Casual Fridays

10 Responses to “Where There’s a Will, There’s No Way”

1. Mack Collier
   June 1st, 2007 at 10:58 pm

   

   We’ll say the ‘Wills’ need to be trained better. The Albertsons of the business world will say that they don’t have time to train them.

   The real question is, is it that they don’t have the time, or don’t make the time?

2. Phil Gerbyshak
   June 1st, 2007 at 11:44 pm

   

   Wow, this is truly sad. Great management at this place. Why oh why do folks insist on hiring people who don’t care for front line jobs? This is just KILLING their brand, time and time again. YOW!

3. Michael Wagner
   June 3rd, 2007 at 3:10 pm

   

   Thanks for the link back to my own “Will…Not” experience.

   Smart companies and organizations will learn how to lead a branded organization. They will find the dollars, time and more importantly…the brand based vision.

   But Mack is right; I can hear the management excuses before they even form on the lips of managers and leaders who have given up on equipping the Wills of this world with the development they need.

   Keep creating,
   Mike

4. Chris Posey
   June 4th, 2007 at 9:16 am

   

   This issue has come up many times recently in conversation with other associates, my wife, my friends, and Phil is right: it absolutely destroys the equity invested in a brand. Not only do workers in these roles sometimes seem incompetent, they occasionally border on being indignant, seemingly offended that you asked them of their time and effort. I agree with Mack-many grocery stores, fast-food restaurants, (hotels), etc. simply don’t spend the time training. They’re desperate to get people on the schedule, so they skip it. Solutions? That’s tough. My touchy-feely side says there’s a culture problem. My disciplinarian side says people need to start getting fired! To marry the two would be wonderful. Southwest Airlines has a great model. Their employees, top-down, are their brand, and their customers know it. The value of their brand, not just of their job functions, has been instilled in all employees, and it shows in their service. But as Michael mentions, that takes money (and time).

5. DUST!N
   June 4th, 2007 at 10:39 am

   

   Great comments one and all. I don’t know that I can state it better than Chris has. Bravo!

   Based on what everyone is saying, it does sound like a tension exists between an “entitlement generation” and the bottom-dollar culture of most corporations today.

   Putting the entitlement attitude aside for now (though worthy of it’s own focus), I notice you’ve mentioned two types of investment many companies hesitate to make into their employees: Time & Money.

   It seems as though time is an even tougher investment to make. It is even more critical with the number of baby boomers retiring over the next decade.

   The pre-modern approach was apprenticeship. Bring someone along side you to learn the trade (often times a son) and show them the way patiently.

   Why do we not “apprentice” our employees as much today?

   Thoughts?

6. Chris Posey » The Transfer » Blog Archive » This Job Would Be Great If...
   June 4th, 2007 at 12:29 pm

   

   Recent posts on a couple of blogs I read regularly have roused my ire against marketing professionals; to wit, Dustin Staiger’s transcript of a grocery store’s holiday weekend ball-drop and Mike Wagner’s hotel toothbrush fiasco […]

7. Matt Haverkamp
   June 4th, 2007 at 2:35 pm

   

   I remember at Abercrombie and Fitch and how to motivate high schoolers and college age kids. We attempted to give these kids ownership of the store. So treat them like managers in training and give them empowerment to make decisions. The results were astonishing. Giving them the place and making them feel they were owners changed their mindset on even the most boring of tasks.

8. This Job Would Be Great if it Weren’t for Those Pesky Customers « The Transfer
   June 7th, 2007 at 3:29 pm

   

   […] This Job Would Be Great if it Weren’t for Those Pesky Customers Posted June 4, 2007 Recent posts on a couple of blogs I read regularly have roused my ire against marketing professionals; to wit, Dustin Staiger’s transcript of a grocery store’s holiday weekend ball-drop and Mike Wagner’s hotel toothbrush fiasco. These posts expose a service provider mindset that is becoming more and more commonplace these days: front line service employees (let’s just call them FLSE’s from here on out, you know, to keep things simple) are not only occasionally lazy and incompetent, they are sometimes actually indignant that customers would ask something of them—that money-spenders would have the gall to interfere with their otherwise pleasant shift. (I know, you’re saying, “But you said you were mad at marketing professionals. It sounds like you’re really mad at FLSE’s.” Just keep reading.) My first question is, how and when did this sort of behavior become acceptable? (OK, that’s actually two questions.) Of course, the answer to that question(s) doesn’t matter nearly as much as Dustin and Mike’s question: how can this issue be resolved? Sure, there are a few spot treatments: retrain, or perhaps even fire the perpetrators (on very shaky grounds). On a slightly broader scale, one might work with managers to help them observe, identify and correct this sort of behavior. But honestly, I think the scrutiny should go deeper into the organization. (Here comes the part about marketing professionals.) I see these problems as marketing problems-as issues brand managers and CMO’s need to address. I would ask, have the marketing managers/execs truly caught the vision of the company? Do they wholeheartedly ascribe to it or are they simply making a paycheck, as are the previously mentioned FLSE’s? (And if the latter is indeed the case, how can we blame the FLSE’s?) Have marketing managers/execs implemented the company’s top-down vision into every aspect of their marketing plan including service provision? What tangible, daily-practicable initiatives have managers and execs clearly stated in their service provision processes? What initiatives have they defined clearly enough in their FLSE job requirements that “failure to perform” said initiatives could safely become grounds for firing an employee without reserve? (When is the last time your CMO and your VP of HR had a company-changing discussion?) […]

9. Bret Ralston
   July 9th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

   

   NEWS FLASH “Albertson’s and Will are leaving Oklahoma.”
   Maybe not Will, but his employer is leaving the state.

   Customer service effects loyalty
   Loyalty effects bottom line
   Bottom line effects Corporate decisions
   Corporate decisions effect my job
   My job effects customer service

10. DUST!N
    July 10th, 2007 at 9:13 am

    

    Great job of chasing the dominoes and showing the big picture Bret!

    Albertson’s exiting Oklahoma has been a long time coming. I was recently told they have similar struggles in Texas.

    Guess the market for somewhat overpricing and way underserving isn’t as profitable as it once was.

    My guess is they won’t take Will with them.