Source: MART PRODUCTION- Pexels
As someone that is currently working as an I.T. in the BPO industry, it was almost hard to imagine that few years back, I once work in the Retail Service industry and of a position that is in charge of handling other people. It was not that big of organization so even with me being an introvert, I was still able to fulfill my job providing supervision to my staff so that they adhere to the company rules while doing their job when I was not in the office doing desk jobs. I was also able to see how my staffs were able to acquire an additional source of income through the tips that they get from our costumers which sometimes even pays more than their daily wage specially as we go closer to Christmas where not only they receive money as tip but also gets other items such as shirts and mugs. That is all fine with me since they have the hardest job within the organization and it just proves that our customers are satisfied with the services that we offer which is why when it comes to tipping should be something that we do out of our own will.
A gasoline crew's main work is very straight forward. Fill the car's tank with fuel, received their payment and give their change to end the transaction. It was a very short interaction between the crew and the customer so it does not usually warrant for a customer to give them a tip. But during that short interaction, they also do offer other services such as cleaning the car's windshield, checking their oil and water or air their car's tire in a friendly and respectful approach which if the customer gets satisfied, they might be able to receive some tips but even if they not, the same services are offered to them regardless. Also neither I nor the company gets a share of the tips that each crew gets as the goal of those services was to have loyal customers which would serve to benefit the company in the long term while also providing other means of income to the crew while doing their jobs so they will stay to the company to get more loyal customers.
That said, there are also some issues that comes with our customers giving tips, one of which is if the crew prioritizes the customer that they know are giving tips over those that don't which may leave a bad impression to the other customer then there are times that a crew would try to hog all the customers that gives a tip, resulting on minor conflicts between the other crews. Some measures have been made to avoid this such as rotating the crews on different pumps but from time, the same issues would take place as this involves money.
Now, back to where I'm at above, I believe that tipping should be something that people do at their own will and not being mandated by anyone. One of my reason for this is that there are establishments or service staff that provides unsatisfactory if not awful customer service and if they still gets tip regardless of how bad their services are, they would not try to improve the service they provide. Just imagine how bad of an experience it will be going to a restaurant and be served with a cold food because the waitress forgot to serve the food in your table but despite receiving a bad service and reporting to the manager, you are still forced to give the waitress a tip.
Another reason why I do not want tips to be mandatory is because companies would just have more excuse not to increase the pay of their workers in order to further enrich themselves. This could also lead for the employers to rely more heavily on tips to supplement their other work benefits, arguing that workers are already working more due to the tips that they receive. Also, as time goes by, inflation continues to increase so at some point, the tips that the customers give may not be enough to cover for the cost of living of the service workers. When that time comes, will company also forces the customers to increase the amount of tips that they give?
Lastly, not all people has the financial capability that would allow them to give tips. Some people may not even have enough money to support themselves so having them to give additional money aside from the service that they receive will just make their situation much worse than it already is.
Giving tips are the way by which customers reward the staff for doing a service that satisfies the customer and should not be forced to the customers to give. This will allow for the staff to know that their service was recognized by the customers and can help them further improve their service.
Thank you for reading my post and see you on the next one!
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There's a man here in my town that stands at a traffic section and cleans window shields. Sometimes, he gets tips and other times, he doesn't. The windshield does not mean my car is clean but giving him a tip is an appreciation of his genuine and noble work which an alternative would have been engaging in vices.