EDITORIAL: It pays to be nice

AS most Barbadians know by now, NISE is the National Initiative for Service Excellence, an organisation created by the Social Partners (the Trade Unions, the Private Sector and Government) for the people of Barbados, to push a nation-wide effort to help Barbados consistently deliver service excellence and be recognised internationally for it.

To date, NISE has been trying to create an enabling environment for this process and to send the message that, “It pays to be nice”. Indeed, NISE has sought to do some stellar work in this country, stressing the need for companies to push service excellence as their hallmark. Now whilst onus may be placed on leaders and managers to ensure that their companies deliver excellent service, we must also acknowledge that workers must be fully engaged in the process as well.

Now when it comes to the concept being pushed by NISE, about the need to be excellent by embracing life values such as courtesy, honesty, compassion, responsibility and creativity, we can see that these values are useful outside of the workplace as well. At present, we need Barbadians to take responsibility and extend more courtesy and compassion when traversing to and fro on our streets, so as to cut down on the increasing number of road accidents on our highways and byways. The aggression shown by a number of drivers, which at times turns into all-out road rage, could be lessened if only these drivers understood the need to show common courtesy and to be “nice” to fellow drivers.

We need Barbadians to be “nice” when it comes to other areas, such as taking care of elderly relatives rather than dumping them at our main health-care institution, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital or our district hospitals. We need Barbadians to be considerate about their environment and not engage in acts of littering or illegal dumping. We must not be eye servants. We need Barbadians to better care for their children and to work hard to ensure that they are not neglected, ill-treated or abused in any way, form or fashion. And this calls yes, for us to be nice to them and to be honest and upright in our dealings with the future generation. So again, the concepts being pushed by NISE about excellence can be applied to all spheres of our lives. Whilst heavy focus is being placed on the workplace and this is key, we need Barbadians to be nice outside the walls of the workplace.

That said, we commend NISE for its efforts thus far. We know there is so much more to be done where service excellence is concerned, but Jack must always be given his jacket.

And now to Barbadians, please remember that good customer service must be delivered on a consistent basis and in all spheres of endeavour. You cannot be an excellent front-line worker at work, but a bad parent at home. You cannot be an excellent manager or supervisor, but then display a level of aggression on the road that is unbecoming of your title and position. Again, we must not be eye servants – only doing what is required when all eyes are on us, but forgetting all that we have learnt when we are out of view.

We must understand that we have to embrace NISE and its concept about service excellence to the fullest. Why? Because we have more to gain, rather than to lose, in doing so. Because we can better uplift our country and its people by truly being nice.