“Captain Baggage Man”
June 11, 2009
Find opportunities where you can contribute to your organization and you’ll find that it has a positive effect on your employees and your customers as well.
The level of motivation and dedication that your employees bring to their jobs can be influenced, either positively or negatively, by the examples set by their leaders. I had the opportunity to witness one such instance on a flight home from Newark last week.
I was traveling on a small regional jet, so as you can probably guess, overhead space is somewhat limited. Large bags, such as rollaboard cases, have to be checked at the gate. The attendant takes your luggage on the jetway, stores it in the baggage compartment, and then returns it to you on the jetway as you leave the plane.
This process of retrieving luggage can be very slow as the luggage handlers have to pass up the bags to each person waiting on the jetway, and this usually happens one bag at a time.
Fortunately, on this flight there was some additional help. The captain for the next flight happened to be standing on the jetway waiting to board the plane. Seeing how many people were waiting and sensing that they were all anxious to get to their destinations, he started carrying bags onto the jetway along with the other employees. He didn’t complain about lending a hand; he didn’t make an exasperated face; he just pitched right in and helped to speed up a lengthy process.
Now, I don’t have an inside track on airline procedures, but I’m quite sure that assisting arriving passengers with their luggage is not in the general job description of an airline captain. But you can rest assured that the effect it had on the baggage handlers and the passengers waiting on the jetway was extremely favorable.
Too many managers have the attitude that some types of work are “menial” or “beneath them.” Or they may think that it’s simply not their job! I have always found that companies with the best service records are the ones where the leaders set the example for their employees. It’s where the restaurant manager walks the floor helping bus tables, where the vice president of product development surveys customers at random, or where airline captains assist passengers with luggage.
Try to find opportunities where you can contribute to your organization and you’ll find that it has a positive effect on your employees and your customers as well.
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