Today I was at the airport at 4 a.m. for a flight back home. Like most of my fellow travelers, I was sleep deprived and anxious to reach my destination. Air travel can be treacherous at more caffeinated hours of the day, let alone when navigating one’s way through the airport before the coffee shops are even open.
It was quickly obvious that no one wanted to be at the airport that early — not the passengers, the airline employees or security and maintenance. I witnessed employee after employee who seemed to have little regard for doing anything but the bare minimum. Case in point, I noticed one fellow traveler approach two separate airport personnel with a reasonable question: “How do I get to my gate?”
The question was particularly natural, because the tram which takes someone from one section of the airport to another was down for maintenance. The answer actually was rather tricky. Passengers had to take a series of turns down several corridors to then take a bus which would shuttle them across the airfields to the correct gate. I saw a couple of employees vaguely point the way in a manner that was almost dismissive, followed by the traveler walking away more confused. Finally, I saw one employee who cared say to an elderly traveler, “Follow me, I’ll show you the way.” I thought, “Wow, I wish that was more the norm, than the exception… I think it would help make the experience a little better for so many.”
One of the best compliments that any organization can hear is that “Everyone in your company is so caring.” A team that cares is a team that will rally behind each other and will also build tremendous customer loyalty. My airport experience did cause me to question, “Why is it that organizations seemingly have entire workforces of caring people, while others seem to possess only a few exceptions that do?”
Here are five ways to…