Purpose matters

This weekend I was visiting my father who is spending four weeks in a little village in the Swiss mountains for recovery. When I entered the hotel I was pleased with the warmth of the receptionist. She gave me the feeling that I was really welcome and that she cares for me. It was not the usual customer orientation we experience in many hotels from employees who are trained to be customer oriented. It was an encounter between human beings. During the entire stay in this hotel I met various people who love their work because they like caring for others.

The hotel belongs to a foundation, which aims at providing services to human beings in all phases of life. Besides hotels they are engaged in child and elderly care.

In doing business we often have a weak connection to why we are doing this work. Rendering a good service is much easier when we know why we are doing it and what we stand for when providing these services.

This hotel stands for doing good to people. Whether we base this on Christian values or on a humanistic commitment in a philosophical sense does not matter that much. What matters is that we know with which purpose we are serving whom. Customer orientation in this perspective is not a mere technical term but a humanistic commitment in the broader sense.

Sybille Sachs