Privilege to Serve?
| posted by Jeffrey CufaudeTraveling after the new security measures were implemented last week, I found that the lines were long, the patience was limited, and the stress was high. As a business traveler, I empathize with airline employees whose pay has been cut, perks have been curtailed, and jobs are increasingly stressful.
But in the midst of chaos at the gate for a long delayed departure, we were faced with two options in terms of gate agents, one I nicknamed “Thoughtful Incompetence” and the other I assigned the moniker “Indifferent Functionality.” Is this really what customer service in most service industries has devolved into: friendly treatment that gets you nowhere or curt brusqueness that at least gets you on your way?
Sure Southwest, Jet Blue, Ritz Carlton, and a host of other isolated cases in the hospitality industry are real curve busters. But will we ever again—particularly in any service industry with high turnover and low pay among its staff—have both friendly and efficient service as a mainstream norm? Given that almost an entire generation has grown up with poor service or self-service kiosks and online options, do they even know what great service looks like? What type of leadership would be required to create a proactive service mindset in which people say “With pleasure” to your requests and really mean it??
