The 3 types of employees in your organisation

Much has been written about the three types of employees most businesses carry. They include:-

1. ENGAGED employees who work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They consistently perform above expectations, are innovative and drive the organisation to achieve its goals.
2. BARELY ENGAGED employees who are ‘checked out’. They sleepwalk through their workday, putting in time – not energy into their work and consider their job as a means of drawing a salary.
3. ACTIVELY DISENGAGED employees works aren’t just unhappy at work all the time but spread negativity within the organisation despite doing less than the minimum. They are the ones that cause the most loss of business including customer and staff attrition.

As an example, consider the above three types, as played out by the steward in a restaurant:-

The engaged type of steward would either offer to serve the customer assorted breads from the ‘basket’ or when placing the basket of breads on the table, would point out the different bread types. He or she will know the baguettes from the croissants whereas, the barely engaged steward will likely place the basket of breads on the table centre and leave without saying anything. The actively disengaged employee on the other hand, would place a bread basket that is half-full/ nor refilled with little pretense of noticing it.

Another example one can take from the hotel industry, would be to illustrate how a hotel concierge would play the three roles in the following scenarios:-

John, a UK company sales manager is visiting 3 countries in Europe on a business trip. The trip involves travelling to many cities and would keep him away from home/office for two months. On the 2^nd day of his trip John buys eight books for his young son and rather than lug them with him during the rest of the journey, he decides to mail them home. That evening he goes to the hotel concierge to enquire about mailing the books home. This is how it may unfold:-

Scenario 1: The concierge informs John that there is a General Post office  branch nearby, opens a city map, proceeds to shows him exactly where  it is located and tells John he can go there anytime between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm the following day, to post it himself.

Scenario 2: The concierge requests John to bring the books to the desk the next day morning, so that he could have the books taken to the General Post office branch, to find out how much it would cost and would let John know when he returns to the hotel in the evening. In the evening, John is told that it would cost Euros 24/- and if John wishes the concierge to post them on his behalf, to pay him the money in advance.

Scenario 3: The concierge tells Johns that he would accompany him immediately to his room to collect the books. Before taking the books with him, he informs John that he would check with the General Post Office as soon as it opens the next morning. A few minutes later, the concierge calls the guest to tell him that he weighed the books using the scale at the desk and that they weigh 3.1 kilos. The concierge also requests for John’s mobile number and a suitable time that he can call him during the day to let him have the other details.. At the designated time of 12.30 pm the next day, the concierge calls John to tell him the following:-

• The General Post Office charge for mailing the books costs Euro 24/- and It would be delivered in six days to his home in the UK.
• FlyEx a private parcel post service charges Euro 27/- and it would take eight days for delivery, plus for an additional payment of Euro 2/- the books will be insured (unlike when using the General Post) against Loss or damage.
• The concierge asks John to decide which option he prefers so that he can go ahead and have it posted before the day is over.
• As for the postage charges, John are told that it would be debited to his hotel room account.

Now, I would leave you to identify which type of employee is represented by the concierge in the above described three scenarios.

As Paul Butler wrote that there are essentially three types of employees. He describes them as – those who ARE the light, those who need a light and those who need to be lit up. Beware of those who need to be lit up – they are the ones who lack personal accountability, so supervisors need to watch over what they do. And, when you have supervisors who need to be lit up too, as do most businesses – trouble will always hang around the corner.

Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier

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