Office Etiquette

By Gwen Parkes

According to a poll conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, professionals reported an 8 percent increase in the number of workers that call in sick the day after a major televised event, such as the Superbowl, and that another 11 percent of people show up late for work. While it may seem harmless enough to take one of your sick days to stay home and nurse a hangover or enjoy a mental vacation, there are two problems with your theory.

By Gwen Parkes

A recent study conducted by CSO Insights, "a research firm that specializes in benchmarking the challenges impacting sales and marketing performance and, more important, how companies are leveraging people, process, technology, and knowledge to address those issues" finds that less than 59 percent of firms' salespeople met their sales quotas last year. This study also found that on average, 62 percent of a company's revenue is generated by a small portion of top performers and that more than half of all deals are closed, made, or won over because of already-existing relationships. What these numbers mean is that for all the sales people out there in the workforce, many of them are using ineffective techniques and methods that are not yielding the desired results.

Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

Think back to the last big gathering you had with family or friends. Maybe it was Thanksgiving dinner and your house was full of people -- some you knew well, others you just met. No matter how great the day ended up being, one person could have easily ruined it. Perhaps one person did.

Inevitably you'll hear someone say, "There's one in every family."

by Jen Doll

I'm sorry ... so sorry ...

Often, those are the last words you ever want to say when you get laid off. Why should you apologize? It's your boss who owes you one, right?

But as a recent article in the Wall Street Journal points out, these days people are more anxious than ever to get past misdeeds off their chests, whether that means admitting to stealing a box of crayons from a neighbor kid when you were 10 or apologizing to your former employer for writing a tell-all about the company.

Even famous folks are 'fessing up to their faults. Serena Williams apologized twice for her controversial U.S. Open outburst. Posh and Becks' former nanny apologized for revealing confidential information about the family to the press. And Congressman Joe Wilson apologized to President Obama after shouting "You Lie!" during an address to a joint session of Congress. (See more famous apologies here.)

Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

Children are loud and uninhibited. It's in their nature -- they're supposed to be rambunctious and noisy (to a point). A child can be sitting two feet from you and she will speak at the same volume she uses when she's playing on the soccer field. That's when you politely say, "Use your indoor voice."

Of course, even when using their indoor voice, most children don't think to filter their thoughts before they speak. How many parents lie about something ("It's a pleasure to meet your husband") only to have their children ruin everything ("You're right, Mom, he does look like my gerbil!")? Immediately after this occurrence, parents teach their children that some information should stay private.