Business
Business Etiquette
The dominance of the landed elite in Chilean commerce throughout history has ensured financial life in Santiago remains firmly slanted towards the formal. In a business environment, usted, the polite Spanish form of address, must be used instead of the more familiar tu. Failure to observe this linguistic etiquette could be construed as disrespectful or even arrogant. Many Chilean executives speak reasonably competent English but any attempt to use Spanish, however faltering, will be greatly appreciated. Dress codes are formal suits and ties, although the dark suits of Wall Street and the City of London are not the only uniforms on offer. Chilean office workers often look to southern Europe for inspiration on their daytime wardrobes and visiting businesspeople may find themselves confronted with brightly coloured shirts and blazers.
Like their counterparts in North America and Europe, members of Chile’s business community make good use of the working lunch. Meanwhile, Santiago’s international hotels have benefited in recent years, from the increased popularity of the ‘business breakfast’. Chileans are big anglophiles, despite the arrest and detention in London of the business community’s hero, General Augusto Pinochet. As a consequence, it is not unknown for meetings to conclude with the foreign business traveller being invited to dinner at home.
Business hours in Chile traditionally followed the Spanish model of an 0800-2000 working day, divided by a three-hour lunch and siesta break. The realities of globalisation, however, mean practices have generally been brought into line with the North American 0900-1800 working day.
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