I recently discovered that at least one employee at my local supermarket has no fear of consequences for his behavior at work.

The King Soopers employee who bagged my two gallons of milk and bottle of Mr. Bubble (don’t judge me…) said, “Damn! I’d need this whole bottle for my bath!”

After bagging the last item, he immediately began texting on his smart-phone (I’m being generous…). Bewildered by his behavior, I removed the gallons of milk from their respective plastic bags (I didn’t want them bagged—he didn’t know because he didn’t ask), grabbed the bag containing the bubble bath, and left the store.

There was no acknowledgment of any kind (“Sorry, I didn’t know you didn’t want your milk bagged” or “Can I give you a hand with that?”), no appreciation (“Thank you”), no farewell (“Goodnight”), no respect (I felt disrespected and devalued as a customer), and, worse, no fear of consequences from management (as his “Damn!” was quite audible and he was texting in plain sight).

Long ago, I bought into the management principle: Blame the process, not the person.

So it’s appropriate at this juncture to ask, “What processes are to blame for this employee’s boorish conduct?”

I can think of several:

• Employee selection
• Onboarding
• Employee training
• Development/communication of performance standards
• Behavior modeling by management
• Ongoing performance management (including feedback and recognition)

Certainly, King Soopers is not the only culprit. Until employers address these processes in meaningful ways, employees will continue to offend customers by their indifference—with no fear of consequences.

Illustration: Aaron McKissen

Have you ever heard a co-worker say, “I’m only one person, it won’t make much difference if I don’t do this quite right”?

Most times they don’t actually come out and say it but you can detect it in their body language and demeanor.

How can you influence these employees to accept responsibility for their performance in ways that support the collective efforts of the entire team?

One way is through carrots and sticks (rewards and consequences) but these have been proven to be ineffective long-term strategies. Sustained behavior change results from a personal commitment to change—it’s a matter of choice and identity.

So if I commit to becoming a conscientious and engaged member of the team, the odds increase that my performance will improve without the enticement of short-term incentive programs or the threat of disciplinary actions.

Here’s an illustration of this personal commitment from the book Inside the Magic Kingdom by Tom Connellan:

Somxtimxs I gxt to thinking that what I do doxsn’t mattxr. But whxn I start thinking that way, I rxmxmbxr my old typxwritxr. Most of thx kxys workxd finx most of thx timx. But onx day, onx of thx kxys stoppxd working altogxthxr. And that rxally mxssxd xvxrything up. So whxn I’m txmptxd to say, I’m only onx pxrson, it won’t makx much diffxrxncx if I don’t do this quitx right, I rxmxmbxr my old typxwritxr. And I say to mysxlf: “I am a kxy pxrson and nxxdxd vxry much.”

It’s a great illustration that reinforces the importance of every employee’s unique contribution to product and service quality while demonstrating the value of each employee’s personal commitment to the success of the entire team.

What has your xxpxrixncx bxxn?

The other day I walked by a supermarket employee who was hanging out near the front entrance of the store smoking a cigarette.

I noticed him because it always confounds me when employers permit their employees to smoke someplace where non-smoking customers have to pass through their second-hand smoke in order to spend their money.

But that’s a topic from an earlier post…

This particular post centers on the employee’s admonishment of a customer who failed to return his shopping cart to a designated cart collection area.

After a customer positioned the front wheels of his cart on a median in the parking lot, the employee called out sarcastically, “Excuse me. That’s not where the cart goes!”

The customer either didn’t hear the comment or chose to ignore it.

Customers are not obligated to return shopping carts. It’s nice when they do but it’s not their responsibility any more than it’s a rental car customer’s responsibility to clean out the car’s interior before returning it.

At some point, employees have to assume responsibility for their job roles. That means gathering shopping carts, cleaning a rental car’s interior, or whatever their job descriptions entail.

Do you see the irony here? The employee who’s chastising the customer for failing to return the cart to a designated collection area is himself employed to gather shopping carts from the parking lot and return them to the store. That’s one of his job duties. It’s what he’s paid to do. The customer’s only obligation is to pay for his groceries.

I suppose if every customer returned his or her cart to a designated cart collection area then that would save this employee time and effort, perhaps allowing for more smoke breaks in front of the store—but then who would he heckle?