I need help answering these "Give an example when you went above and beyond"

GothicStirling

telboyo wrote: »

I seriously do not like the questions surely an efficient organsiation would onlty do what is required and nothing more and nothing less. Almost the very definition of efficiency.

As a catering manager, I completely disagree.

Companies live and die by customer service. Take catering, the big thing now is TripAdvisor. So, let's say you come into my restaurant, the waitress is surly and slow; the wine is warm and the food is cold. Manager is rude and uppity. You go home, log on and tell the world how bad my restaurant is.

No business owner wants this. Customer service trumps efficiency every time.

Wellery82

GothicStirling wrote: »

As a catering manager, I completely disagree.

Companies live and die by customer service. Take catering, the big thing now is TripAdvisor. So, let's say you come into my restaurant, the waitress is surly and slow; the wine is warm and the food is cold. Manager is rude and uppity. You go home, log on and tell the world how bad my restaurant is.

No business owner wants this. Customer service trumps efficiency every time.

I agree totally. As a country we are getting more and more service orientated and offering a service culture is really important in my opinion. The employer may more than anything just be looking to assess the work ethic of the person, do they count down the minutes before they go, or will they look to work around problems and find solutions, instead of adopting the "that doesn't fall into my job description" mentality

KiKi

telboyo wrote: »

How it should work.
1. Employer Explains what the job is .

2.Employee says he will do it.

But there's no evidence I am capable of doing it. So you waste your time employing me, firing me, me putting in a complaint (fruitless, but I do it anyway), senior management spend time dealing with the complaint, you have to re-advertise and re-interview. Total waste of time.

Efficiency isn't everything. If I phone Virgin Media I *want* someone to go above and beyond. I want them to own my problem and deal with it. I don't want them efficiently reading from a script which doesn't solve an issue that's unique to me.

KiKi

[Deleted User]

GothicStirling wrote: »

As a catering manager, I completely disagree.

Companies live and die by customer service. Take catering, the big thing now is TripAdvisor. So, let's say you come into my restaurant, the waitress is surly and slow; the wine is warm and the food is cold. Manager is rude and uppity. You go home, log on and tell the world how bad my restaurant is.

No business owner wants this. Customer service trumps efficiency every time.

How quaint, waiting to get home.. i can log into my TripAdvisor app on my phone while i'm sat there, write a review. Then i might 'check in' to Facebook at that restaurant's location and directly tell all my friends just what i thought of the place.

Back to the OP - i've had a few 'above and beyond' moments at work. They've usually involved saving projects from being delayed by working through the night to fix something that would normally take a few days to do. This weekend, one of my colleagues worked about 18 hours solidly to fix a problem and prevent a project delay.

These are the things they're looking for - signs that you are committed and won't just walk away when the going gets tough

soupdragon10

You could look at your current job description and use something like

'although my current role only requires me to do ..... I have on a number of occasions done..... extra/gone the extra mile to ensure that the customer got the service that they needed'.

telboyo

GothicStirling wrote: »

As a catering manager, I completely disagree.

Companies live and die by customer service. Take catering, the big thing now is TripAdvisor. So, let's say you come into my restaurant, the waitress is surly and slow; the wine is warm and the food is cold. Manager is rude and uppity. You go home, log on and tell the world how bad my restaurant is.

No business owner wants this. Customer service trumps efficiency every time.

You misunderstand me-if you use a hospitality servicesuch as hotel restaurant etc the main part of the experience is customer service
the staff should provide this as efficiently as possible by making the customer happy with the experience in this case you would not be "going above and beyond" but providing exactly wat is required of you as an employee.

maninthestreet

I can see how this question would be very relevant to a trapeze artist....

telboyo

KiKi wrote: »

But there's no evidence I am capable of doing it. So you waste your time employing me, firing me, me putting in a complaint (fruitless, but I do it anyway), senior management spend time dealing with the complaint, you have to re-advertise and re-interview. Total waste of time.

Efficiency isn't everything. If I phone Virgin Media I *want* someone to go above and beyond. I want them to own my problem and deal with it. I don't want them efficiently reading from a script which doesn't solve an issue that's unique to me.

KiKi

So when you signed up for this service from VM you expect below standard service and the only way you are going to get this is by the person going above and beyond. Surely you would want to go to a company whose basic service sorted all your needs- you are paying for it so it should suit your needs- if you want more it will cost more. Tis what I mean about efficiency.

You pay for what you get and you get what you pay for.

Why should I work for a company at a certain rate and then be expected to deliver more for the same price.
Sometimes I really don't understand the people on this website- it is alll about not spending too much and getting a bargain but then they think it is ok to abuse someone at work.

Next time you are in the supermarket why not add £10 on the bill just for the hell of it.
Or give half of your money back when you get paid.

brightonman123

anything that shows initiative, cost savings, or new sales potential can only be good..?

GothicStirling

telboyo wrote: »

You misunderstand me-if you use a hospitality servicesuch as hotel restaurant etc the main part of the experience is customer service
the staff should provide this as efficiently as possible by making the customer happy with the experience in this case you would not be "going above and beyond" but providing exactly wat is required of you as an employee.

Everything is customer service now. I phone up the council to query my council tax bill, they are providing a service.

I put my car in for repairs and MOT, they are providing a service.

I sign up for an Open University degree, they are providing a service.

Any job that requires you to interact directly with a customer requires exceptional customer service, not just the 'traditional' service industries.