I worked for Hilton Hotels & Resorts for 5 years during college and the early days of my marriage.
My previous job was waiting tables at IHOP, then jumped to working in the restaurant in the Hilton Dallas/Southlake Town Square location. As they were building, they were aggressively hiring to open the hotel in fall of 2007 – that’s the only way I can explain how they hired a punk like me from serving pancakes and gross coffee to work in a high-end restaurant and martini bar.
They trained a lot on company culture at the beginning of the opening, both from the restaurant side and from an overall hospitality perspective. It was a great job, allowing me to pay for school and pay down debt in our newlywed years. And the food was amazing – Copeland’s of New Orleans in Southlake is one of the few restaurants I worked at that I would still eat the food from.
One phrase that was reiterated over and over again in the training was: “The phrase ‘that’s not my job’ is never okay.”
Both corporate trainers and local management drove that point home over and over.
It was considered a prohibited phrase.
“If Hilton signs your paycheck, then the statement ‘it’s not my job’ does not exist in your vocabulary here.”
“If we ever hear you say ‘it’s not my job’ when asked to do something in pursuit of the ultimate guest experience, you will be fired on the spot.”
There were rumors that a handful of the staff were let go in the early months because of that.
I was hired as a restaurant server, but over time, I learned to buckle down and embrace doing extra stuff.
More than once, the bakery staff didn’t show up for their shift so I had to learn to work the whip cream machine and plate my own desserts for my tables.
The Anaheim Angels stayed at the Hilton once for a series and we were very short staffed on room service. I learned real quick how to stack orders on a room service cart, and always load extra condiments so you’re not running up and down floors because you forgot ketchup. Saw an old man in a towel as he opened the door for his burger. Not great.
But, “It’s not my job” did not exist in my vocabulary.
One time a hotel guest showed up with a Corvette, and no one working the valet stand that day knew how to drive a stick. Got in with my waiter’s apron and drove that thing to the parking deck – admittedly, not a hard job to say yes to.
There’s something to be said for being a specialist in your field, and focusing on your core competency – I get that.
But sometimes “It’s not my job” is a cop-out for not wanting to do stuff that sucks.
What say you? Did Hilton have it right – should we make that a prohibited phrase in more places?