yes, chef
Elizabeth (Liz) Gulliver
Our business is your people. We elevate employee experience and drive retention & performance.
What was your first summer job??
When we host in person events, we use name tags for conversation starters - not names. That’s one of my favorite prompts. Whether people grimace or smile, they always remember their first job. Mine was cleaning boats. Then waiting tables.?
I loved my first jobs. They weren’t glamorous. They didn’t pay well. The cultures left a lot to be desired, to put it mildly. But they taught me a ton.?
Everyone should work in the service industry at least once. It teaches you humility, speed, customer service and efficiency in a way few other jobs can. Take those skills with you to the corporate world and you’re unstoppable. My kids may not know it yet, but they’re definitely getting service industry jobs when they’re old enough.?
If you’ve worked in a restaurant you know it lives and breathes on team work. You quite literally cannot do it alone. Working together is survival. That, and, customers run everything. Including your tips. treat them like royalty.?
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Employers always say that their employees are their greatest asset (they are). But even so, the reality is that most companies don’t actually practice that. They might actually even believe it, but at the end of the day, they almost all prioritize customers over workers.
I get it. There’s a logic there, flawed though it is: ‘This person pays me for my goods/services, therefore I will prioritize their needs above all else’. You can see how even the most advanced organizations would fall into the trap. In fact, a study from Columbia Business School tracking S&P 500 companies for the last decade found that companies mentioned customers 10x more than employees in earnings calls. In half of the calls, employees didn’t come up even once.?
Imagine claiming something is your most valuable asset. Your key to success. And then…never mentioning it on a call about the state of your company? Weird doesn’t cover it.?
It’s a classic case of ‘know something logically, can’t act on it rationally’. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, there remains a deep-rooted belief that serving employees hurts the bottom line instead of fueling it. It’s proven a hard notion to fight against.?
I think back to waiting tables and it becomes very clear why you need both. For the last 50+ years, the corporate world has worshiped at the altar of Customer Experience ‘the customer is always right!’.. Turns out, it’s hard to pray to something else - even when the data is clear. The service industry knows the true secret to success: the way to outstanding CX is through strong Employee Experience (EX).?
Danny Meyer’s Setting The Table illustrates this beautifully - and is one of my favorite business books, if you haven’t read it, go get a copy. The TV series The Bear shows it as a work in progress. If you’ve been watching, wow, what a difference it makes to go from toxic culture & no EX to even some focus on teamwork, management and of course, EX.?
It should surprise absolutely no one that companies prioritizing EX consistently see improved CX as by product. And I really mean by-product. It’s not because they’ve ‘rallied the troops’ to focus on CX, but because they’ve aligned focus and shifted priorities to focus on their people first. Allstate CEO Tim Wilson said it plain & simple: “We are treating our employees as customers. They don’t pay you in dollars, but in hard work.” What more do CEOs want from their employees than hard work (aka performance & productivity - the holy grail)?
That’s my plug for getting teenagers into service industry jobs. As the new generation of leaders, it will serve them well to learn how CX & EX go hand in hand and the supreme value of teamwork. It might be too late for you to go back to a summer job, but it’s certainly not too late to take those lessons into your current work.?
That or I’m just fantasizing about waiting tables in the summer again instead of waiting tables for my toddlers…who don’t tip.?
What we’re reading?
Rethinking the Future of Work, Sustainable Communities, Government Services | Sustainability | Going Remote First Newsletter | Coach | Consultant
1 年I grew up on a farm so I was driving a tractor by 13 and a 1959 Viking box truck(with the three foot shifter that you had to pause slightly between gears) by 15. I've delivered more calves than some veterinarians. And engaged in some construction practices that would make an OSHA inspector cringe. Definitely learned a lot along the way. I think the key with any job as a kid is the more you learn to do, the more things you are comfortable trying as an adult.
CEO, Giving Children Hope | Speaker-Consultant-Coach on Life, Leadership, and Culture | Kunik Expert
1 年Baskin Robbins was my second job. Dad kicked me out of the house and told me not to come home until I had a job. (And he meant it). Learned about customer service, teamwork, leadership (good and bad), decision-making under stress (freezers broke in 98d heat) and how to make a kick-@$$ peanut butter-chocolate shake. 35 years later, 15+ of our crew are still in touch and some of us still road-trip together.
?? Future of Benefits Trailblazer | Managing B2B Producer | Tech-Forward Strategist | Creator of 'REfresh HR' & 'Benefit Atelier' | Top 1% SSI | Energizing the industry to drive value for the modern workforce
1 年Just started watching the bear. So good
Advocate for financial education, literacy, and independence. Advisory solutions and problem solving for businesses; risk management, business planning, building brand equity, capital raising and more.
1 年Great framework, equation and causal correlation here. One other benefit on working young is putting the equivalent of their earnings in a Roth IRA and starting to accumulate early. Makes a huge difference
CEO, Recruiter at Handle ? Overpriced Recruiting is Bullshit ? Dad
1 年Taco Bell at 15. I had to walk two blocks in every direction and clean up any trash with their logo on it in the streets.