Poor customer service not a result of low pay

Editor,I wish to respond to a story published in Business Magazine of The New Times on May 29, under the title, ‘ Low pay responsible for poor customer service’. While I admit that good salaries constitute a major motivating factor to employees, I don’t believe that the problem of poor customer service in Rwanda is mainly down to low pay.Let’s compare ourselves with other east African countries. Rwanda comes only second to Kenya in terms of basic salary pay, yet we lag in terms of customer service in the other countries with lower salaries.In my opinion, the most undoing factors are skills and poor attitudes. It is clear there’s need for more training in the field of service management and hospitality.Many people who visit various restaurants in Rwanda claim the service is slow, they believe this is simply because Rwandans are lazy which makes our country one of the worst in East Africa in terms of hospitality.President Paul Kagame has always talked about the need for a new mindset towards service delivery, but this has largely not been adopted by the workforce across the board.Employees that work in service and catering are responsible not only for their own pockets, but the greater image of the Rwandan hospitality which is otherwise recognised for its warm welcoming culture. Workers need to appreciate the implications of their jobs and service on our society economy.Rwanda Development Board and other such players should exert more pressure on both employers and workers to adopt a business friendly mentality and make us all enjoy and feel proud in our customer services. James Munanura

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Poor customer service not a result of low pay