Recently, on a business trip, I had a 30
minute wait for a train connection. I decided
to have some breakfast in a world famous fast
food eatery.
When I entered the eatery, there were a few
customers eating their breakfast and there
were a few queuing up to order.
After a few minutes, I was ready to order and
the member of staff welcomed me with a smile,
'good morning' and asked me what I wanted.
Now picture the following:
I ordered and as she turned around to collect
my order, she said 'why am I not getting a pay
rise, anyway?'. A person replied who I assumed
to be her manager, 'because you're useless'.
She then turned back to me and said with a smile,
'That's 95p please'.
I paid.
'Enjoy your breakfast' she added looking me in the eye.
There was no one behind me next in the queue.
She turned to her manager, 'What makes you say I'm
useless? No one has ever said that before'.
Manager: 'You never do anything'
Girl: 'What do you mean?'
Manager: 'You only do things when you're told to do them'
Girl: 'Do I?'
Manager: 'Yeah and that's why you're useless'
Girl: 'Oh'
By now, I had found my seat and was still listening
to the Manager/girl conversation. I looked around
the restaurant - a few other customers were now
looking as well.
How did the girl feel?
How did the manager feel?
How did the customers feel?
I would imagine the girl felt 'unhappy, concerned and
de-motivated'.
I would imagine the manager felt 'good, confident
and pleased with himself' (that's the impression I go
by looking at his 'that told her' face).
As a customer, I felt embarrassed, angry and helpless.
I wanted the company to know how this manager had
treated a member of his staff. I wanted to help the
manager and tell him where he had gone wrong.
I wanted to offer advice to the girl on how to accept
the feedback.
The member of staff wasn't useless. I felt welcomed,
she smiled, and she looked me in the eye. It was good
friendly service. Her personal customer service was very
good - far better than 'useless'.
According to her manager, she was not very proactive.
Maybe customer service was her natural strength and
being proactive wasn't. That doesn't make her useless.
So where did the manager go wrong? How would have
you, as the manager, provided feedback?
Andrew
P.S. This Is How You Do It
Head Office
Worthing
Sussex
BN14 7SJ
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