Social Skills
While tidying up I found an interesting piece of paper I kept for some reason. It was issued by the Holiday Inn. I used to work for the Holiday Inn back in the late 80’s and I loved it. It was then a very employee friendly company and hopefully still is. Colleagues were great to work with, the boss was nice and we all were a good team. We organised a fantastic Christmas Party (still got the video) where I was Liza Minelli in Cabaret.
We had great fun. Also Holiday Inn had the Employee of the Month Award, which gave you a picture with the boss, a certificate and a bonus in your salary. Great way to get people motivated. I loved my time there. My leaving present was a beautiful radio, which still plays in the kitchen.
Here is what I found on the paper I kept:
Some social skills reminders issued by Holiday Inn to their staff.
Speak to people: there is nothing as nice a cheerful word of greeting.
Smile to people: it takes seventy-two muscles to frown, only fourteen to smile.
Call people by name: the sweetest music to anyone’s ears is the sound of their own name.
Be friendly and helpful: if you would have friends, be friendly.
Be cordial: act as if everything is a genuine pleasure.
Be interested in people: you can like everyone if you try.
Be generous with praise: cautious with criticism.
Be considerate of the feelings of others: it will be appreciated.
Be thoughtful of the opinions of others: there are three sides to an argument: (a) yours, (b) the other fellow’s and (c) the right one.
You would think this is all common sense, specially working with customers at the front desk in a hotel.
Still I hope everyone has those social skills, life is much happier that way!
