Eat. Drink.
“It’s not my job.” I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this. Thirty years of hearing this.
“I am a bartender, I don’t have to clear tables. I am a chef, I don’t want to work the floor and carve beef. I am a salesperson, I don’t go out on deliveries. It’s not my job.”
The best employees are those with can-do attitudes. They recognize that providing excellent hospitality means going above and beyond to take care of the customer. No matter what the task is. They don’t let a title stop them. The best employees just jump in and do.
I have plated up, bussed, expedited, cleared, set up buffets, delivered, waited, bartended, carved, and washed dishes throughout my career as a salesperson. I also learned the more I jumped in, the better I was at my job.
Inspire.
I am sitting in an airport lounge at Heathrow right now. My flight is delayed so I have lots of time to observe people and things. A woman sitting next to me just departed for her gate. She left behind her coffee cup, a plate of crumbs, and a stack of used paper napkins. One of the napkins just hit the floor as she grabbed her bags to go.
Okay, I know, I could’ve picked up the napkin myself because it’s the right thing to do. Instead, I decided to make a hospitality experiment of this and see how long it takes for someone to pick it up.
It’s been ten minutes since the “drop”. I have watched a minimum of eight employees walk by this dirty napkin on the floor. One guy just cleaned up her dirty cup and plate and still left the napkin on the floor.
At first, I assumed these employees just didn’t see it, but now I think this is more of a case of, “it’s not my job”. The floor sweeper with her broom and dustpan hasn’t walked by yet.
It took about twelve minutes, but the lounge manager just walked by and picked it up. This wasn’t his job, but it was the hospitable thing to do.