What does your organization really stand for? What is the real culture you your organisation? Not what people put on posters in the offices, but what happens in real life. We gain glimpses of the culture of an organisation through the policies and procedure that are enacted by companies.
For example last week I arrive on a flight from Dallas to Philly that landed at 12.25am. As instructed I call the hotel shuttle to get to the Sheraton Four Points hotel at Philly airport. It duly arrives and after a very long day I was very much looking forward to my bed.
When I arrive at the reception there is total confusion. One guest complaining her room was dirty and three others in front of me waiting to check in. This surprised me so late at night.
I am not going to go through the entire experience. Suffice it to say that they had decided to sell my room that I had booked. What an insult.
This is common practise in hotels and airlines in the US, not so much in the UK. They do so for an entirely “inside out” reason, to ensure maximum occupancy of hotel rooms or seats on flights. They are gambling on the fact that people who have booked won’t show. This shows the sales driven culture of the organisation and their total disregard for Customers, no matter what the words of the senior leadership profess. Actions speak loader than words.
This is another example of “bad profits”. What they are really saying is “you can not trust us”; “we don’t care about you, we are more worried about or hotel occupancy rates”.
As we move further into the credit crunch and impending recessions on both sides of the pond, I am concern that more and more organizations will be tempted to become more inside out. Resist the temptation. This type of action only builds resentment in Customers. I, for one, will no longer stay at a Sheraton.