I was relieved to make it through the ticket line at last week’s football game without being accosted as I had been at the first game of the season. I wasn’t prepared for that treatment. It’s a football game, not the crown jewels. I politely submitted to the employees, but I was just short of being frisked.
After getting through the ticket line, I was upset to find the barking of an unpleasant ticket verifier instead being directed at my friend Emily. I had gone ahead of her with her ticket and when I went to show him her ticket, he turned on me.
After this unpleasant taste had been left in my mouth at the first two home games, I decided it was no longer a coincidence. The U has a contract with Centennial Management Group, an independent provider of event services, to staff security and concessions at football games.
When it comes down to the nitty-gritty of it all, the U is a business, students are its customers, and the U should be concerned about the customer service tactics employed by Centennial Management.
Every employee, from seasonal to upper management, reflects on the company or institution as a whole. The U needs to have a policy for all employees, contracted or not, that places heavy emphasis on courtesy.
One negative experience with a company either sticks in a person’s brain forever, or is eventually balanced out after piles of good experiences. The U could save itself both some work and its public relations budget by nipping the negativity in the bud.
The U requires all its employees to be trained for their job, but no formal training on how to represent the university is given on any level. What currently stands in its place is an ethics code. Perhaps the U is giving its employees the benefit of the doubt, believing they will act responsibly, but there are always a few individuals who need a reminder.
Employees of Centennial Management Group don’t answer directly to the U. But bad service in the university’s stadium will reflect poorly on the U. The group’s services are also employed by USANA Amphitheater and the E Center, among others. However, the EnergySolutions Arena employs its own security and concessions staff. If the current situation doesn’t benefit, or worse, rubs off poorly on the U, administrators should request a higher standard in contracted labor, consider other companies to provide the service, or follow the EnergySolutions Arena’s lead and go it alone with its own employees.
The U should be concerned with the opinion of even one section of students, which was carelessly entrusted to a coarse man whom I observed even grabbing the wrist of a passerby.
Emily said, “Doesn’t he know he can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?”
If he did, then he would know he can catch more seat-jumpers with respect than with sass.
Anne Roper