INC.: You told us yesterday that you look above all for nice people. Doesn't everyone?
ROSENBLUTH: Everyone does, though I think we may be a little better at identifying them than others are. But the big difference is what happens after they're hired. Not many people join a company with a bad attitude -- companies instill bad attitudes in people. Think of the gleam you see in people's eyes on the first day of work. If you can keep that throughout their careers, your company is having a positive effect on their lives.
INC.: It sounds as if you think most companies instill these bad attitudes early on. What do they do that makes you say that?
ROSENBLUTH: Just look at the first day of work. In most companies, the first day usually involves filling out forms. Forms! You're excited, you want to come into the company, meet new people, see new things; you've got these great dreams of what you want to do, and all of a sudden you're slapped with 25 forms? The first two days are the most important days of someone's career -- all your impressions begin then. Why have somebody sit there and fill out forms?
INC.: Say the two of us took jobs at Rosenbluth. What would happen to us on the first day of work?
ROSENBLUTH: First, there's a two-day orientation. Much of it is role-playing, skits. I can't think of any other company where on the first day you would do skits. Granted, no one's comfortable doing this -- you have to be a professional actor to be comfortable doing a skit -- but everyone's in it together. People are laughing, people are having fun.
INC.: What are the skits about?
ROSENBLUTH: We might ask you to take the last negative service experience you had and act it out in a group of four or five. Most people can come up with a bad service experience very quickly.
INC.: Presumably that gives your instructors a way of talking about what constitutes good service.
ROSENBLUTH: Precisely. It breaks down people's preconceived notions. Over the next two days we take those bad experiences and turn them around, show people how they could have been good or great experiences.
INC.: For example?
ROSENBLUTH: Somebody is riding on a bus, and a passenger throws a hot-dog wrapper on the floor. The bus driver turns around and screams at the person. Turning it around means showing how the driver could have handled it differently -- say, by waiting until the next stop, putting the bus in park, walking to the back, and picking up the wrapper. The driver might say, "I like driving a clean bus, and I want to have a clean bus for my passengers," then just smile and sit down. The point is, there are options other than yelling at the person or saying something under your breath or just driving the bus faster.
INC.: You yourself get involved in the orientations, don't you?
ROSENBLUTH: On the second day of orientation, some of the other officers and I serve high tea to everyone who's joined the company that week. We talk -- about the values that are important to us, about what's made the company successful, even about things that have nothing to do with travel. It's a way of saying, Hey, we're real excited. You've joined the company, and you're going to help make it a better company. We do this almost every week.
INC.: Every week! We know CEOs who barely have the time to meet new hires, let alone spend a couple of hours chatting with them.
ROSENBLUTH: This is the critical point, the point when we talk about everything we believe in. Besides, it helps eliminate a phenomenon that plagues a lot of companies -- the generation gap. New associates have new needs, new expectations, and the company needs to change in response to these needs. Every Tuesday I learn a lot about the needs and desires of people joining the company.
INC.: How do the new employees react to all this hoopla?
ROSENBLUTH: A few people say, This company's too weird -- I'm gone. Others say, Wow, I'd like to make a career here. Then we go into training, two to eight weeks, depending on a person's level of experience. More people leave during the training -- or are asked to leave. If someone's saying, Look at me, look at me, look what a great job I'm doing, they're out of here. It's the Santa Claus theory of management. We watch to see who's naughty and who's nice.
INC.: So the 6% turnover figure doesn't apply to that initial stage?
ROSENBLUTH: Turnover is much higher during the training. If we're going to lose anyone, that's the best time. That's when they buy in or buy out.
INC.: Let's imagine people buy in, that they're excited and committed. Even so, a reservation agent's job can be highly stressful -- as you said, it's one call after another. How do you relieve boredom? How do you maintain people's enthusiasm, let alone happiness?
ROSENBLUTH: Where do I start? We have fun. Walk into one of our offices around the country, and you'll see people having Picnic Day or people dressed up in costumes for some other kind of day. If it's August, it'll be Associate Appreciation Month, with a different treat every day. Or take our Associate of the Day program: every associate is invited to schedule a day with me, taking part in whatever I have to do that day. That's been so successful that all our vice-presidents now have the same program. If you're interested in marketing, industry relations, whatever, just pick up the phone and ask to spend a day with that VP.
