Most employees are proficient and serious about proper
use of the equipment her company leases to doctors. Six
times a year, she stops to see the office manager of a medical office near the edge of town. Each time she drives
away from the meeting she realizes how different this
office is from the others. The office manager is a social
butterfly and instead of shaking her hand and conducting
himself in a business-like manner, he is overly friendly
and lacks discretion.
The representative notices safety issues don’t receive
the attention they do at the other offices. She asks her
boss to accompany her on one of these visits. She says
nothing that hints at the customer’s lack of professionalism. As soon as they leave the premises, her boss says,
“This man is in the wrong business. You would expect a
little more decorum from the office manager of a medical office.” Later, her boss tells her to take this client off
of her visiting schedule. “We’re removing our diagnostic
machinery from that office the first chance we get.” She
never learns more but suspects that her company isn’t
willing to sanction the use of their equipment in an office
where sound practices are questionable.
Recommendations
1. Talk to your staff about ethics, diplomacy,
courtesy, and professionalism. The social butterfly’s
attitudes and behaviors aren’t associated with serious business. When you have one or more employees
who fit this description, you need to spend time talking
about ethics, diplomacy, courtesy, and professionalism.
Schedule an informal lunch meeting where the company
provides lunch, and lead the talk yourself or invite an
outside speaker (a lawyer or business graduate school
professor, for instance) to attend the gathering. If your