FOCUS The Magazine 9www.focus-info.org

Britishbusinessetiquette

Writing this article is tricky considering the world of business haschanged so dramatically over the last 30 to 40 years. I remember oneof my first experiences in industry in the 1970s was eating at thestaff restaurant where the senior management were seated on a raisedplatform above us mere mortals. We also had a ‘tea lady’ who used towheel her trolley round the offices in the mornings and afternoonsserving a selection of cakes and pastries together with our tea. Thosewere the days and so different from today’s tendency to eat ‘on thehoof ’—if at all!I’ve worked for UK, American, French and Belgian companies in mycareer across several sectors and in more than 60 countries, and it’sbecome clear that the corporate culture and business etiquette withinthose organisations can often be stronger than any country-specific culture. Let me try to identify some things that might make the UK unique or different.

Great Britain and Cultural DiversityI think it’s worth mentioning that the UK comprises England,Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland while Great Britain is thefirst three. I lived and worked in Aberdeen, Scotland for severalyears and woe betide anyone who called the Scots, English! Itpays to do your research before meeting people so as to avoid a se-rious nationality faux pas. For the purposes of this article I willrefer to the British and Brits.

Since the Second World War, increasing immigration has madeBritain diverse with large populations coming from theCommonwealth, EU and further afield. You’ve only got to spenda short time in London to see how international a city it is.

My parents emigrated from Italy to Britain after the war so Ifeel both Italian (where my relatives live) and British (where myfamily and friends are). is makes it difficult to know whom tosupport when Italy plays England at football!

Meetings, meetings, meetingsIf there is one thing the Brits like to moan about as much as theweather, it is meetings. Over my career I think I have been in-volved in tens of thousands, and I can probably say that half werea waste of time!

From a British perspective there are several important factorsregarding meetings. You must be punctual, which means arrivingat least five minutes beforehand, and any potential delay needs tobe flagged beforehand. e meeting will have a fixed time, and inadvance participants will be sent an agenda and notes from anyprevious meetings. Each item discussed will have a set time andthere will be a Chairperson assigned (by seniority or rota) to en-sure that people keep to time. e best chairs will ensure thateveryone gets a chance to speak.

Of course it may well be that informal discussion has alreadytaken place outside the meeting to pre-determine the meetingoutcomes. Don’t take this as a slight, particularly if you are a jun-ior or new member, but make sure you understand that as in

“ If there is one thing the Brits like to moan about as much as the weather, it is meetings.”

10 FOCUS The Magazine September/October 2016 www.focus-info.org

Vince Pizzoni is an Executive Search Consultant,Director/Trustee and Career Coach. He can be contacted via montesanmartino@aol.com or LinkedIn.

many cases all is not quite what it seems. is is not uncommonin other countries too.

Presentations and material presented should be professionaland well thought through. e British tend to be analytical andwill respond to facts and figures rather than emotion-based argu-ments. e meeting will conclude at the allotted time and a set ofclear actions listed for attendees to follow up on. At least that’sthe theory!

Communication and GreetingDon’t use first names until the other person uses yours or asksyou to call him/her by their first name. Shaking hands is com-mon, but wait for your host to make the first move. Many Britsguard their personal space and won’t necessarily ‘invite you intotheir inner circle’ at first meeting. It is also worth noting that thisaspect of British life may extend to their home. ‘An Englishman’shome is his castle’. Don’t be too surprised if you never, or rarely,get invited back for dinner—very different from the US for ex-ample.

e British tend to be less direct than other nationalities suchas the Dutch, Americans and Russians, and may often come overas reserved or understated in their use of language. For example,you might hear expressions such as “it might be” or “perhaps youcould” but don’t be taken in by this as a sign of weakness and

lack of clarity. I learnt to my cost many years ago that many ofthe expressions that I thought meant one thing actually meantthe total opposite. “at’s an interesting comment” often meant“It’s not”. Others I came across were “Let’s review outside of themeeting,” which meant “stupid comment, forget it” and “Let’sbrainstorm a few ideas” meaning “I’m going to tell you exactlywhat we need to do” and “In your own time can you do a briefsummary on this” meant “I need a detailed report back on mydesk by close of business today”.

e old school tie and class, while largely disappearing in manyareas is still prevalent in other sectors of society. Which publicschool and university you attended can still make a difference, as evidenced by the numbers of Eton and Oxbridge alumni inpolitics.

Ethicse British are generally known as a people with high standardsin business ethics. e recently introduced UK Bribery Act takesthe Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (something I was very familiarwith) places yet more onerous requirements on companies.

Many of the social events to which I was invited in my earlierbusiness career (Henley, Wimbledon, British Open, BAFTAAwards) would now be off the list because many companies cometo grips with what the Bribery Act requires. is also applies togiving gifts where the norm has become pens, calendars, notepads and key rings.

My wife tells me that in the NHS, where she works even a“thank you” from a patient has to be recorded in case the com-ment is seen as a bribe by a patient hoping to get ahead of othersin the queue!

e British will often see themselves as polite, well-educatedbusinesspeople with the ability to get on with others (where elsein the world can you purposely or accidentally bump into peopleon the street only for them to say sorry to you!). We might comeover as somewhat detached and cool we like to think that wehave our fingers on the pulse and most certainly believe that wecan negotiate and punch well above our weight in the businessworld. We believe in fair play and will always back an underdog.Don’t underestimate us!

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