Raju Mandhyan on Form & ContentR

Raju Mandhyan on Form vs Content     www.mandhyan.com

An Entrepreneurial Stretch

A little over a month ago, a bunch of colleagues and I were flying back from an event in Cebu, Philippines. At the airport, in a nice little sandwich shop I asked if my peppered chicken sandwich would have a few chips on the side. The waitress said she was sorry their outlet did not carry any chips. A sandwich without chips on the side did not make sense to me. “Do you think I could pop by a neighbouring shop and buy my own bag of Salt & Vinegar flavoured chips?” I asked. She gently paused, placed her note-taking pencil on her lips, “Let me see what I can do,” she said and left. And, she was gone for a while. “Oh, Sir, they only have a bag of regular chips, will those do?” she asked upon coming back. “That’ll be okay, I guess,” I replied. 
She disappeared again and took quite as much time as she’d done before. When she came back I offered to pay and asked why going to the store next door took so long. She didn’t accept the cash saying she’d include it in the whole tab and mentioned that the chips came not from the store next door but from one outside the airport. 

From outside the airport? I was amazed and touched by her efforts. This was quality service and of the kind that Filipinos are known for and take pride in. Upon further probing, I also discovered that she was not the manager of the sandwich shop and there was also no manager there as of that time and day. She’d take this decision to serve and satisfy customer needs in consensus with another colleague at the shop. 

I also learned that she was quite sure that management and the owners of that store would have approved of her decision and actions. For me that was an amazing feat. Very few employees in small stores like that bother to stretch their services and responsibilities so much. When we as managers or bosses are able to inculcate such responsible action taking, such environment where our teams can exercise entrepreneurship abilities and take risk then we too will deserve pats on our backs. 

 What we need to do is: 

1. Get clear about what our business goals and values are. 
2. Make these goals and values clear to all those that help and support our work. 
3. Nurture an atmosphere of support and service to all, customers and team members alike. 
4. Write down the policies and yet create room for experimenting and risk-taking. 
5. Applaud and reward outstanding acts (such as walking a mile to buy chips for a customer) of service, ingenuity, dedication, honesty and loyalty by individuals. 

I am, at this stage, so tempted to share the name of that girl and the sandwich shop at Cebu airport but I guess it’d be improper to do so without getting an approval from those concerned. But, I can tell you this...their peppered chicken sandwiches go really well with salty chips and a Coke.