Nice To Know Someone Values Your Work

I have been having spates of what I would call 'Sour' moments here at work (which I honestly try my damnedest  best to not let affect my work). Being in the service industry isn't easy (let me tell up front), so it does help us feel better to come across really satisfied customers who really appreciate the gestures we do for them.

I was taught that we should always attempt to see things from another perspective, and putting on another's shoes so to speak, so that we can be fully informed of what our action (or in-action) could mean to the other person. As it were, I have never had a problem of empathising and seeing both sides of a coin (people who know me might add I see both sides of a coin to a fault!). So being with customers in operational shift work constantly allows me to test this skill!

It is a wonderful feeling to know that what one should consider simple courtesy could end up meaning so much to the recipient, be it a steaming cup of tea, a bowl of comforting noodles or a warming blanket, or that mildest of smiles. Sometimes, individuals in this industry can be so bogged by the machinations and processes of work (in all its myriad of dos and don'ts) we forget to be human and most importantly, that our customers are also human.

Thus it was a very pleasant surprise when I was approached by a long time service provider partner (whom I have not met in months) seeking my participation in coordinating and arranging for some rehash of their well received but somewhat dated offerings in my place of work.

Now, I have always felt that my pointed (and often terse) complaints I sent out due to quality control lapses would affect how I would be perceived. I have always (and hopefully always will) been very quick to praise when a job is well done and reprimand only after I have enough investigated details warranting such response. I guess in real life, when it matters, people will cut through all the drama and see that at the end of the day, it is always about doing our level best for the customers, and they know we are doing it because it needed doing, without malice or ill-will.

So I am all smiles tonight....