I frequent a fast casual restaurant many mornings for coffee and a bagel with “a couple of butters.” This chain’s practice is to put three butters on the plate. Therefore, I am constantly handing one back to the counterperson. After all, a butter patty is a butter patty. Why waste the 150 or so a year that I’m not going to use. Food cost is a big deal in the restaurant business.
Most mornings, the counterperson says “thanks,” and tosses it back in the refrigerator. But once in a while, I get a person who looks stumped. Now, in my mind, this interaction should not be a big deal. You thank the customer for being considerate, toss the butter patty back in the fridge and move on. My concern is why some people get stuck. Are they worried that they shouldn’t take back food that’s been provided? It’s in a sealed package. Has no one told them specifically that this okay to do? Are they so consumed with following the rules, that any deviation leaves them confused? Probably a bit of all three. (By the way, this is not an issue of age. I’ve had people in their sixties respond like this.)
So here’s the question: How much of this goes on inside your organization? As supervisors, we’re attuned to the significant issues that need to be resolved and decisions that need to be made. But what about those faced with making decisions a little outside of normal procedure? Have you discussed these kind of situations with them? Have you encouraged everyone to use their best judgment? Are you accepting of the decisions your people make even if it’s not what you would have done? You might be thinking, “This is just common sense.” But in today’s workplace, not so much.