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I
have been very fortunate in my life in many ways, but one of the
true privileges that I have been fortunate enough to enjoy is the
amount of travel that I do and the different countries and cultures
that I encounter during the course of my work.
One
of the most common pieces of advise that I am given when I first
visit a country is, " It is very different here you know, and
there are significant culture issues that we have to deal with in
the execution of good or better service." I have always been
puzzled by this, because while I absolutely understand that citizens
of countries are proud of their heritage, I fail to understand why
that should be a barrier to good service.
I
always remember on the occasion of one of our Training sessions, a
very prominent General Manager of the region, telling me that we
were now dealing with about 20 different cultures, and that this
would prove difficult in the execution of the training event. We
have to tell you, that we are still waiting for anyone in that
region to explain the differences to us, and that, overall, we are definitely
not impeded by the culture, but far more by senior management's
resistance to invest money in the development of their most precious
resource: their employees.
To
take that point further, in those areas that we are working in,
without exception, we always find a willingness and desire to learn
that is those refreshing and rewarding to those of us that work
within our projects.
I'm
also very curious about the amount of time that the industry spends
on excusing poor performance on the "cultural" issues that
exist in the market that they work in. Service excellence can be
taught anywhere; it al depends on the amount of commitment, accountability
and, most important of all, involvement that senior manager's have
in the overall process. This issues for the line employees remain
the same wherever they are geographically located. They want to know
what is expected from them, where they fit in the organization, and
what their development opportunities are. It doesn't have nearly as
much to do with culture as some would have us believe, and I really
think it is time for us to stop copping the "culture card"
for below average service.
By
Marcel Zakrzewicz
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