Looking back at my days in school, I remember how we were encouraged to reach for the stars and believe in our dreams. We loved to read and participate in extra-curricular activities, which complemented the academic work.
School principals and teachers were proud of the quality of students they were graduating.
I specifically remember the joy of our principal at the Federal Government Girls’ College, Owerri when we won the pre-SSCE exams – Maths and English.
In my time, we had an etiquette class every Saturday morning, where we were taught the social skills needed to navigate the big world outside the four walls of the school.
We never knew the Saturday morning sojourn between our dormitory and the school hall would indeed determine our growth or stagnation in the corporate world.
What looked like a waste of time became the foundation for our incredibly fulfilling careers.
This foundation – business etiquette and social skills – is lacking in the curriculum of most schools these days.
A couple of days ago, I watched the live launch of SURE-P on NTA international. I was struck by how the principles guiding the founding of this programme thoroughly aligned with the vision of my organisation. What was even more compelling for me was the fact that the selected candidates were said to be tutored on business etiquette during the pre-development classes before being placed within the volunteer organisation.
I am glad that the society is beginning to wake up to the importance of etiquette in education.
I think, for me, the most memorable of all the speeches I heard during the launch was that of Mr. Leo Stan Eke, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Zinox Technologies Limited. I was struck by his passion and thoughts as well as his articulation.
He spoke extempore, with no paper, unlike other speakers. He exemplified the true spirit of influential leadership that I wrote about in my earlier publication.
He pointedly noted that the success of the SURE-P would not rest only on the mentorship of the interns from the volunteer corporations.
The key, he stated, lied in the thorough reorientation and retraining of the personnel within these organisations on business etiquette and social skills.
Though most organisations might want to be seen as being supportive of the government, they could at the end of the day, hinder the success of the programme due to ignorance of business etiquette.
The Bible in Proverbs states, “Train up a child in the way he should grow, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This is very apt of our expectations of our workforce.
If their foundation is not built on sound education and social etiquette, it will be very difficult to introduce this to them much later and expect the people to know what to teach their subordinates.
I am of the opinion that etiquette and social skills like entrepreneurial studies should be re-introduced in our educational system if we are truly eager to help our children step into the most competitive time of their lives within the corporate world.