Workplace etiquette training is ramping up across U.S. industries as recent college graduates working in-office struggle to acclimate to their career environment, declares a new survey from Intelligent.
The college and career resource publication collected responses from 1,000 managers who work for a company with more than 11 employees, make over $75,000 and are 28 years old or older. Over 80% said recent college graduates need workplace etiquette training and one in five said their company will begin providing it before the end of 2024 or next year.
“Remote work can mask certain deficiencies, but in a physical office setting, managers and other employees observe firsthand how new hires handle conflicts, respond to feedback, and manage their responsibilities in a shared workspace,” Huy Nguyen, Intelligent’s chief education and career development advisor, said in a press release. “As more companies push return-to-office mandates, expectations and scrutiny around professional workplace etiquette will also rise.”
The two skills most lacking by new hires were taking constructive criticism (56%) and proper cell phone etiquette in the workplace (51%).
Managers stated that students also seemed to struggle with:
- Addressing and resolving conflict (48%)
- Dressing professionally (44%)
- Exercising common sense (44%)
- Keeping controversial topics out of the workplace (43%)
- Personal-professional separation (42%)
- Professional communication (40%)
- Time management (41%)
The pandemic hampered the interpersonal development of graduates, who were not sufficiently exposed to practical skill sets by higher education’s theoretical-based curricula, Nguyen explained. “Leaving a structured environment with clear and constant guidance to enter the professional workplace where they are expected to be more autonomous and deal with ambiguity can be a difficult transition.”
Etiquette training aims to enhance team collaboration, align with company culture and increase productivity, according to the majority of managers. The top skills that these programs aim to sharpen in their recent hires are conflict resolution, diversity and inclusion, teamwork and professional communication. Of the one-third of managers who reported their companies already provide workplace etiquette training, 91% said they’ve proven at least somewhat successful.
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