Beware: “5-15” Job Recently Sighted!

When I was growing up, I was exposed to the phrase, “5-15 job” to describe shoddy paint jobs on cars. As in, from 5 feet away and at 15 miles an hour, things look terrific!

But on closer inspection, some ugly truths appear.

Keep that in mind as you read this article that the New York Times Magazine wrote about the Hyatt’s strategy of employing “random acts of generosity” to build customer loyalty.

It’s a simple concept: If employees surprise customers with generous acts (like picking up their bar tab or dry cleaning bill), customers will feel gratitude towards Hyatt, and consequently they will be more likely to stay at and recommend the Hyatt.

Doesn’t sound so bad, right?

However, I suspect that this slick concept is nothing more than an expensive 5-15 job. So let’s take a closer look.

The main tell that this is a 5-15 job stems from the oxymoronic belief that anyone can script “random acts of generosity.” It can’t be done.

Giving your employees a preset list of benefits that they can provide or not provide doesn’t make such acts random.

It makes them arbitrary.

And arbitrary acts are anathema to building customer loyalty. Why? Because those who receive them feel like they deserved them, and those who don’t receive them become irate.

We’ll tease out more implications soon.

***Part 2 and Part 3 now available***