Let me narrate an interesting incident that happened recently.
I was staying in a moderate hotel; one of the days during my stay, there was a problem with the television; when I wanted to call, the intercom was not working; I then wanted to make some coffee, there was a problem with the kettle and it was not replaced yet!
I went down to the reception in a terrible mood and listed down all the problems and literally shouted at that person – “what the hell is happening?”
He apologized and came to my room, called somebody, arranged a cup of coffee, brought a couple of DVDs for me to watch before the cable connection was restored. Over the next few hours, he kept sending someone to check if I wanted to order some food or any other need (because intercom was not working).
What do you think of the hotel? Of course, terrible. What do you think of the staff?
We may be tempted to say inefficient and mediocre. Before we pass our judgment on the staff, let me share some more info.
The next day, I had a brief chat with the reception guy. He shared a few of his problems personally.
The owner of the hotel delayed payment to the cable connection; there was a water pipeline leak (due to poor maintenance) causing seepage due to which the telephone line was down. This was informed to the owner a day earlier and he did not act.
After hearing these behind-scene-facts, I started admiring the staff.
They were doing their bit to deal with the customers and covering for the management’s inefficiencies! I admired their commitment to do their bit within their capacity – getting me a coffee, a DVD, extending their care…
Insight:
Organizations need to realize and value how their employees are shielding organizational inefficiencies and servicing their customers!
Article By:
Dr. Raj, C.E.O.,
HR Footprints Management Services Pvt.Ltd.
