Where did Professionalism go? There once was a time
that you could go to different work locations and customer service was great.
As you entered into the workplace people were inviting, polite, and kind. When
I first started working, I was taught to always speak to customers, smile, and
do not be on my cell phone. Now, it’s a different ball game. My biggest pet
peeved is when I go into a store and I’m at the cash register and someone
doesn’t speak. I immediately say to myself, am I not standing here? Common
courtesy is to always speak no matter. Yes, I understand that we sometimes have
challenging days but an outstanding work ethic should always remain. My old
manager use to tell us to leave our problems outside the door before we began
working. Another one of my pet peeved is for someone to be texting and talking
on the phone while customers are in front of them. I have encountered this
problem on two different occasions. On the first occasion, I was at Walmart. As
I got ready to pay for my items, the young lady was texting on her phone. I
thought that as she saw me coming, she would’ve hurried and put the phone away
but it wasn’t any shame in her game. My second encounter was at Burger King.
This young lady was talking on her cell phone like she was on break.
Immediately I don’t want her bagging and touching my food because she didn’t
even wash her hands. Let’s keep it professional!
I also see this as a rising problem, especially in the service industry. I think that a big cause of it is that most people dont have a manager or boss that gives them the proper training and how they perform at a job because it is a entry level job. Another reason is that most managers probably do not enforce company policies and more than likely the employees are good friends with their manager making it harder for the manager to discipline them
ReplyDeleteI agree with your specific comments regarding work ethics; they do seem to be slipping, but I also agree on a more general level regarding cell phones. When I go out to eat, I see that many people are no longer talking to each other because they're too busy texting or taking photos of their meals. It is also frustrating to try to teach a class and see students sneaking cell phones into their laps like they think I can't tell what they are doing. I think it's rude and disrespectful and I just don't understand what text message is so important that someone would be willing to completely disregard the person who is in front of them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started working at my job, my mangers immediately informed me that if I was seen on the phone while on the clock, they would proceed to send me home for the day. To them being on the phone was associated with being non-professional.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I feel it depends on the places you go to. Chick-fil-A for an example is a place you can always go to and expect great customer service. But, I have experienced bad customer service ever since I have moved down to Greensboro. When I was back at home it was uncommon for that to happen.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you on this 100%. I've had many encounters similar to yours. One was actually when I was at work, I used to work at Texas Roadhouse. My boss had always told us to be professional, no phones while we were on the floor, and to always treat each other with respect while in front of customers. Well this particular day I guess my boss was having a bad day or was just off of her game, one of my co-workers was a little late to work (which yes I know, very unprofessional as well) however, we had a lobby full of guests and my boss yelled at her right in front of them. I'm sure parents of the children that were there didn't appreciate the way she conducted herself in front of them and there families. Some people need to take into consideration the type of behavior that shouldn't be tolerated!
ReplyDeleteWhen I go to Mickey D's, I go for the food. I don't expect great customer service because I'm to busy salivating over the double cheeseburger I had ordered. Damn, I could really go for a double cheese right about now.
ReplyDeleteThis comment was brought to you by McDonalds©.
Mcdonalds,
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I think that this generation of young people have no clue what it is to be professional in ANY situation. I know that some of us work jobs that require us to deal with the public and we hate the job in itself. But that does not excuse and individual to be unprofessional at any point regardless of the job.
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