One can see a vast chasm between when you are ready to fight for something and when it aligns with the company’s mission.written…that you are fighting for something. You know what I mean. It’s about those “providing the best service” posters that are only meant to be hung on the wall. It’s about those phrases that sound nice but are completely disconnected from reality. Imagine this: you are standing in a car rental office. (Florence, 2007 — don’t rent cars in this city, even if you booked them online.) It’s cold inside, and it’s raining outside. There’s no one at the counter (and when they do show up, they won’t like your USSR emblem driver’s license, even though everyone else did), and the carpet on the floor is dirty. Against this backdrop, you see a piece of paper with torn edges, some clip art at the top, pinned to the bulletin board. It states the company’s mission:
The mission of our company is to meet the needs for the rental, leasing, and sale of passenger and commercial vehicles, as well as related services. In doing so, we strive to exceed our clients’ expectations in terms of service, quality, and value.
We strive to earn the long-term loyalty of our clients by working to deliver more than expected, being honest and fair, and going “the extra mile” to provide exceptional personalized service that creates an impressive business experience.
We must encourage our employees to provide exceptional service to our clients by supporting their development, offering opportunities for personal growth, and ensuring fair compensation based on their successes and achievements.
This is really getting on my nerves. You sit there reading this nonsense and wonder, “What kind of brainless idiot do they think I am?” The words on the paper are clearly disconnected from reality and practice.
It’s just like when you’re talking to an “electric girl” on the line, when you’re put on hold while calling customer support, and she tells you how valuable you are to their company as a customer. Really? Maybe they should hire a few more people in customer support so I don’t have to wait half an hour to ask my question.
Or at least don’t say anything. But please don’t unleash a machine on me that tells me how much it cares about me. It’s a robot. I know the difference between genuine empathy and a robot that’s programmed to say nice things.
Fighting for something doesn’t just mean writing about it. It means believing in it and living it.