Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“I’m Hazel,” a tall Black woman says. “I’m heading up your induction today. Any problems with your uniform, fill out the form you received over email.”
Akira puts up her hand. “If we’re not open yet and there are no guests around, why are we wearing uniforms?”
Hazel mostly covers up her irritation. I’m not sure if she’s been asked the question a hundred times and is sick of it, or she just doesn’t like questions. Either way, Akira doesn’t seem to notice.
“If you’re in member areas, you must always be in a uniform. No excuses. Yes, you’re training, but it’s best to start as we mean to go on. The uniform helps create a mindset of professionalism and service.” She doesn’t invite any further questions. “We’re going to start with a tour and I’ll give you some information about the resort and our expectations in terms of our approach to members and service.” She pauses and winces slightly. “There will be pop quizzes along the way. I wanted to tell you up front so you don’t get a shock.”
“You’re going to test us?” Eden asks.
“Yes. The service we provide to members needs to be consistently first class across the entire resort, so there’s an expectation for all staff to share a baseline of operational knowledge. The tests help us ensure consistency and understanding. They also help us understand how well senior management are communicating.”
I’m not sure what she said, but I’m starting to feel real pressure and we’re only three minutes in.
Hazel takes a step closer to us. “Look, we’re not trying to catch you out. That’s not the aim. We just want you to know the resort well and be able to communicate with members properly. If they want to know what time the slopes open, we want you to be able to say, The lifts are manned twenty-four hours a day and lighting is available on the green, blue, and red runs on request.”
“Oh, so it’s not like… questions about the menu?” Akira asks.
“It will be that too, but the members here will have huge expectations of you, so you’ll need to know about the entire resort.”
Because they’re rich, I think. The richer they are, the more power they have. The more they expect. I always thought Frank was rich, but although his house was in a great neighborhood and he didn’t look at prices in the grocery store, he wasn’t the kind of rich that could spend a hundred and fifty grand a year just to get a chance to book this place.
“There’s no need to feel intimidated,” Hazel says. “We’ll role-play a lot of scenarios, and there are work-arounds to everything.” Her smile is warm and encouraging, but I can’t help feeling intimidated. Checking in cars for service at Frank’s dealership was a job I’d done for two years. I could do it with my eyes closed. It was just a few clicks on a mouse, filling out a name and address, and asking the customer a couple of questions I read from the screen. This sounds much more complicated.
“Let’s start here,” Hazel says, her attention pulled toward the enormous flower arrangement on the round, polished table in the center of the lobby. “A member might ask you what flowers are in the arrangement.”
Jesus, were we all going to be trained in floristry now too?
“We don’t expect you to be able to keep up with the different arrangements here or elsewhere throughout the resort, but there’s a full list in reception at all times. So all you would say is, ‘We use a local florist. I can get you full details.’ Then you would tell your supervisor of the request and either you or your supervisor would retrieve the details and bring them to the member. Reception will have the information on a beautifully presented card with a scannable QR code, which allows the member to order an arrangement with the same or different flowers for their accommodation. Does that make sense?”
I swallow as I realize the expectations these guests are going to have of us. Of me.
“What’s the average length of stay for a guest?” Akira asks. “Will we get a chance to get to know them?”
Hazel smiles. “We refer to people staying here as members. Or members and their guests. So if you’re staying in the resort, you’re either a member or the guest of a member. We want people to feel they belong here. This is their home away from home. Indeed, some of the members will own lodges here.”
We must look a little shell-shocked, because Hazel smiles. Again. Maybe a little too wide this time. “It will take some getting used to, but we recruited you because we know you’re capable of providing the level of service we aim to provide.”
“It’s a lot,” Eden says. “But no pain, no gain. We’ll probably need to know about the owner of the place too, won’t we?”