More recently when I was at a European bank for a meeting armed with documents, the chap I was meeting with walked in empty handed, claiming his printer had run out of ink and they had no replacements available.
So when I was invited for a meeting this week at one of Asia’s biggest banks, I was pleasantly surprised with the brownies, teas and coffees, and the pastries they had on offer. Of course, me being me, I managed to wolf down some of the brownies successfully while still managing to hold a half decent conversation.
I told my friend then about how the hospitality at his firm surpassed the others and that his bank was still maintaining its standards. He willingly agreed, but seemed a bit hesitant to boast.
And when I probed further, he told me what was bugging him. He had recently asked one of the juniors on his team to order some new business cards, and had verbally told the chap his designation. But when his business cards arrived, his position had been spelt as head of ‘cross-boarder’ rather than ‘cross-border’. And when my friend questioned the young’un about the typo, the chap swore he thought that was how “boarder” was spelt.
Their hospitality may be good, but it appears the bank’s hiring standards need some work. Let’s hope they are better with figures.