Page 195 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

182B RE-ENGAGE

extras from Maria, such as remembering people’s names or making an
extra call to find tickets to the sold-out event. Yet Maria took these
things for granted; she thought everyone was this way. She received
no encouragement from her supervisors, who either didn’t take much
interest in her career or were scared of losing her talents if she got a
promotion.
Then she received a call from Andrea, a former neighbor and
friend, who had been working for another hotel. She kept prodding
Maria to apply for open positions, telling her how terrific her boss was,
what a wonderful group of people she was working with, and what
good opportunities for advancement there were. This all sounded
fine to Maria, but it would add another 10 minutes to her commute,
which was already too long. Another 10 minutes for just another job?
It didn’t add up for Maria—no job could be worth that much more
extra commuting time, could it?
Maria finally relented when her boss, who was never pleasant to
work with, went on a tirade. Nothing Maria did was good enough for
her boss, including her extraordinary efforts to assist guests. All her
boss could focus on was the fact that the property was losing market
share. Maria’s boss gave her an ultimatum to “shape up or ship out.”
Maria decided she’d had enough and placed a call to Andrea.
As fate would have it, there was an opening, and Maria got hired
on with the new property where Andrea was working. She imme-
diately sensed a difference . . . everywhere! The staff were smiling,
almost contagiously so, and the management team members were
supportive, encouraging, and helpful. She was overwhelmed by the
menu of training and development opportunities available, which her
supervisor encouraged her to consider. Importantly, she found a real
mentor in her new boss, who told her that “the sky is truly the limit”
in terms of how far she could take her career.
Were there high expectations as well? You bet, but somehow she
felt motivated to give her absolute best in this new work environment.
The few extra minutes of commute time was an easy trade for a career
where her talents are truly appreciated.