In the process of making training contract applications where I am asked to answer competency based questions, I’ve realised that I’ve been in a lot of part time jobs. On the one hand it may seem quite dull and repetitive, but on a deeper insight my part time experiences have strengthened certain attributes of mine. Attributes that are essential to navigate through this fourth technological revolution that is Artificial Intelligence.
Today I talk about flexibility.
For those wondering, this picture was taken on my way home from work today at 21:05pm. In actual fact, I was supposed to finish my shift at 20:00pm. To understand why I didn’t leave work till it was almost going on 21:00pm , you must first understand something else. A typical company would have different departments, each with their own distinct roles and set of tasks to complete for the working day. In the hospitality and retail sector, these varying departments don’t work in isolation of one another.
True understanding of team work would bring you to the knowledge that there is a bigger picture here. A landscape where each section works together to add to the complete whole.
With that in mind we can proceed to my story. So, I’m working in my section which specialises on cheese and charcuterie. I make various platters and also serve nibbles like crackers and olives. My section is right beside the bar, which makes sense, cheese and wine go well and pies and beer go well.
Already we are short staffed and I notice a queue beginning to build up over at the bar. Things are quieter over at my end and I go over to help at the bar where the only member of staff there is the store’s hire hand for the day.
When we regain control of the queue, the duty manager sends the hire hand away for hislunch break. This leaves just another colleague and I to stretch ourselves between the two sections (speciality and the bar). The hire hand returns at ten to eight and it is only then that my colleague goes for her own lunch break. For those of you wondering, I had already been on mine, around about 4pm just before the evening rush hour.
So, there is one person at the bar and since my colleague has been sent away for her break, I am now the only one at the speciality section. I think to myself, perhaps my manager had forgotten that I was due to clock out at 8pm. Having closed the store working a 12:00 - 23:00pm five nights the prior week, I was so very looking forward to having an early finish today.
Without much fuss I understood about covering for each others backs. I understood that we were all working together, representing the brand and delivering excellent customer service. This heightened understanding of team work is what made me stay.
Technically I could have clocked out and gone home, technically I had finished my shift. In spite of this, I was flexible, ready to adapt to the changing situation, with a willingness to go above and beyond what one might at first expect of me.
I say all this to say that, in this new technological revolution, flexibility is a crucial attribute. And although I have only spoken on a small angle of the skill, there are various other ways one can exercise flexibility. It’s all fair and well to acknowledge the usefulness of these skills, but as I’ve also explained, these skills require a heightened understanding of other skills. It is this awareness about our surroundings, the rapidly changing situations and our ability to be flexible and act accordingly, that sets us apart from the programmed robots that are soon taking over our working world.
If you made it this far, I really do appreciate it.
As always, I’ll
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