Jobseekers get courses on manners

Tracy McVeigh 

After centuries spent monitoring the genealogy of the British aristocracy, the publishing house Debrett's is to branch out from producing guides to elegant manners for "people of distinction" and offer courses in etiquette and social skills to hopeful jobseekers.

No longer will it confine its advice to matters of refined social etiquette – for instance to young ladies who want to learn how to get out of a car without flashing their knickers at the chauffeur. Instead it is offering residential and day courses – starting at a polite £1,000 – to give social skills back to a generation of young people who have had their heads buried for so long in smartphones that they struggle to make eye contact, let alone proffer a firm handshake.

They are not ignoring new technology, and will offer guidance on "netiquette": when to put a smiley face or kisses on an email (never in the workplace) and why you should never text the boss unless they have texted you first. Debrett's developed its programme on "social intelligence" for under-30s after a survey of business leaders threw up some serious issues around young people entering the modern workplace.

"Manners, social intelligence, personal presentation and impact can be as important as academic qualifications," says Debrett's. "With so much focus on exam results and the hectic informality of modern family life and technology, social graces can be a casualty."

Along with a slew of other surveys, including one by YouGov today which says that half of employers find graduates they are employing are not "work ready", the Debrett's research flags up rising concerns among business people about the employability of graduates and school leavers who have been tested to the maximum academically, but have no notion of what to expect from a job. The accusation is that schools and universities are so focused on academic targets that they are failing to produce rounded graduates. Instead they are turning out young people who are shy and awkward after spending all their time on the internet or mobiles, who lack the ability to spell or write a letter, and are unable to get through a day without regular online checks on what their friends are up to.

Debrett's director of training, Louise Ruell, said: "Young employees need to differentiate themselves beyond their academic achievements. The research clearly shows that this is often lacking."

Ninety per cent of the senior executives on the Debrett's panel believed social skills were just as important, or even more important, than academic skills , and 63% said their office juniors often lack any such skills at all. A quarter said they had even embarrassed them in front of clients.

One in four business leaders complained that prospective candidates had inflated expectations regarding salaries and career progression and were over-confident and formulaic in interviews. Misplaced informality was another complaint. Some 21% of employers said young employees had dressed inappropriately for the workplace or over-indulged – hitting the free drink too hard – at work social events, for instance. Amelia Higham is managing director of Dovetail Insurance and is exasperated by the lack of social and writing skills in many of the recruits she sees. "There is so much emphasis on passing written exams that there's no room for them to be taught life skills. Throw in text jargon and overuse of the internet to communicate and you've got a generation which cannot connect one to one. Being a nice person to do business with is crucial no matter what business you are in."

She said she would prefer one A-level less on a CV if it translated into a candidate with social skills. "We have just had a chap in. On paper he looked fabulous; he had brilliant qualifications. On the second day he had to write a letter – he couldn't do it. It was appalling really.

"It's the whole ethos of this generation, they miss a trick with their attitude of expectation. We all expected to do rough jobs during the summer holidays or whatever, pick fruit, knock on doors selling things, working in a factory. Those jobs taught life skills. Every teenager should have to do some sort of summer job. It would teach them not to rely on the bank of mum and dad and help their development as well."

The "bank of mum and dad" is probably going to have to be drawn on for a Debrett's course but almost three quarters of the 58 business leaders in the survey did agree that a preoccupation with technology hurts the social skills of young employees, affecting their ability to build relationships with clients.

Even firms whose business is in the digital world are concerned. Linford Haggie is managing director at Graphic Alliance, a digital advertising agency. "We want candidates who live and breathe the digital world but too many are over-reliant on technology. They are shy and scared, they don't want to pick up a phone and have lost any people skills. I don't blame them, no, they need to have the working world demystified and schools and businesses have a part to play."

And it's never too young to start, it seems – Debrett's has a manners course for the under-12s.

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A LONG ANCESTRY

¦ Debrett's was founded in 1769 by the London-born son of a French cook.

¦ Its People of Today is a rival to Who's Who, with the difference that it removes people if they are deemed no longer relevant.

¦ The publishing house appears in works by PG Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh and William Thackeray. Sherlock Holmes turns often to Debrett's for reference.

¦ It was Debrett's listing of hobbies which revealed to the world that David Beckham enjoys wine-tasting and that Richard E Grant makes dolls' houses.