A few weeks ago, on a day when tornados were whipping through Alabama, a busload of fourth-graders and their teachers out on a field trip sought shelter during the storm.

The bus pulled up to a hotel and asked for shelter. Amazingly, they were basically told “sorry, no room at the inn.” A hotel employee allegedly told the teachers that the hotel was full and they did not have room for the students.

Hmmm. I don’t think the students were looking to spend the night in the executive suite. In fact, I don’t think they were looking to spend the night at all. It’s just that most folks would understand it’s safer to be crouched in the hallway of a hotel (or in a banquet room) than in a rolling yellow tin-can that could easily get blown around by the force of a tornado.

Apparently this particular hotel employee was thinking “rules and policies” instead of common sense.

This is just one more reason to make sure our businesses operate with an appropriate balance of people-focus and business-focus. Part of building workplace excellence is instilling a prevailing attitude that the organization needs to be an active and responsible member of the community.

Besides, as a positive side-effect, good community citizenship often begets loyalty from the recipients of any good will.

According to the story, the students ended up at a community center and everyone was safe in the end. But the hotel ownership is none-too-happy about the incident, and discipline is forthcoming (if it hasn’t already occurred).

By the way, I’m not naming the hotel for a reason: I want to keep the need for our businesses to be good community citizens as the main point of this post. Sure, you can read the original story to learn the name of the hotel if you really want to know, but please don’t miss the point:

What is your organization doing to be of service to the community – in times of trouble as well as in times of prosperity?

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Filed in Work, Business, Opinion, Motivation, Management, Leadership, Team Building