Last week, I offered the first post in a new series on "Transforming Hospitality". After a week of conferences, funerals and some extra duties to squeeze, I am finally in a place to offer up the next post. Sorry for the delay.
Anybody who has flown on an airplane has heard the safety spiel that includes the section on “in case of loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will appear above you.” The Flight Attendant usually adds, “if you are helping other passengers, put your mask on first. Put the mask over your head and breathe normally.”
When one first hears these instructions, it seems both counter-intuitive and selfish. If I am assisting my children, my aging grandmother or any person sitting next to me that needs help in breathing, it seems that the right thing to do is to help the other person first, right? Wrong.
Get your own air first, safety experts tell us, start breathing normally and then you will be in a place to think clearly, act efficiently and be of genuine help to someone else. (The same principle applies to scuba, too!)
In a similar way, Danny Meyer’s concept of “enlightened hospitality” begins not with serving the customer but with serving first the employees. In his book, Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, Meyer writes that the first and most important application of hospitality is to the people who work for you, and then, in descending order of priority, to the guests, the community, the suppliers, and the investors.
According to a recent article in the Orange County Register, up to 80% of people are deeply dissatisfied with their work and their workplace. It seems logical that that dissatisfaction is naturally “flows” to customers. But, if Meyer is correct, one of the foremost responsibilities of management must be attending to the “atmosphere” of the workplace. In other words, if we want “hospitality” to be the culture of a place, the “air” we breathe, the ethos we exude, then it must first and foremost “flow” to those it is going to flow from.
When we were in Mexico at the Danzante Eco-Resort, we were most impressed by the fact that everybody on Mike and Lauren Farley’s staff were local Mexicans from the little fishing pueblo of Ensenada Blanca. When they inquired about buying the land, they asked permission from the local “godfather” (even though he didn’t personally own it). When they constructed the resort, they hired local workers as builders and local women to cook the food for the workers. Those women later became the chefs for the inn and they brought their recipes with them giving the resort very authentic (and delicious) food. They brought in consultants to train local women in massage, they sell local crafts, they hired local rancheros as guides and they pour money back into the community by supporting a school and a dormitory for the rural kids who can’t afford secondary school (any education beyond the ninth grade requires tuition in Mexico). By letting their hospitality flow first to their staff and neighbors, they have created an “atmosphere” of hospitality that is evident from the very first moment you arrive.
In a similar way, I would like to suggest that recapturing hospitality as a “transforming power” of a local church begins with the way the church staff is treated. And to make the first priority of church leadership to offer hospitality to the church staff will be a radical move to transform the whole church culture.
Very often, church staffs are overworked, overstressed, undervalued, and underpaid. They are treated like domestic servants who are supposed to jump at the beck and call of every “dues-paying club member” who is part of the church community. The pastor’s family, personal health and growth are often sacrificed in the name of “servanthood” and yet very often, it is the administrative assistant, associate pastor or custodian who is expected to do even more. Is it any wonder that most churches that so preach serving and welcoming others struggle with exuding a "air" that is different than any other institution.
Now, granted church staffs operate on pretty strict budgets. We aren’t able to offer the salaries nor all the benefits that I would like to be able to offer even my team. But generous vacation and family leave time, flexible schedules, opportunities for training, a collegial atmosphere, celebrations and affirmation, a good dose of fun, and a congregation with leaders who are really good at caring for us on the staff goes a long, long way.
When I first came to San Clemente Presbyterian Church, an older man who was part of the nominating committee that called me, pledged to me, “My wife and I believe we are called to help you and Beth have a great ministry and a great life here in San Clemente. Whatever you need—whatever—you just call us and we’ll help you.” That couple has been more than good on their word and that pledge they made to me has been my inspiration for what I want for my staff.
Last month at Christmas time, I had the enviable position of giving out bonuses to all the staff at SCPC. We budget on a fiscal year (June-July) and since the new budget cycle six months earlier fell in the middle of my sabbatical (and since we were unsure of the financial impact of my sabbatical) the church Session decided not to give any raises right away. We genuinely worried that if the finances took a serious turn south, then we’d end up having to lay people off (church budgets are disproportionately in “people” costs.) But instead of just “cutting the budget”, the Session set aside the entire “cost of living” pool for six months and when the finances were solid at years-end, distributed to all the staff who had served so faithfully during the sabbatical months. Church staffs don’t expect “Christmas bonuses” (in 20 years of church life, I have received one and now given out two), but a bit of extra unexpected generosity certainly goes along way now and then to fill the air with some genuine warmth and energy.
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