Providing water to employees is employer’s duty in China. Many employers in Shanghai go however beyond this requirement and make coffee and tee available to employees for free. Some companies offer fruits (e.g. JWT) in the afternoon and some other a noodle soup when one is working after 7pm (e.g. TBWA).
The NetCircle offers a full food service program (breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner) free for all employees. By providing meal perks, the company’s founders hope to keep its workforce happy, motivated, efficient and productive. The perk also allows for a greater community building among employees. There are little to no incentives to leave company office during lunch hours. Instead, employees can socialize and have a conversation. In addition, an inviting well-designed kitchen serving delicious food from 8.00am to 8pm might lure talent and certainly for some employees is a good argument to stay.
To mention on the micro perspective: The menus are planned by an administrative assistant and the two cooks usually one week in advance. Cooks consult employees daily in terms of food preferences and likability of served dishes. They are especially interested in employees feedback after they’ve cooked something new, particularly a Western meal, prepared based on a recipe from a cook book. The cooks start their day by visiting the market to buy fresh ingredients. Notably, in The NetCircle’s kitchen as much as possible is made from scratch.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
There is not such thing as Micky Mouse Job
Even simplest jobs require consistent execution. Consistency is one of the greatest challenges for any business. The larger the business the greater the challenge. While customers increasingly call for great service anytime, everytime; businesses can still get away with mediocrity. McDonald’s and Subway are only two examples. Both makes you wonder what are the official standard procedures.
Mc Donalds‘ soft cones sometimes come with two twists, sometimes with three. Sometimes, the cone is fully filled with ice cream, sometimes it is just above the waffle. Sometimes, the ice cream is watery and less sweet, sometimes, creamy and sweeter.
Subway delivers even more diverse experience. The number of any countable ingredient such as ham or tomato slices differs even when not being subject to individual preferences and wishes. Sometimes, the more I talked with staff the greater amount they gave me. Other times, the more I talked, the less I received. The biggest surprise happened at one Arizona Subway restaurant where two employees have trained a newbie in making a sub. The instruction was more or less like this: If the customer is nice, talks to you and is generally a kind person, you take the tomato and you give him the inner parts of it. If the customer is not nice, you give him the endings. Importantly, Subway’s employees also vary greatly in passion for what they do, some put heart into every sandwich, others seem just not very comfortable working when everybody watches their hands.
What’s behind those inconsistent experiences? Undefined quality standards, lack of commitment to excellence, poor supervision, unfair franchise‘ owners attempting to cut corners, boost margins and what not or just the nature of humans that no recruitment, training nor human resource policy can 100% restrain.
Mc Donalds‘ soft cones sometimes come with two twists, sometimes with three. Sometimes, the cone is fully filled with ice cream, sometimes it is just above the waffle. Sometimes, the ice cream is watery and less sweet, sometimes, creamy and sweeter.
Subway delivers even more diverse experience. The number of any countable ingredient such as ham or tomato slices differs even when not being subject to individual preferences and wishes. Sometimes, the more I talked with staff the greater amount they gave me. Other times, the more I talked, the less I received. The biggest surprise happened at one Arizona Subway restaurant where two employees have trained a newbie in making a sub. The instruction was more or less like this: If the customer is nice, talks to you and is generally a kind person, you take the tomato and you give him the inner parts of it. If the customer is not nice, you give him the endings. Importantly, Subway’s employees also vary greatly in passion for what they do, some put heart into every sandwich, others seem just not very comfortable working when everybody watches their hands.
What’s behind those inconsistent experiences? Undefined quality standards, lack of commitment to excellence, poor supervision, unfair franchise‘ owners attempting to cut corners, boost margins and what not or just the nature of humans that no recruitment, training nor human resource policy can 100% restrain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)