15 Years: #6 of 15

6. You cannot really teach people to care.
Apathy seems to be slowly rotting away the American work ethic. The best way to avoid apathy in the workplace is to hire people who care about things, ones who are passionate about something, anything. Their family. Their pets. Reality television. Harry Potter. Veganism. European soccer, oh excuse me, football. Even if it's totally obnoxious, with a little direction from you, their enthusiasm and zeal can be channeled into passion about customer service and sales.

So, here's the real question: Do you know what your associates care about? Are you asking the question? What are you doing to translate their other passions into their work?

Let's say you've hired a hippy dippy planet-saving green-loving free spirit, and she is having trouble conforming to the structured life of working at the front desk, wondering how she missed the Greenpeace boat. What would be the harm in asking if she would like to head up a new recycling program for the hotel? Or do research on what flowers use less water for your landscaping?  Think she might be more excited to come to work? Think it might make a positive impact on her guests and fellow employees? Absolutely. The off-setting of your hotel’s carbon footprint is just a bonus, really.

And, what if they don't care about anything, nothing whatsoever?  Well, sometimes it happens where the light's on, but no one's home. Move them along.