Unbelievable.

Big ‘ol in-trouble Delta Airlines is bankrupt. They’ve laid off thousands. And slashed the salaries of the people they kept. Now they are asking employees to come in at night and clean the planes – for a t-shirt – to show their pride in the company.

We’re talking about scraping gum off the floors and cleaning windows, walls and even bathrooms in four and eight hour shifts – for a company that apparently doesn’t treat them very well.

It sounds like this is more of a way to make your already bitter employees even more bitter. And do the employees really even have a voice in the matter? One has to wonder.

I don’t have to tell you that a big part of your company’s identity is the employees. It’s the person who answers the phone at the front desk. The way your salespeople talk to potential customers. Even how your security staff and janitorial staff interact with customers in your store or building. If you treat them poorly and – worst of all – with a blatant lack of respect, do you think they’ll be there in your time of need?

Not likely.

I once witnessed a man in a suit walking into a huge office building that stopped by the door and picked up a piece of trash. Now that’s pride. Sure, he could’ve ignored it or told the cleaning crew to make sure they take care of it, but he took the time and did it right then and there. That’s the type of pride we all hope for. Employees that look out for the little things. Because once they “get it,” it’s infectious and will spread into every nook and cranny of your company. And then out the doors to your customers.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 21st, 2006 at 5:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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