Being a corporate coach, it is common for me to get all sorts of requests from client organizations to help them boost their people’s performance. I remember one request asking me to coach their people to smile more!!!
I was very curious. So I asked the CEO on why he wanted to have such a program. He answered, with frustration in his eyes, “They are turning away customers with their sour and unfriendly looks and remarks”. Of course, my next logical question was, “Why don’t they smile”? He responded awkwardly and quickly gave a barrage of reasons, ranging from “I don’t know”, “Maybe they have bad attitude” or “Maybe they are in the wrong job”, etc.
Not satisfied with the answers given, I asked for his permission to do a quick tour of the workplace where I got a good snapshot of the office environment, observed a few characters, eavesdropped a few conversations and even got to talk to a few “reluctant” and unfriendly ones.
People do not need to be literally taught how to smile because we naturally know how to do it. We are all born with very fine qualities and smiling is among the first behavior that we learned. We smiled when our parents tickled us, played with us or gave us a toy. So why should adult people go through a “how-to-smile” program now? It does not make sense.
After this, I had a heart-to-heart talk with the CEO. Here’s an extract of what we discussed. The conclusion is that the people in the company are not happy. Bad service usually starts with an unsmiling staff. In tourism, an unsmiling company is a sin! It is the most basic requirement a customer will expect when they walk into a company to buy a holiday package. Imagine when you are faced with unsmiling staff; I am sure these thoughts will pop up in your mind; “How can I ever have a good holiday with them?” “How can they take care of me when they are so cold to me now even before I step into the plane, etc?”
Tourism entrepreneurs should always find ways to make their people work happily in their companies. Remember, working in this industry is highly demanding: work pace is fast, changes are rapid, competition is stiff, working hours are long; workload is heavy and endless, etc.
How will you know if they are happy? The best indicator is: how often do the staff smile? When this is present, then there is a high chance that they are serving the customers well. There is fun in the work place, even laughing off to lighten a complaint, and relationship and teamwork among staff is good for they go out for lunches and dinners together or occasional karaoke session to sing their blues away!
Creating a happy working environment is not simply a human resource initiative but a crucial business strategy and a very important one too. As air fares are common rated now with no one getting preferential treatment, and when every customer knows what they are paying for, there is only one way to compete: SERVICE!
How do you do it? Pay close attention to your people as much as you do to your customers. They are also humans and they too have needs and emotions like the customers. Stay close to them to know how they are doing. Get information from the grapevine; talk to a few “anchor” staff about the goings-on and they can tell you a lot of things. Act on them fast, before they turn ugly. Most of all, you become the role model of a smiling and friendly company by showing it in everything you do. This is the best way to inspire your people.
Back to this “how-to-smile” assignment from this company, did I get it? Oh yes, and more than that. We are in a long term partnership to make their company a healthy and happy one.
What’s your experience with companies whose staff smile a lot? And those whose staff don’t smile much? You can add a comment to this blog by clicking on the Post Comment button. I would really like to hear your story!
