Skip to content
Home » Blog » The Impact of Politeness in British Business

The Impact of Politeness in British Business

Is politeness costing you your business expenses?

The latest Webexpenses research has helped to kickstart a national debate on how British politeness may be affecting our businesses.

It follows the publication of survey results showing that 78% of UK office managers believe that over-politeness could be costing their company money.

The study, carried out by an independent research firm Censuswide, explored the way that British attitudes may be preventing bosses from challenging employees.

The questionnaire, given anonymously, revealed that one-in-five managers admitted to not challenging expense claims they suspected to be fraudulent.

The main reasons given were the fear of entering into ‘awkward’ conversations, not wanting to upset colleagues and a feeling that it would be rude.

The findings were reported throughout the national media, sparking a debate on what impact British attitudes within the business community could have on companies.

Among the newspapers to cover the story were The Telegraph, The Independent and City A.M; along with a host of business magazines and websites.

The research also inspired Telegraph columnist Edwina Currie’s weekly column, ‘I’ll be straight with you: over-politeness is just rude’.

In the column, she states:

“The Queen, whose manners are impeccable, knows how to say things bluntly. After Clare Short’s phone went off during a Privy Council meeting, HM smiled and said: “Oh dear, I hope it wasn't anyone important.

“Such straight-speaking sadly seems lacking in business. A recent survey revealed that nearly 80 per cent of bosses think being over-polite is costing them money.

“A quarter haven’t felt able to confront an employee returning late from lunch; a fifth have failed to challenge a dodgy expenses claim. They won’t make a fuss about late payments and daren’t challenge wrong-doing, for fear of seeming rude.”

Her call for British people to be a little blunter with one another helped to provoke more than 250 comments from readers.

It wasn’t just the news sites where the discussions were taking place. Webexpenses CEO Adam Reynolds was invited to talk about the findings on-air with Simon Rose of ShareRadio.

Adam said:

“The research was based on some of the conversations we have been having with clients and prospects.

“One issue we have found is that, in some instances, if an employee is doing well in other aspects of the job and it’s not directly affecting the line manager, that sometimes a blind eye is turned.

“What our system does it to highlight and flag if something is out of policy and that supports having that conversation, it makes it much more difficult to be avoided.”

And it wasn’t just the British media talking about the politeness survey. Among the international media groups to cover the story was US-based media giant CNBC.

You can take a look at the full research findings in our white paper report here.

Webexpenses acquired by Tenzing Private Equity

Dec 1, 2023

Expense software provider, Webexpenses, has been acquired by Tenzing Private Equity, a leading investment firm London, November 30,  Webexpenses has…

Read More

Seamless Payments, Happy Employees

Nov 27, 2023

Enhancing your Payments Process with Same Day Reimbursement In today’s fast-paced business world, the last thing employees want is delayed…

Read More

Enhanced Reporting Requirements: how Webexpenses can help you prepare

Oct 27, 2023

Employers in Ireland should remain informed about impending new legislation which is set to be enforced. This will impact expense…

Read More

Webexpenses Named “Highest User Adoption” in G2’s Fall Report

Sep 15, 2023

Webexpenses wins the “Highest User Adoption” Badge and 34 others in G2’s Fall 2023 Report At Webexpenses, we believe in…

Read More

Webexpenses is Carbon Neutral in 2023

Jul 31, 2023

31st July 2023 (Oxford, UK) Webexpenses, a global expense management and invoice processing provider with clients across the UK, US,…

Read More

Webexpenses Achieves PCI DSS v4.0 Certification

Jun 20, 2023

Oxford, UK – Webexpenses, a leading provider of cloud-based expense management software, announced today that is has achieved certification from…

Read More
Munster Webexpenses logos

Webexpenses’ continued partnership with Munster Rugby

May 11, 2023

11 May 2023 (Oxford, UK) Munster Rugby has extended their partnership with leading Expense Management provider, Webexpenses. Founded in 1879,…

Read More
West Ham choose Webexpenses for Digital Expenses

West Ham United choose Webexpenses for Digital Expenses

Aug 4, 2022

4 August 2022 (Oxford, UK) ELMO Webexpenses announce that they are West Ham’s official expense management software provider. West Ham…

Read More
Webexpenses TrustRadius Award 2022

Awarded “Top Rated 2022” From TrustRadius

May 16, 2022

16 May 2022 (Oxford, UK) – Webexpenses, receives top-rated 2022 award for Expense Management and Accounts Payable Software from TrustRadius.…

Read More
Webexpenses sponsor first tech scholarship with Activate Learning

Webexpenses Sponsor Tech Scholarship with Activate Learning

Apr 11, 2022

ELMO Webexpenses are the first finance technology business in Oxfordshire to sponsor a scholarship in partnership with Activate Learning and…

Read More