This evening I received the following question on LinkedIn and thought I’d address it here as well:
Question: Given that experts say employees should smile, treat customers politely, and show enthusiasm, how do you suggest dealing with employees who are affected by personal problems at work?
This is an important question because the reality is that we, as human beings, are emotional creatures. When I worked for a large corporation, we used to say to employees, “Leave your problems at the loading dock on your way into work. At work, you’re on stage!”
But years later, I see the futility of this advice. It’s unrealistic to expect employees who have real concerns about childcare, finances, relationships, health, or reliable transportation to place these burdens in a “box” near the loading dock and collect them on the way home.
At the same time, customers have a set of expectations pertaining to service quality. And while they may relax these expectations during a soft opening or when interfacing with an employee-in-training, it’s unreasonable to expect them to accommodate employees’ personal problems by lowering their expectations and settling for a substandard service experience (for which they’re paying full price).
A better way to assist employees who are affected by personal problems at work is to listen – really listen – to their concerns and to make resources available to address their problems, if not eliminate them altogether.
It may not be an employer’s responsibility to solve their employees’ personal problems, but it is their responsibility to address these problems rather than confine them to a “box” near the loading dock and pretend they don’t exist.
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Illustration by Aaron McKissen.
