Recognition

On a recent flight to Ohio for some consulting work, I passed an airline employee framed in balloons and wearing a paper Mache hat.  He was behind a desk helping a client.  A sign on the front of his generic workstation was scripted in highlighter and Sharpie.  It read, “Happy Birthday!”

Of the millions of dollars worth of installations they had at that terminal:  a moving sidewalk and lightshow, large hanging mobile sculptures, a choreographed water fountain; it was this ten cent investment in a fellow co-worker that stood out, grabbed the attention of those in line, and plastered a smile on everyone’s face.   When I approached him for a picture, I was told that it was the birthday of one of the customers in line as well.  So the two of them both crammed into the photo.  All the passengers in line were laughing, gawking and commenting.  An otherwise stressful, utilitarian experience was turned into something neighborly.

I think you know where I’m going with this.  Customers want a relationship with their vendors, not lip service of one.  A luxurious environment is lost without a spark of genuine co-admiration and concern not just for the client, but between team members as well.  The people in line weren't responding to the investment the airline had made in its facility, they were responding to a few worker's admiration for their fellow co-worker.  Great service is not just stepping and fetching or bowling the client over with 'things'; it’s an extension of help from people who have an excess of the very same respect and admiration they are reaching out to the client with.

Check out the AAHA recommendations for a hospital-wide communication policy as a starting point for a discussion how you can improve the way you and your team members interact.  You can also reach out to Brenda Tassava for her practice's Contract of Mutual Respect.  Getting any team to set the world on fire is impossible without kindling a little spark in each of them first.