The Etiquette Advantage in Business, Third Edition: Personal Skills for Professional Success Hardcover – May 13, 2014

" The Etiquette Advantage in Business, Third Edition: Personal Skills for Professional Success " should be a must read book for every professional in the United States. It is an excellent book.This "...third edition also brings added emphasis to the growth of digital communication and social networking. Texting, tweeting, blogging, LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Pinterest now can be used to build relationships or be abused and hurt relationships and even cost people their jobs..."At the beginning of the book the authors, Anna Post, Lizzie Post, Peter Post, and Daniel Post Senning, go through great length to describe the positiva and advantages of following the advice this book conveys."... A survey in 2000 revealed how serious the issue had become: more than 50 percent of workers had been treated rudely. As a result, 22 percent of them were decreasing their work effort and 12 percent were leaving their jobs because of it..."These are shocking numbers.The book covers the effects of every tiny details from not holding a woman's coat, over not washing the dishes in the company kitchen, to falsifying financials and lying about one's contribution to a project.Again, the numbers are shocking."... The Ethics Resource Center identified a number of different types of unethical behavior that were reported by employees as behaviors they had witnessed:• Abusive or intimidating behavior toward other employees (18 percent)• Lying to other employees (17 percent)• Discriminating on the basis of race, color, gender, age, or similar categories (12 percent)• Conflicts of interest (15 percent)• Violating company policies related to Internet use (12 percent)• Misreporting of hours worked (10 percent)• Violations of health or safety regulations (10 percent)• Stealing, theft, or related fraud (9 percent)... (and more ...)"The book is well written, and the "reality" of these issues are made clear through the inclusion of Q/A segments/questions the authors received from professionals of various backgrounds. Obviously, the parties did not know what the right course of action was, yet they saw the problems. This book offers answers and solutions.The book also features actions steps to take for managers, which I think is important and helpful; over the decades I have seen too many cases where managers let an issue slide simply because they did not know what to do.There is also a section for the "ethical job seeker" which these days may be more valuable than only ten years ago, dressing and grooming (which even elaborates on details such as tattoos and body piercings), resume writing, preparations for interviews, etc.Since the book also addresses dozens of scenarios what to do when employees see anything from small violations to major improprieties, it also addresses the "whistle blower"-question. I was pleasantly surprised because never having been in that situation I learned something I had never even heard about,"... The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires public companies to have anonymous “hotlines” or similar whistle-blower systems so that employees can report ethical violations without revealing their identities.."I was also happy to find out that the authors suggest to always convert a resume into a .pdf file. This way the formatting will be maintained. I have been telling friends of mine the same thing for a long time and nobody seems to know. Equally, I was excited to see that the authors recommended to ask, "Could we take a few minutes to review my resume?" during a job interview. Indeed, I had learned what the authors describe, the hard way. At one employment one of my bosses said to me, "I did not know that you knew how to do this..." And, when I replied, "I listed it on my resume" she said, "well, I did not read the whole thing." Yep, it happens. If I would have asked the above question, maybe I could have negotiated a higher salary. And, the topic of salary negotiations gets discussed in the book, too.The books also addresses questions/complaints which might become legal issues and recommends to "document the problem" before doing anything else. That's another one of these things so many people don't know.This book packs 352 pages of useful information without any repetitions. It is an interesting to read, the content is presented in a lively manner, and I bet every reader thinks "I better keep this book for reference" on my kindle. Maybe many readers even think, "I should buy this book for my child," like I did.Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger

Very wise advice on many things related to business etiquette. I wish I read this book straight out of high school.

Who better to instruct you on business etiquette than the family that is in the business of etiquette.The Emily Post Institute attempts to be straightforward with a touch of class. The cover jacket is a ho-hum beige, white and black with a little burgundy to spice things up to lukewarm. If you look under the jacket, you'll see that the gray near the spine is off-set by the dull brick red. What gives it the extra elegance is the gold lettering. Elegant but understated.Although Post attempts to be relative in today's new age of young upstarts making billion dollar businesses in technology, after working for two multinational companies, I'm torn between feeling this book it out of touch to feeling the management was out of touch.For instance, what about a company where the dress code seems to be shorts and T-shirts, where informal Friday has been extended to every day and silly string is considered an appropriate way of celebrating? So this may not apply to offices where everyone is armed with a rubber band gun and people compete at having the craziest personalized space.Of course, I should add that particular company had several problems that could have been resolved if the young men who started it had taken lessons from Emily Post such as understanding that OSHA regulations aren't just for middle-aged men and women.The first chapter neatly points these things out--not directly because Emily Post won't advise you on legal matters. Instead, they do identify a number of different types of unethical behavior according to the Ethics Resource Center National Business Ethics Survey from 2013. Ah yes. That Internet company should have paid attention here.At the top of the list is abusive or intimidating behavior toward other employees, discriminating, conflicts of interest and violations of health and safety regulations. All things that the management of said Internet company tried to overlook with their we're a fun, happy, party place.Emily Post doesn't cover how to behave at a beer drinking Friday night or karaoke social. They do cover email, telecommuting and social networking, but I worked at a company where chatting and email were used more frequently than the telephone.Also there's a regional disconnect. I read the color considerations for the Dress and Grooming chapter. In SoCal, black, navy blue, gray and taupe are very banker-ish. I think in some areas, bright colors are the norm and not considered tacky. The caution against bright orange, magenta and other loud colors might also be seen as very much part of the sensibilities of white, non-Latino culture.

Always timeless advice, reminders, and tidbits of new etiquette. Love this book!

Personal development tips are always a plus for young women starting out in the working world

No matter what business you are in, you must show your customers respect and courtesy. At the end of the day, all business is about people interacting with people. People remember how they were treated and that’s how they decide if they will use your services again. This book will remind you of old skills and teach you new skills that will set you apart from your competitors. Read a chapter a week then see how your business improves!

This is a great book that clearly answers questions for the recent college grad who is joining the work force. From clothing to handshakes, from thank you notes to appropriate holiday gifts. This book covers it all and will be referred to for many years to come.

It was a very good book, it did teach me quite a few things however I do notice that the etiquette in general is seldom observed in the Silicon Valley and even worse when dealing with multicultural environments. I would say it is a good read to know but if you are in this type of environment 50% of it is not observed.