The people are fine, mostly.
It’s the systems and processes that are the problem.
Last week my faith was to a degree restored in a large financial institution. That’s after an unnecessarily bruising experience at the hands of its automated procedures. Strange how so many organizations have standard letters (sent out by computer) which seem designed to systematically annoy their customers, leaving their staff to pick up the pieces and spend a disproportionate amount of time sorting things out.
Fortunately, the people I phoned were very helpful and distinctly human. I decided that maybe there is some quality in the bank after all, though not in its systems and processes.
I was left with the feeling that these individuals do a good job as much despite their organization as because of it.
I also noticed how much my opinion of the business was shifted by the quality of the interaction with the person.
It’s seems kind of obvious, but maybe we forget…
People do a better job of relationships than computers, on the whole.