looking at things in Singapore, i think a lot of things are
mired in mediocrity...
we can change things but i wonder if the bosses are willing to see
it?
our service industry doesn't seem to be interested in real service
and just keeps paying lip service to it.. just like the other day
when i was at Popular Bookshop, lots of staff just standing around,
the cashier is very busy, but one register is being manned by one
person while another just stands there and keeps distracting him...
all this while a long line is building..
most stupid is that there are 2 cash registers there... they could
have opened up another...
or the silly lady who keeps distracting the cashier could have
redirected all the people in the line to the cashier at the other
side of the shop (which i went to)
the cashier at the other side of the shop was serving one person..
but he was talking on the phone (probably official as he was
talking about some file) and trying to count change... another
staff member was just standing there looking on.. she was full-time
staff.. the cashier was part-time as his name-tag says..
it would seem that no one bothered to train them about how to
provide good service.. it could be as simple as taking over the
call, opening up another cashier counter, redirecting the line or
just smiling and saying sorry to the waiting customers...
now.. on the other side of the scale, we have enforcement
organisations being forced to 'provide service'.. so much so that
their enforcement responsibilities are being compromised.. i know
that for a fact as in the past, an asswipe No.1 did that to us and
caused the damage we're still trying, after more than 5 years, to
repair...
it was not good enough that we do our duties politely, he wanted us
to 'delight the customers'.. what kind of 'customers' do
enforcement agencies have???
it would seem that a lot of high-ones are sold into the 'one size
fits all' solution and that it is to pad their own CV... the real
implementation is secondary to it all.. the staff know and just go
through the motions....
and that mires everyone in the mediocrity which is the "service
standard" of singapore
... and that is a tragedy
