HR staff must have the interpersonal skills needed
to relate effectively to clients and the creativity skills to resolve
problems when they occur (for example, conflicting goals among clients).
Manufacturing employees can be quite confident that
each car on the assembly line will have essentially the same
task requirements as every other car when it reaches
their workstation. An assembly-line worker can also rely on the
quality-control inspector to catch any errors before a car is shipped to a
dealership. Not so in HR. HR staff must successfully perform their tasks
with all types of clients who have all types of personalities — in
the absence of a “quality inspector” to catch service mistakes before the
client’s experience is completed.
HR staff must find and fix mistakes quickly,
appropriately, and creatively when HR fails the client in some way. The
nature and criticality of each client’s judgment of the quality of each
service experience make it essential to assess an HR applicant’s
attitude toward client-centric service before that person is hired.
Spotting Talent for Service
Former Chili’s Chairman Norman Brinker said, “Look for
people who are smart. Remember, sinners can repent, but stupidity is
forever.” At go!Mokulele Airlines in Hawaii, a receptionist was
overheard telling a prospective employee on the phone, “You don’t
need specific qualifications to work here. You just need to be
customer-focused.” Among the best predictors of performance in
any job are cognitive ability and three personality dimensions that
are good indicators of a client-centered disposition:
•» Conscientiousness: the extent to
which a person is dependable and organized and perseveres on
tasks
•» Agreeableness: the degree to
which a person is amiable, tolerant, honest, cooperative,
and flexible
•» Emotional stability: the degree
to which a person is secure, calm, and independent and can work
autonomously
No comments:
Post a Comment