(posted this over on my google+ account but thought I would expand on it here)
A friend of mine said something very interesting last weekend. We had been hanging out all day and had received relatively poor service from every person we encountered. Walgreens, bad service. Lunch, bad service. Movie theater, bad service.
It goes on.At some point in the day he said to me, "Do you think these places realize how many people out there want jobs? How many people would be willing to work jobs well below their qualifications just to have a steady stream of income? How can people who are terrible at their jobs and terrible to people continue to work while there are so many people out there who are looking for work? You think something like this would light a fire under companies asses realizing how important a good staff can be."I generally agree with him. There are far too many people out there looking for work for shitty employees to get a pass. The concept of 'beneath me' is less important the the reality of no money. Good employees foster good feelings towards a business—I mean have you been inside a Chick-fil-a or Whole Foods?But I was wondering this is something we see because we are college aged or this is all over. Is it a matter of not finding the right people for the job or being afraid to fire current employees? It's probably not as easy as my friend or I make it out to be, but it seems like something people should be talking about.
This also extends to agencies today. There are too many people out there vying for positions for you to be bad at your job. It's so easy to find someone who is good and fast and hungry that if you aren't putting in the effort you might get sent out the door.
Unlike retailers we don't have products that hold up even if our staff don't. If we slack off it is reflected in the product. If we don't pull our own weight people will take notice. And if we chose to ignore our customers we're out of a job.
Our biggest assets are our minds. If you don't have one of those I advise you to find one: quickly.