(opinion article)

Every group of people has its own culture. Organizations also have their own culture, which is created over the years and cannot be changed in one day. Typically, such changes occur when a new chairman of the board or a new chief executive becomes the head of the company. Each employee requires some time to perceive the existing culture of a particular organization, so very frequent and abrupt changes can confuse employees, disorganize them and lead to disruption of the established rhythm of work. However, corporate culture cannot be static. It must correspond to a specific time, and therefore change.

Adherence to the rules of business etiquette in Ukrainian companies is an indicator not only of how educated and qualified a particular employee is, but also how successful the company as a whole because the company’s relations with customers and partners are primarily relationships between people.

Corporate culture sets the tone of the company, affects both the state of mind and mood of staff, and the company’s relationships with customers, partners, investors… Corporate culture in most Ukrainian companies has two levels. At the first level are the values ​​that are shared by employees in the company and which are maintained regardless of employee changes. At the second level, the culture embodies the accepted and established style and principles of behavior that must be supported by all employees (both old and new). These principles of behavior can be expressed in the dress code; in the existing practice of holding business meetings (formal or informal) or working with documents, or in exceptionally high-quality work with clients.

It is the second level of corporate culture that includes business etiquette. Despite the differences between the cultures of companies, firms, and organizations, each of them contains the basic principles of business etiquette, specific to a particular area of ​​human activity – business.

For example, some Ukrainian companies create a “Code of Conduct for Employees” or a similar document to regulate etiquette for internal customers. And in order to describe what etiquette when working with external clients, a “Customer Service Standard” can be created. And it happens that one document is created, which defines the etiquette for internal and external customers.