of ethics and etiquette, we see striking similarities. Funk and Wagnall’s define etiquette as ‘rules conventionally established for behavior in polite society or official or professional life’. Removal of the words ‘polite society’ results in a definition of ethics that resembles those frequently seen in textbooks. Indeed, another dictionary provides one definition of etiquette as ‘…the code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other.’


HOW ARE YOUR MANNERS?


Since etiquette is concerned with correct or appropriate behavior in personal as well as business situations and has, at its root, respect for others, it seems that possessing good manners is a key part of being able to behave in an acceptable manner. And we certainly expect that individuals learn manners from direct instruction by parents and teachers, personal observation of others and trial and error.


TEST YOUR MANNERS

1. Do you always say please and thank you even when the person is ‘just doing his or her job?’

2. Are you always careful to especially acknowledge when someone goes out of his or her way for you? If you cannot do it at the time, do you remember to d it later?

3. Do you always seek privacy for unpleasant encounters?

4. Do you always control your temper?

5. Do you refrain from using profane or rude language even when under pressure and even in business e-mail?

6. Do you refrain from making sexist or ethnic remarks or forwarding jokes that contain either?

7. Do you refer to others with degree of formality that you expect to receive?


If you answered NO to any of these questions, you need to reexamine your basic manners and do something about it!

Perhaps, Fred Astaire was right when he said, ‘The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.’ If your manners are now what should be seen by children, you might want to do a bit of soul-searching before you even consider the next step in our staircase to respect: demonstrating professional respect for others.

Source: Ethics in Public Relations: A guide to Best Practice by Patricia Parsons.