Saturday, May 21, 2011

The New Business Rudeness

A decade or two ago if a mid or senior level executive was approached by a peer or someone younger they responded. They may not have given you the answer you wanted to hear, but they knew that rudeness was not how you do business.

What happened to that professionalism? Did it go the way of the land line, and the receptionist that isn't a computer, a return phone call or email acknowledgment, the we've decided to hire someone else but thank-you letter?

I was talking to a friend the other day who designs men's jewelry, which is featured in a number of high priced men’s catalogs and stores.

She was telling me how she’s calling people she’s known for a long time about showing her designs for Father’s Day. About how so many people that she knows well just don’t call her back.

I got to thinking about that too. As a marketing/PR consultant and a former journalist, I have a wide network of people I’ve worked with over the years. We’ve had fun, we’ve done great work together, we’ve respected each other, and often these days I email them, I call them and I can’t get them to call me back.

A number of people have recommended me lately, I’m in a marketing mode, and their contacts don’t call me back either.When you finally get them on the phone, the standard excuses are I didn’t get your email, I was really busy, etc. You still can't get in to see them and the interaction is uncomfortable and kind of weird. They want you to disappear. You want them to act like you deserve the courtesy of a response.

I’ve also noticed that people will put you through a couple of phone conversations, ask you to write a proposal and then a couple of weeks go by, and you don’t hear from them. So you get back in touch.

Of course you know they’ve decided “to go in a different direction,” or hired someone else. But if you ask me to take my time to think through a proposal for you, at least do me the courtesy of telling me I didn’t get hired.

I know the market is tough. I know that people are doing two and three jobs. I also know I’m not a kid raised in the age of email, Facebook and online dating, etc. where if you’re not interested in someone you just blow them off. I have never done that. No I’m not some kind of an etiquette maven, but whatever happened to basic common business courtesy and professionalism?

That’s when I started to realize that there is a new, inexplicable rudeness in the business community today. People who are looking for jobs tell me they write letters, they call, they apply, and they never hear a word back.

A hospital down the street from me was hiring a senior communications person, and I applied. It’s a great facility, growing, they are very strong medically, etc. I’ve always admired them and what could be better than working three blocks away from your house?

I never heard a word, so I called the senior vice president who runs that division and emailed her. She ignored me completely. I checked with HR, and they said if we’re not interested we just don’t respond. This after making you fill out an endless application that makes you feel like an idiot with the banality of questions asked. And they don’t even acknowledge you. Wow.

I worked for a business executive awhile ago who was probably the most driven person I’ve ever known. He worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He never stopped working. But anyone from an intern to the president of a company who got in touch with him, got an immediate response. That was impressive.

This man didn't have to work anymore and he didn’t need any of them. Maybe he was old fashioned. Or maybe he just understood that it's not smart business to be rude.

Remember Bill Clinton, before Monica Lewinsky. The Friends of Bill. The way he had of keeping in touch with everyone he met along his road to the presidency. He built constituencies. He made friends with everyone from doormen to CEOs. And it worked.

I don’t know why professionals today are so unbelievably rude. Why people who have achieved many of the same things you have, don't have the common courtesy to at least say no thank-you. But as long as I’m working, I will not have much respect for anyone who is.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for writing this. After many years as a professional, I'm unemployed for the first time. I have been stunned at the blatant rudeness and even more surprised at how widespread it is. People who were looking for my help last year won't even answer my email now. After six interviews for one position over two months, I didn't even get a "We hired someone else" email. I know everyone is busy, but this behavior is disturbing.

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  2. I noticed that myself. I was laid off in November 2008, and it took 15 long months to get hired again, even in a contract capacity. (Fortunately, the contract position turned into a permanent position.)

    During that time, I filled out lots of online applications, wrote several essays/responses to questionnaires, and in general followed up with my network and connections. I lost track of the times that I did not get a "we're not interested" email, even from a recruiter. You know, the same recruiter who had me send my resume because a job was urgent to fill, wouldn't even let me know if the employer wasn't interested. Rudeness is common these days. I still respond politely, as I was brought up to do.

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  3. A very important observation. In fact, it is true that people have started thinking that they have now become more professional by ignoring the traits of decency.

    Little to they realize that they are actually representing their unprofessional attitude by being rude to others in a professional network.

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  4. "But if you ask me to take my time to think through a proposal for you, at least do me the courtesy of telling me I didn’t get hired."
    Great line!!!

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  5. I agree; it often comes across as rude. It's not uncommon for an employer or agency to receive 50-100 or more resumes in response to a single position announcement. These people often don't have sufficient support staffs to maintain the routine correspondence and contact one would have expected in past years. While technology can help with this problem, it's still a problem.

    [Besides, technology, in the form of online job sites, can complicate the hiring process for employers. I *hate* receiving replies to positions I post for clients on CareerBuilder.com or Monster.com. These replies are usually poorly formatted and often more poorly aligned with the client/employers needs than hardcopy materials sent by mail.]

    In addition, the number and effect of employment-related laws and regulations is causing some employers to go into a modified lock-down mode. They're so afraid of breaking the rules, saying the wrong thing, or having the wrong person say anything that they end up saying next to nothing.

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  6. A very important observation. In fact, it is true that people have started thinking that they have now become more professional by ignoring the traits of decency.

    Little to they realize that they are actually representing their unprofessional attitude by being rude to others in a professional network.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you all for responding. I just think if we were all a little nicer to each other it would help somehow.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A very important observation. In fact, it is true that people have started thinking that they have now become more professional by ignoring the traits of decency.

    ReplyDelete