We have all witnessed a colleague attempting to multi-task whilst on the phone, to a customer? Not to mention our own bad manners, intentional or not.
I want to know, which bad phone habit frustrates you the most? Being interrupted? hung up on? someone eating whilst you speak?
According to a poll by 4Com, HR and Recruitment Professionals were found to have the WORST telephone etiquette with 87% admitting to at least one phone faux pas.
It was revealed in the study that the country’s most irritating phone habits were the person on the other end,
- having another conversation in the background (43%)
- being interrupted (42%)
- the other person simply not listening (41%).
As a fellow HR & Recruitment Professional, I am surprised to hear that we are considered the worst in telephone etiquette. I believe there are other professions who would score highly in this study too. However, I will hold my hand up on being guilty of interrupting someone mid flow, but I promise… it would have been done in error.