Remember when our parents and grandparents would say to us, “…you know back in the day,” and then we would laugh and roll our eyes saying here we go again with another story of the olden days. But, what is interesting now is that if we did happen to listen to those stories and maybe even ask some questions I bet we would find out something fascinating – a strong sense of work ethic that had been passed down to them from their parents.

            When looking at what restricting forces are now in the work place the one that would standout would be a sincere lack of a solid work ethic. As stated in Managing for Quality in the Hospitality Industry by John H. King, Jr. and Ronald F. Cichy:

“The most commonly presented restricting force is that line associates today are short sighted and are looking for immediate gratification and self-indulgence, as opposed to the mid-twentieth century staff member who is tenured, loyal, appreciative of having a job and had a strong value system.” (Chapter 11, page 214)

            How this one quote can sum up what is currently wrong in the working world today. It can also account for what is going on with the economy today and the massive amounts of fraud that has been the driving force for ruining our current economy. As strong sense of self, lack of team work and no strong value system. The restricting forces that we currently face effect the way we manage business in that we are having to battle at times with our employees to do their job. A job that they applied for, were hired to do and then somehow gain a strange sense of entitlement, which at time impedes them from doing their job.

For example, when I first came to work at my current job I had to peel away layers and layers of entitlement that many of the employees felt because they were union and had been employed for a very long time with the previous company, Sodexho and then the present company we work for. The sense of entitlement was strong because management was in my assessment afraid of the employees and allowed them to do what they pleased and because their CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) which was and still is written so vague there is major gaps that allow for in my mind “creative” interpretation on both sides.

            French Leftist philosopher Andre Gorz wrote in his 1989 Critique of Economic Reason: Summary for Trade Unionist and Other Left Activists:

"The work ethic has become obsolete. It is no longer true that producing more means working more; or that producing more will lead to a better way of life. The connection between more and better has been broken.”

            This connection is broken even further with the lack of education many employees have in the workforce today.  In November 1996 Walter H. Edling and Ruth M. Loring wrote a report for the Center of Occupational Research and Development titled Education and Work: Designing Integrated Curriculum – Strategies for Integrating Academic, Occupational, and Employability Standards. According to Edling and Loring:

“With the advent of the information age in the late decades of the twentieth century, the

linkage between academic and occupational education has taken on much greater

importance. Previously, education was closely tied to work only in the professional and

semiprofessional areas, and, for the majority of jobs, education was of little consequence.

In some occupations, even basic literacy was not required. Today, and into the foreseeable future, most occupations will require levels of education well beyond previous demands, and the connections between traditional areas of academic knowledge and occupational knowledge, skills, and attitudes will be critically important.”

          Encouraging education can be daunting, but the results will be two fold, not only will it benefit the company but it will benefit the employee as well. Offering to pay for all or part of an employee’s education as related to their current role in the company, or offering frequent training classes or opportunities to go to classes that offer certification will help to improve an employee’s overall performance and more importantly the newly acquired knowledge again will put the ball in the employee’s court and encourage more ownership by the employee for towards their job. Also, with employees understanding that increase knowledge can lead to financial benefits - an increase in pay. How morale would increase if say as an employer saw something in a cashier, saw leadership qualities and as the employer to work with the employee through training and development to move into a supervisory role. This fosters an incredible work environment because your internal customers know that you care and are willing to invest in their future as well as the future of the company.

            The six critical processes in a hospitality organization are as follow from most important to least important:

1.      Education

2.      Addressing the Burning Issues

3.      Assessment

4.      Identification of Critical Processes

5.      Realigning the Process

6.      Continuous Improvement

I place education first in the process because without proper knowledge an individual a will not know how to perform their job. You next need to address any burning issues that would impede the company’s daily running after you have identified the issues it is best to then assess the issues and in the next step identify the critical processes and how you will handle them. This means you will need to realign the process and correct any issues that you may have. Lastly, the journey is that you will always be continually improving this process for the sake of your internal and external customers.