It was a long flight, so I got up to stretch my legs for a minute. The flight attendant was nice and not in the middle of anything, so I stopped to chat for a minute. She was having a tough day. The coffee had exploded on her three times, leaving spots across her uniform at the start of the flight. Catering did not stock about half the food they should have. She expected to spend the entire flight apologizing. After all, she had 26 years of experience and did not relish being in the position of looking incompetent.
Being on the front line is tough. Especially if the business is not run well. Front line people are left to apologize and take heat for something they have no control over. At the same time, the customer expects a certain level of experience and don’t really care who is to blame. Having a cohesive experience is important. How are you ensuring you meet customer expectations, while not leaving your front line people to flap in the wind?