New breed of service

Most of our training programs for this particular government agency were conducted at hotels in Kuala Lumpur. Since we train low rank staff, the hotels used are usually boutique hotels or those rated 3 star status ones. And these are hotels located usually in the heart of Kuala Lumpur where participants, especially those from out of town, can easily walk out and shop for souvenirs to bring back to their loved ones after the program is over.

We had the opportunity of working at three such hotels on a frequent basis; while their standard is almost the same, their service levels differ. In some areas, the difference is great and in others, marginal. And in the almost four years of training for this government agency’s rank and file personnel, we have experienced these 3 hotels go through many changes – restructuring exercises, so they say. But in essence, change in management and or ownership.

No matter who the new owners or managers are, they will always try to retain the staff from the previous management. This is not easily achieved since movement among the rank and file in this industry is high, and any signs of an “uncertain” future could easily trigger an outflow of staff from one hotel to another.

In the same manner, since hotels work by a standard set of operating procedures industry-wide, regardless of who runs the hotel now, at the least the basic standards are maintained. Or so that should be the case.

So it was that we had a 3-day program at this particular hotel which we personally rank 2^nd in the line-up of the three hotels we always work from. The last time we were there some months back, they were going through a restructuring exercise. By this program, things had settled down. We noticed a few familiar faces on the floor that recognized us. The rest are relatively “new” and foreign.

We had somber and serious Malaysians greeting us at the reception, friendly and smiling nationals from Myanmar serving us our breaks by the hotel pool (the seminar room is located by the pool…a refreshing challenge) and now-you-see-them-now-you-don’t Bangladeshis at the coffee house waiting on us for breakfast and lunches. We were told the cooks are Indonesians and Malaysians (Chinese, Indians and Malays). The new breed of Malaysian service culture!

Which brings to mind an interesting issue, since this new breed of service providers cannot even speak or understand a word of English what more Bahasa Malaysia, how were they trained to deliver on the basic standards of the hotel? It is not enough for them to smile and nod their heads as signs of respect to a guest. Or to hold the elevator doors for us while they patiently wait to let us take our time to get in or out of the elevators.

They must demonstrate that they understand what is required of them to comply with the basic standards – and the hotel must also be equally responsible to its guests and show that they care enough about their service providers’ ability to perform the basic duties so as not to tarnish their own image.

When hotels take in this new breed of service providers under their wings, they cannot be lackadaisical about how these persons are going to perform. A check and balance is needed. The hotels got in cheap labor; don’t be stingy with their training. These human resources from abroad are not classified as “expatriates” – these are skilled “manual laborers”. And back where they come from, most probably they would not be allowed into a hotel unless to work. Chances are they would not know the difference between a soup spoon and a dessert spoon, and that you stir sugar in your coffee/tea with a tea-spoon. To them, a spoon is a spoon is a spoon!

Obviously, this hotel that we had our program at did not think such matter matters. And so it was that during our coffee/tea breaks, we had to stir our hot drinks with plastic table-spoons and use the plastic eating forks to pick our kuihs.

Tapes and colors

In 2006, into my third year as an Independent Trainer, I was appointed as a Program Trainer by a NGO which is based in Singapore to run one of their programs here in Malaysia. The NGO is a learning partner of Citibank and runs financial education programs aimed at the younger generation, and the public in general.

The requirement is for me to deliver their program to students from secondary schools in our country. Students, schools and parents need not pay for the program – it is given free. On top of that, each student is given a free copy of a book with the same title as the program. The book is written by professors from NUS as well as Monash University KL. For Malaysia, the book comes bilingual, in English and BM all in one book. And our very own distinguished lady of language, Adibah Amin edited and proof-read the BM version.

As the job involves some bit of traveling within the nation, I got my husband to help me full time with this part of our service. This would be the 3^rd year we will be doing this program under this NGO, and while the program provides us with the opportunity to fulfill our personal social obligation, it is not without its fair share of heartaches.

Dealing with schools meant we had to deal with a lot of red tapes. And I mean a lot. There’s the formality we need to clear with at the ministry level, then at the states level. Certain states require clearance from district levels before we can go knocking on school doors. At the schools, we first must convince Principals or their second in line before being referred to the “correct” teacher to coordinate the schedule for our free program, if the Principals agree to have the program at their schools.

You’d be surprised to know that, in spite of the ongoing campaign by the relevant agencies, in spite of reading about the poor financial planning skills of our younger generation, in spite of numerous proposed plans to introduce more life skills based activities to our students, there are still Principals who do not see any value in educating their students on wise money management, an important element that form the basis of life skills if I may say so!

Never mind school principals – one state education department down South went so far as to restrict co-curriculum activities to only those that are academic in nature! As a result, school administrators keen for their students to benefit from our program have to miss out on this opportunity. I pity school leavers from that state for they could end up “empty” in spite of achieving high academic excellence.

With this mentality among those we entrust to educate our future generation, should we then wonder why we are still driving our children to be very academic-oriented. To be very exams/results oriented?

World class service

“Budi bahasa budaya kita” so goes the age old Bahasa Malaysia adage. In English, that means being courteous is our way of life.

I hold firm to that belief and believe they form that basis of every Malaysians’ lives, regardless of race, culture or religious faith. In each and every diverse culture of us Malaysians, how we were brought up is pretty much the same. We were taught by our elders to be mindful of our bahaviour towards others - what we say and do to others, how we say and do them.

In fact, if we were to scrutinize each and every principles of good Customer Service, we will find that the root of all these is courtesy…good common sense courtesy.

How often had we been reprimanded by our elders when as a child, we hang around the “grown-ups” when visitors come over? Or told to keep our mouths shut and listen when a grown-up is speaking to us? To look down and stand still when we are being scolded? To bow slightly and acknowledge their presence with a slight nod when we overtake others walking slower than us, regardless of race or religion. And a classic, to let others enter a room first, start a meal, take the first helping, take the best of the lot – in other words, “after you”.

But these common sense courtesy is slowly eroding from our society in our beautiful country, specifically among those in the frontline. And why should that come as a surprise to any of us who care? Now, more often we are served by those who do not speak the same language as we do, practice the same cultural tolerance that we do, or share the same moral values as us.

Step into a restaurant and order food, chances are you will be served by a Bangladeshi or an Indian national or a Myanmar or Vietnamese. Order any of the basic and favourite dishes, nothing will go wrong. Ask for something more, you will get an “Okay” and a nod but not what you ordered. Repeat that request to someone else, same scenario. By the time you catch a third waiter, your temper would start rising. And it is not until a supervisor is called over that you find out what you asked for is not available that day!

Shop at your local pasar tani and don’t be surprised if the guys selling fish or poultry speak any one of the Indonesian dialects among themselves as they weigh your haul, process them, collect your money and hand over your purchase with a thank you that is laced in Bahasa Indonesia.

Drive into a neighbourhood petrol station and you will be swarmed by Indian nationals or Bangladeshis offering to wipe the windscreen of your car or even pump the petrol for you. And when you ask them if the latest offer is still valid all you get is a nod in the direction of the cashier. In other words, “please ask them and not me”.

Where have all the Malaysian frontliners gone to? If this is what we give to ourselves and those in Malaysia, then how can we Malaysians be rated for giving first class service?