The Interview Day
Yesterday was a special day for several reasons. My son Christian (six years old) was about to pick up his new bike that had been ordered a week ago. He has been waiting patiently for 7 days and reminding us as each day passed. Each day is like a year to a six year old. That special day arrived and we were told that the bike would be ready for pick up at 4:00 p.m. Each hour now felt like one day to my son.
4:00 pm arrives and my wife and son proceed to the store to pick up the bike. As they arrived, the cashier paged the warehouse with the order. Soon after an employee comes out from the back and after being asked by the cashier to get the bike refuses and responds, "It's not my job!" The cashier reacts in shock and once again asks the employee to please get the bike for the customer. My wife and son are witnessing all this... The young employee once again responds, "It's not my job...!" After waiting patiently my wife interjects by responding, "It's not your job...? Are you not an employee of ...?" My wife asks the cashier to please call the manager. The assistant manager soon arrives and after some deliberation with the cashier asks and pleads with the employee to get the bike. Once again the employee refuses to get the bike. This then escalates to the manager who after hearing what just happened, sternly asks the young employee to get the bike. The employee then proceeds with some resistance. At this point my wife, as upset as she was, explains to the manager that she doesn't want that employee to get the bike because she doesn't trust the employee and to have someone else to get it. As you can imagine, this is all taking place in front of my son and other customers, not a very pleasant sight. My gut reaction would have been to ask for the money back and to proceed elsewhere. This would have been totally unfair to my son who had been waiting all this time for that special bike. Another employee then picks out the bike and brings it over to my son.
My wife came home and before she could even speak, my son proceeded to explain what had just happened. Of course his story was slightly exaggerated, however, in the world of a 6 year old it was real to him. After watching how excited he was with the bike and the disappointing news of what took place, I did not want to spoil his excitement, so I patiently waited till the evening to hear my wife's version. As you can imagine, this whole experience left a very bad impression on us all. I now needed to explain to my son and daughter (eight years old) who happened to hear the story, that sometimes people have bad days and this whole experience shouldn't be taken personally... Perfect story for a Bernstein Bears book... it could be called the "INTERVIEW DAY"
As a Careers teacher and Facilitator at the local Police Youth Forum I shared this story, calling it the INTERVIEW DAY. Treat every day as an INTERVIEW DAY. Let's say that my wife happened to be the CEO or manager of a company or knew an employer that was seeking someone that displayed excellent character and customer service, do you think this employee would have been recommended?
How could this have played differently? What if the employee brings out the bike for my son and asks my wife if she would like the seat or the handlebars adjusted and or maybe even shows my son how to use the brakes and other parts of the bike. What kind of impression would this have left on my wife and my son? What if the employee asks my wife if she would like some assistance bringing the bike out to the car? What impression would this employee have made on her? This would have been true character and customer service at work. Knowing my wife, this would not go unrecognized...automatic letter of appreciation recognizing this employee to the store manager and carbon copy to the President. These qualities do not go unrecognized.
As difficult as it might be we should always strive to treat each day as an INTERVIEW DAY. Sometimes you don't have a 2nd chance to make a FIRST impression so make sure that your first impression is your BEST!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
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