I held the door open for a delivery man on my way back to the office from lunch the other day. He quickly thanked me and rushed into the lobby wearing bad tempered expression on his face. Now this was particularly hot summer afternoon to be out making deliveries so as far as I was concerned his temperament was well understood.

We both got into the elevator where I thought I’d lighten things up with a bit of small talk. I commented on the weather, of course, and asked him how he was managing the day. I told him he was welcome to stop by our office for a bottled water or soda when he was done making his deliveries. He thanked me and got off the elevator a couple of floors below mine to begin making his first deliveries.

About 15 minutes later I noticed he entered our office lobby to drop off some packages so I grabbed a bottle of cold water out of the fridge and handed it to him. He accepted it a with a strange look and a chuckle so I asked him if everything was okay. He said I was the only friendly person he had encountered on his route that day. He explained most of the people on his route are rude, treat him indifferent, or barely even acknowledge him. He told me this was also an unfortunate experience among the other drivers at his company.

Frankly, I’m not surprised. I don’t think it’s intentional but many of us are just too caught up trying to manage the day to day demands of our work and family responsibilities to be mindful of what the “other guy” is or isn’t experiencing.

But we conduct our business with human beings not inanimate objects, right? Courtesy, empathy, and a little hospitality still goes a long way with people. Companies always emphasize good interpersonal skills as a job requirement to get hired but how many jobs have you worked at where the majority of co-workers and managers treated each other the same way those customers treat that delivery driver. Heck, I’ve been turned down for jobs due to reasons related to “not being a good fit to a company’s culture”. Well, what about those companies that string applicants along a drawn out interview process only to let them know they’re going in another direction or better yet even bother to make any follow-up contact with applicants at all. What does that say about their “company culture”?

Some people might fail to see the relevance common courtesy has on a job until they’re faced with a complex work or personal experience that requires management's intervention, compassion, or empathy. Be mindful of how employees and management interact with you and each other when you’re on company property for an interview. Go out of your way to interact with employees while you're there and ask them how they feel about their departments teamworks efforts, management's engagement practice with individual employees and problem resolution policies.

A few extra steps taken during the company's research step of the job search process will save you from a world of grief a year or two into a job when you discover neither your co-workers or management are looking out for your best interests.