I was reading a blog today about Empathy in the Healthcare
industry. Called, “Empathy – Can We
Afford to be Without it?” by Delos Cosgrove (CEO Cleveland Clinc)
It’s a fascinating read discussing the argument that in the
world of cutting costs, collecting data and target hitting that the important
qualities of care and service are invaluable to the standard of care available.
In the article it says, “Hospitals are busy places.
Caregivers see thousands of patients every year. There is a danger of
forgetting that each patient is an individual, with a unique story and
particular fears. We need to keep that from happening. We need to exercise
empathy the way we exercise our bodies. We need to study emotional intelligence
the way we study for recertification. We need to listen to that patient who is
sitting across from us in the examination room and connect with her or him as
if we were the only two people in the world.”
Is this a good metaphor for the hospitality industry? Should
we be using empathy as part of providing good service?
How many times has your impression of a restaurant or hotel
been defined by the way someone communicated, behaved or interacted with you?
The blog also says, “What if you could stand in someone
else’s shoes … Hear what they hear. See what they see. Feel what they feel.
Would you treat them differently?” and, “One patient has been dreading his
appointment, fearing he’d waited too long. Another is in her 26th day of
waiting for a new heart. A mother and father sit in the cafeteria, worried
about their 19-year-old son on life support. A man going up the escalator has
just learned that his tumour is benign; the man behind him has just learned
that his tumour is not.”
Ok we’re not talking life and death situations (I hope) in
the restaurant or hotel industries but it is the same idea. Every customer has
a different idea of service, of how a Steak is cooked, how they should be
treated, costs and more. How is that managed and how do you deal with different
personalities to develop an environment that they would want to return to??
Could empathy be the answer? Or is it time to analyse empathy
of staff in your recruitment process?
Read the full blog here
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