Sori Chungama

By Lekopanye Mooketsi
Correspondent | Monday April 19, 2010 00:00

 In some operations varying from the public service to the private sector, many employees are found chewing gum.

Recently, an employee of the Student Placement and Welfare was chewing a bubble gum whilst attending to members of the public.  A heated argument ensued between herself and a client who demanded that she discard the offending stuff. The embarrassed officer complied and stuck the gum on some papers on her desk. 

Incidents of workers who serve customers while chewing something is also commonplace in the private sector.  A lady serving customers at a local butchery was busy munching on gum. When one of the customers protested, she told him that she will attend to the next person in the queue if he does not want to be served.

Even at the receptions of local companies and government departments, some employees who man the front desk are in the habit of chewing bubble gum while attending to customers.

An official at the Directorate of Public Service and Management (DPSM) says public officers are not allowed to chew anything when they serve the public.

Mohammed Yusuf, the manager of Total Western convenient store in Gaborone West, says they do not allow their employees to chew gum while attending to customers. Yusuf says this is never allowed in their business.  

He said if a person is attending to a customer while chewing something it is disrespectful. 'It seems like you are not paying attention to what you are doing,' he says. 

Yusuf says they train their staff about customer care. 

He said if they find any employee chewing gum, he or she will be reprimanded.  He warned that they could take stern measures against repeat offenders.

Tshepiso Mphele, the sales and marketing manager of Cresta President Hotel, made it clear that their employees do not chew bubble gum on duty. 

'We have set certain standards. Chewing gum is the last thing ever that could happen in our work place. It is below our standards,' she said.

Mphele says she has never come across an employee chewing bubblegum in the hospitality industry. But she has seen other people doing it in other sectors including government departments. 

Mphele said chewing bubblegum while serving a customer is not acceptable.  To her, this is a bad habit.

A Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC) productivity guru, Tebogo Kesupile, says chewing bubble gum is not one of the best ways of meeting customers' expectations.  She says it could make the customer uncomfortable, adding that it could also irritate a client.  Kesupile said chewing bubblegum in front of customers is not dignified.

'In our culture, you can't address an elder while chewing something. An elder would feel disrespected. If you are chewing something it is also a cultural barrier,' she warned. 

She identified the face and body as communication mediums. 'Whatever the body is doing, it is sending a message to the customer,' she said.

Kesupile said putting anything in your mouth changes your tone. She added that chewing a bubblegum interferes with the tone of the voice.  She said speaking clearly to be understood is a key factor to customer service.  Kesupile, who has conducted many workshops on productivity and customer service, said effective communication entails speaking clearly and avoiding distraction.

The productivity expert said body language is a key factor in communication. 'It can either enhance or be a barrier. The wrong body language could interfere with effective listening. It interferes with clarity of speech.

Kesupile is not a great fan of the English Premier side Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who is always chewing gum during his team's games.  She says it interferes seriously with the effectiveness of anything that you are doing.

'I know Sir Alex would argue differently but in terms of customer service, a bubblegum is a serious distraction,' she says.

Kesupile says as service providers, they are cautious of the effect that any distracting factor would have on their service.

Kesupile says they send strong messages when they are running workshops. 'We do emphasise that chewing bubblegum is not acceptable. Not even food is accepted.  When you are serving a customer you are not supposed to be eating anything. 

You can't serve two masters at the same time.  You can't be serving a customer and a gum at the same,' she said.  You spoke about the Setswana rebuke of saying: 'O ja ka o fe, o bua ka o fe' which is used to rebuke children who like talking with food in their mouths.

BNPC benchmarks with countries like Singapore and Japan. She says in Singapore, the chewing of a bubblegum is frowned upon. 'You can't find anyone chewing bubblegum in Singapore. It is part of their culture.'

Kesupile says even Batswana should jealously guard their culture.' We should not allow ourselves to unlearn our rich culture in the process of becoming developed'.

She said in Japan they sell bubblegum, bu in their shops you would not be served by anyone chewing the elastic stuff.