Employees On The Third Floor example essay topic

The book Fish! : A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results is a fictional story about a woman thrust into single parenthood and a leadership position she's not too sure she is ready for. The story follows Mary Jane through the tedious task of turning the third floor 'Toxic Waste Dump' into a high energy environment where the workers actually enjoy being there and working with each other. At first, Mary Jane resorted to taking her lunch breaks outside of the office so she could avoid the snide remarks of other employees and internal customers of 'First Guarantee Financial.

' One day while on her lunch, she decides to go for a walk through a local fish market, which just so happens to be the world famous 'Pike Place Fish Market', renowned for its high energy and exciting atmosphere. While wandering the market Mary Jane meets a worker by the name of Lonnie who, after hearing her story, is set on helping Mary Jane turn the 'Waste Dump' into a big energy reserve. He does so by showing Mary Jane that there are four major changes that need to take place in the workplace in order to create the same fun atmosphere as the 'Pike Place Fish Market. ' The first of these changes is the choice of attitude. If Mary Jane could convince her workers that they have a choice in attitude, she could surely begin the process of cleaning the 'Toxic Energy Dump. ' The second idea presented is 'Play.

' Mary Jane learned that the employees on the Third Floor should be able to have fun and relax but still conduct business in the proper manor. The third idea is called 'Make Their Day. ' This idea focuses on making the customer, whether internal or external, remember their experience with the employees. The final change presented is 'Be Present. ' Focusing on paying attention to customers and each other are the main focuses of this change.

'Being Present' provides the customers with the full attention of the employee to ensure the best service possible. Mary Jane learns these four changes from Lonnie and is able to convince her Third Floor 'Zombies' to take the risk of trying to clean up the 'Toxic Waste Dump. ' In the end, rather than avoiding the Third Floor, a year later they are finding that every one wants to work there because of the high energy and fun atmosphere. Although fictional this book gives the basic outline any worker trapped in the prison of work can use to liven up the work place and make working something you want to do rather than something you have to do. The actual topic of this paper is making a change in the workplace from the boring day-to-day norm to a high energy and exciting work place.

The Pike Place Fish Market gave the employees of First Guarantee the same enthusiasm a group of newly hired employees would have. This topic places employees in troubled times and redundant work into something new and exciting. It gave them a chance to get to know each other as more than just a name or face. Friendships were made, which working with friends is much more enjoyable than working all day with someone you know nothing about. By instituting a 'Be Present' rule, the co-workers were devoted to giving each other full attention and a listening ear anytime another needed it. The supervisors in this story were originally set out to find someone who could turn the negative productivity of the third floor into positive.

Mary Jane proved to herself and her supervisors that it is possible to turn a place, even one as dull and dead as the third floor, into something exciting. The second group mainly focused on through this story was the customer. How could they best be served? How could they not be a nuisance, and walk away having had the employee 'Make their day?' By implementing the 'Be Present' rule, the employees devoted themselves to giving the customers 100% attention and trying to do anything to 'Make their day. ' I personally can relate to this book. I've been working the same job for three years now and it's getting to be quite a chore for me.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but there are days when I would rather be doing something as opposed to standing around doing nothing because we have one customer all night. After having read Fish! I can see that the choice is mine about which attitude I bring to work. I could go back tonight with the same, 'Oh boy this is gonna be another crappy crappy waste of my time,' or I could go with the attitude of 'What am I going to do tonight to make the customer remember me and want to come back?' I do want to open my own retail store someday, and I sure hope that my employees will understand that they choose to have the attitude they do, and that they can make work so much better just by choosing to be positive.

Of course, the first step toward this work place environment is for me to change my attitude, so they have a positive example to mold their own attitudes from. Right now, working at JC Penney, I notice that the majority if not all of the associates think that they would rather be anyplace but work when they are working. I usually just clock in when I arrive at work and walk down to the floor without stopping to ask anyone how their day was or for that matter, saying hi to anyone. So next time I go into work I plan on having a great big smile on my face when I arrive and I plan to get to know some of the other associates better. In doing so, hopefully it will relax the tension between associates and allow for a more open environment which would lead to a more fun workplace.

There are a lot of times while I'm helping a customer, the phone will ring and, before reading this book, I would drop what I was doing with the customer to answer the phone. Now, however, I'm going to try and devote myself to 'Being Present' with my customers to ensure they get the best service possible during their visit. This would make me want to come back and shop again, I imagine it would do the same for the customers we serve. I know that just by laughing and joking with the customers, giving them a break from the normal, 'Hey how are you? Did you find everything alright? Thank you!

Have a good night,' would surely make someone's day. I am aware, however, that some customers don't want to have a good time; they just want to get what they need and get out. It is actually quite understandable, but I'm still going to give them the best service possible with a big smile on my face to let them know they are welcome and valued by not only the company but by myself as well.