|
|
 |
| Slay
the enemies of good service |
| |
 |
| Mr Chan (seated
fourth left) took Chairman of QSC and Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Mr Liew Heng
San (seated fifth left), and QSC members on
a learning journey. |
|
| |
Selfishness, ignorance,
laziness and pettiness are enemies of good service.
Discard them, advocated Mr S. K. Chan, Chairman
of the Lei Garden group of restaurants, who believes
that good service springs from the heart and mind.
Killing
bad habits and attitudes and acquiring good ones
is the stepping stone to service excellence.
In place of negative attitudes and behaviours,
staff need determination, humility, perseverance
and diligence, said the veteran
restaurateur.
Mr Chan, who flew down specially from Hong Kong with his team of chefs to meet
the 4th QSC during their visit to Lei Garden at Chijmes in November 2002, shared
Lei Garden’s unique, Oriental service philosophy.
He said, “One of our goals in life should be to do things that benefit
the people we serve.” He stressed the importance of benefiting the majority
over long periods of time, even over generations. To achieve this, the staff
must have the heart, health and know-how, he said.
“Training of the mind” is intrinsic to the company culture. Only
with the right mindset and habits will the staff develop the desire to acquire
the
knowledge and ability to benefit society and the people around him/her.
Delivering service with know-how
Mr Chan revealed that his restaurant staff get to sample delicacies from the
kitchen during regular food-tasting sessions. This way, they would understand
the flavours and ingredients of the dishes and would be better able to recommend
them to customers.
Therefore when dining at Lei Garden, do not expect your waiter to take your
order passively. The restaurant crew is trained to grasp your preferences quickly
according to your dining budget and dining companions, as well as to provide
advice on seasoning, food hygiene and nutrition.
To ensure customer satisfaction, just before lunch-time and dinner-time every
day, the manager, captains, waiters and waitresses will “fall-in” to
review nitty-gritty details like the eating habits and demands of guests, the
chef’s recommendations for the day, crockery and table set-up. The likes
and dislikes of individual customers are also recorded diligently for future
use.
Caring culture
Founded in 1973, the Cantonese restaurant goes beyond pampering diners with
its famed house speciality - double-boiled soups. It also keeps all its
employees in the pink of health by feeding them daily with green vegetables,
oranges and lemon juice.
"This helps to neutralise saturated cholesterol,” said Mr Chan,
who believes that one has to first acquire good health and habits before he/she
is able
to be an effective worker.
Little wonder that Lei Garden enjoys a low attrition rate - a high proportion
of the staff have been with Lei Garden for more than 20 years. They are happy
working for a restaurant that looks after their needs. “I am like their
teacher, father, employer, doctor and guardian,” summed up Mr Chan. |
|
| |
| |
|
By QSC Secretariat
|
|
|
|
