There is a particular form of incompetence which seems to be
surprisingly common. Allow me to describe it via an example. A purely imaginary example hem hem.
Picture a cafe where the owner has obviously put a great
deal of effort into both the decor and the quality of the food. It is only a
cafe serving coffee and casual meals but it does that well in pleasant
surroundings. Attention to detail is obvious everywhere.
Now imagine a person employed to represent the cafe, to
greet customers, take orders and serve the food. An overweight person perhaps, with
a conspicuous level of self-esteem but very limited ability to be genial, welcoming
or even friendly towards customers.
A person who seems to see customers as mildly
inconvenient strangers. A person who may be willing enough to put that
inconvenience to one side on condition that it is not forgotten. On condition
that it is as conspicuous as the carefully crafted cake display or the enticing
aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
What is strangely obvious about such people is that any attempt
to guide them out of their incompetence is bound to be futile. Their self
esteem is armour-plated. They are incompetent and not even hard-working but
they don’t see it.
They will never see it yet they are not dismissed until
significant hidden damage has been done. Even then they may cling on because
nobody wants to tackle that armoured self-esteem. It is formidable and behind
it lies the certain promise of vast emotional turmoil if the facade is ever
challenged, let alone punctured.
6 comments:
Interesting!
We had that with a local small 'superstore' - a Budgens.
Hopeless management and even less interest from the staff, so they went away, presumably because of bad management.
Waitrose took over. Most of the same faces appeared and we groaned - but not for long!
Love them all nowadays, especially the gorgeous sexy blonde who hands out the cups for coffee (although I don't like the stuff now)! I always get a glimpse of what might have been, but Mrs O'Blene is adamant that we have to leave because we have stuff in the freezer to sort out...
Sometimes lovely staff in supermarkets must stop you doing what the other parts might aspire to...
Yes, they are everywhere, aren't they?
Two structural explanations. The first is left-wing, and claims that the owner of the business has a far greater incentive to create those "finishing touches" and work hard to please customers, because they will be pocketing the profit. The workers, however, have no such incentive.
Right wing? Worker's rights enshrined in law mean that it's very hard for small businesses to rectify mistakes in hiring dud staff. A cafe owner has limited resources in terms of recruitment, and they are fishing in a small pond. Once the oaf is behind the till, it's very costly - in terms of time, energy, and possibly legal bills - to get rid of them.
I might have mentioned it before, but the difference between staff in my nearest Waitrose and the village Budgens is very striking. I put it down to the fact that Waitrose have the resources to screen and train their staff, and can also initiate robust effective dismissal procedures through company lawyers.
Michael: I hadn't seen your post before I did mine.The comments section was blank when I started typing. Great minds think alike, and all that, but that's a noteworthy coincidence!
Sam, I hope you might just be in the same vicinity, but it'll start a round-the-houses discussion perhaps...
If I mention Tesco is right opposite, then we're locals at the best pub beginning with Q...;0)
Sorry, Mr H, you're on a roll here - or maybe a role...
Scrobs and Sam - our local supermarkets are okay in that respect. As Sam says, the big guys presumably have robust effective dismissal procedures. The only Budgens I know is in Holt in Norfolk. Indifference seems to prevail there too, although we haven't been there for a few years. The store itself is pleasant enough.
Michael,
No, not a Tesco for miles!
We've got four pubs in the village, none of them begin with Q...
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