Debating Whether "The Customer is Always Right"

Describe

To begin with, the topic of the paper is “The customer is always right” essay where I will share why this saying doesn't work in real life. All arguments are based on my working experience. I did an internship for 1.5 months in the hospitality industry. I was applying for a front office team in a five-star hotel in Jakarta. Accommodating the guests' check-in was the front office team role. Working in a big hotel with a lack of experience wasn't easy for me; the guest persisted complaining. The most prevalent problem that the front office team encountered was about check-in time and room availability. We can give early check-in if the room is accessible. But we can't assure that everyone can get early registration. Moreover, my hotel has a shortage amount of housekeeping workers, which causes the room can not finish on time. The guest begins concerning our professionalism. In this situation, the manager role is precious, but we weren't lucky enough. My manager doesn't care about us. Every time the guests complain, my manager assumed this problem occurs because of the front office team. Working in this industry with an unfair manager makes me and my colleague anxious, resulting in a lot of my colleague resignation.

Analysis

In hospitality organizations, misunderstandings frequently happen due to task demands, time pressures, and guest's complaint pressures. The idea of 'the customer is always right' result in an unbalanced power within the front office team and customers. The employees are obliged to serve customers in a friendly way, even if the customer is rude. This cognitive dissonance makes most of the employees in the hospitality industry felt anxious and affects a rising number of employee turnover. Moreover, individual performance and group performance are essential for the organization's outcome. Success in the hospitality industry necessitates teamwork amid the manager and the team of every department. Furthermore, managers are the ones that communicate and coordinate in departments. According to Walkup, owning a good relationship between the manager and the employee is the most valuable thing to counter high industry turnover.

Furthermore, according to Tuckman et al., there are five stages of team development. The second stage is the 'Storming' stage, in this stage, each member of the team start giving an emotional response to task demands, and it will create an intragroup dispute. However, in my case, the group ended at the 'Storming' stage. It is because, in this stage, we commence to have some individual personalities dilemmas among guests, front office team and also my managers. With the high number of employee turnover proves that the problem can not be solved and we can not proceed to the next stage. The third stage is the 'Norming' stage, in this stage, the problem resolves, and they will reach team cohesiveness. According to Stashevsky and Koslowsky, elements of cohesion such as task commitment, and group pride are related to group performance. The team that can provide better performance indicates they own team cohesiveness. Due to the enormous number of employee turnover in my hotel, we can't afford superior organizational performance, and there must be a management error; therefore, my team lose to build a team cohesiveness.

Reconstruction

According to Guchait, Learning behaviour will enhance the team and organizational performance. Learning behaviour is a meditation method, considering the mistake, and taking feedback is part of learning behaviour. Moreover, receiving feedback is a tool for self-improvement. With the learning behaviour process, each individual not merely discovers their misunderstanding but others' as well. Owning sufficient support will influence work quality, work performance, and possibilities to gain individual and team goals if I had known this before, especially the importance of teamwork. I would have to handle differently by maintaining the integrity of the team and attending learning behaviour. Trying to take feedback from other people, and not only discovering own misunderstanding but group misunderstanding as well.

Moreover, cognitive dissonance occurs when there is a conflict between attitudes and behaviour. Mostly cognitive dissonance occurs in the hospitality industry; it is because there are often misunderstandings between guests and workers. Dealing with guests with a bunch of grievances can lead to workplace stress. Either manager or institution can organize wellness programs such as training in stress-management interferences, and the essential thing is to make sure people get to have some fun at work by looking for positive vibes and focus with the job. If my manager or the institution organized wellness programs. I'll join this event. Therefore, I can learn how to manage my workplace anxiety, and I can perform my best while working. Besides that, I would like maintaining a good relationship with a co-worker to build a positive workplace vibe. Working with the positive vibe will improve our performance.

Reflection

Throughout this situation, I have learnt that owning an extraordinary level of patience in handling guest complaints is necessitated if you want to work in the hospitality industry and I have learned the importance of receiving feedback from other people in working life. People can successfully develop themselves in the working experience because they are taking and practising input from other people adequately. Working as the front office taught me a lot of things. Respect for others is one of them, before working in this industry, I believed that 'the customer is always right' statement. But when I was working there, I know how they felt—feeling anxious all the time regarding receiving many complaints. My intention is I want to replace people's point of view about 'the customer is always right'. For me, this concept does not make sense at all. We will agree with this statement if we are in the guest position, but it won't work if we are in the worker position. Furthermore, I would like to improve further self-control skill, mainly when dealing with the guests, so if I find myself in a similar situation, I can control myself more. Additionally, I would like to improve my self-awareness because I have determined the importance of receiving feedback from other people. Sometimes our ego is enormous, and we don't realize that we made a mistake. Receiving feedback with an open heart can make us become a better person.

References

• Festinger, L. (1962). Cognitive Dissonance. Scientific American, 207(4), 93-106. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican1062-93
• Guchait, P., Qin, Y., Madera, J., Hua, N., & Wang, X. (2018). Impact of error management culture on organizational performance, management-team performance and creativity in the hospitality industry. International Journal Of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 1-28. doi: 10.1080/15256480.2018.1478357. Retrieved from https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/15256480.2018.1478357#
• Stamolampros, P., Korfiatis, N., Chalvatzis, K., & Buhalis, D. (2019). Job satisfaction and employee turnover determinants in high contact services: Insights from Employees’Online reviews. Tourism Management, 75, 130-147. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2019.04.030. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy2.library.usyd.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0261517719300925?via%3Dihub
• Stashevsky, S., & Koslowsky, M. (2006). Leadership team cohesiveness and team performance. International Journal Of Manpower, 27(1), 63-74. doi: 10.1108/01437720610652844. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au/docview/231924059/fulltext/1042ED0013EA4141PQ/1?accountid=14757
• Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (2010). Stages of small-group development Revisited1. Group Facilitation, (10), 43-48. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.usyd.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au/docview/747969212?accountid=14757
• Walkup, C. (1997). Build a positive culture by including personal values. Nation's Restaurant News, 31(23), 70. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.usyd.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.library.usyd.edu.au/docview/229328127?accountid=14757