GO FISH.

The combination of fish and chlorinated pool water may sound like a deadly one, but the Roseville (Calif.) Parks and Recreation Department aquatics division's FISH approach to customer service is alive and swimming. There was the stuffed fish pillow being thrown out the concessions service window at a customer. If the lucky customer caught the fish pillow he or she was treated to a gummy worm, a favorite snack of fish-catchers. There was the fish decoupage megaphone awarded to the day's best lifeguard. There were the fish key chains given to staff who were caught displaying above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty customer service. There were fish stickers, fish squirters, and fish decorations. It was a very fishy summer.

So now you ask, What's all the fuss about fish, and how does it relate to customer service? Let's start with customer service. We all spend time training staff to provide good customer service. In Roseville, we spend time training staff each season to provide exceptional customer service. It is an important piece of our overall training puzzle, and staff understand the importance of providing outstanding customer service. By providing exceptional customer service, staff are often given the opportunity to promote the benefits of aquatics and parks and recreation programs. The challenge is trying to find new and innovative tools to assist with this particular aspect of training. That is where FISH comes into play. FISH is a video produced and distributed by the ChartHouse International Learning Corporation. The video is about the world-famous Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, where the energy and enthusiasm of employees create a place where customers and spectators want to spend time. According to the video, this is the FISH philosophy, which contains four basic concepts.

1. Play -- It's about having fun, enjoying yourself, being spontaneous and creative.

2. Make Their Day -- It's about doing something special for your customers and co-workers Make it a day to remember!

3. Be There -- It's about being totally focused on the :moment and on the person or task with which you are engaged. When we are fully present with our customers and with each other, we are listening deeply and important opportunities do not escape us.

4. Choose Your Attitude -- It's about accepting full responsibility for all of our choices, even our attitude at work. A positive attitude is a decision we make moment to moment.

The employees of this world-famous fish market (How much fun can it really be to throw around smelly fish all day?) believe that what and how they do their work creates the world-famous atmosphere. It is up to them. Don't we all want to be world-famous?

The FISH philosophy became part of everyday life at Roseville aquatic facilities this past summer. It provided many opportunities and solutions to problems that our aquatics division faces consistently each summer. It not only improved the overall customer service that was delivered, it improved how staff related to one another and their jobs.

Attitude and Accountability

Staff became accountable for their attitude and efforts at work. If a staff member didn't display a positive attitude, another would ask, "What attitude are you choosing today?" They were constantly reminded that it doesn't take any more effort to choose a positive attitude than it does to display a negative one. The evaluation question regarding the swimming instructor's attitude was rated 97 percent "Excellent" for the summer. More than 6,000 children took swimming lessons at Roseville aquatic facilities last summer, and not one single evaluation rated the swimming instructor's attitude as "Needs Improvement."

Energy and Morale

Staff morale and energy was increased, and mid-summer burnout rates dropped severely. Staff had opportunities to play. We utilized staff teams throughout the season, and by playing games and contests at each staff training these teams collected points. At the end of the season the team with the most points won a steak and eggs breakfast. Staff also organized their own opportunities to play. There was the theme week, which took place in mid-July. It included the ugliest-swimming-suit contest, the craziest-hat contest, the best zinc oxide painted face, and so on. Staff also organized a team triathlon relay. This relay not only promoted play but fitness among staff, too. This overall sense of play and friendly competition among staff developed an energy and motivation that was contagious.

Creativity and Innovation

In a 12-week season, it often becomes difficult to be creative and innovative without every aspect being preplanned. Yet with the FISH philosophy, it became second nature for staff to be creative and innovative on the spot. This creativity and innovation created conversations between staff and customers that might not otherwise have occurred. Did we learn from these conversations? Yes, if we were listening, we heard requests for menu items for the concessions stand, we heard a need for better communication regarding pool closures, and much more. Allowing staff the opportunity to be creative can pay off big dividends.

Teamwork and Engagement

It is common knowledge that a well-run aquatic facility relies upon teamwork on a daily basis. Teamwork is the cornerstone of preventive lifeguarding, successful emergency action plans, and a clean and safe facility. Teamwork can be practiced daily until it appears to be working, but it is not truly successful until all team members accept responsibility for making the team work. This is the FISH philosophy. It is this philosophy that allowed our entire aquatic staff, from part-time maintenance workers to lifeguards to pool mangers, to understand that everyone is a part of the aquatic team and no single part is more important than the others. An example of this teamwork came during a large special event one Saturday evening. We were short on maintenance staff, and several of the lifeguards and swim instructors not scheduled to work the event volunteered to work maintenance. They picked up trash, cleaned and stocked the restrooms, and emptied trashcans throughout the evening. These staff members understood the responsibility for being a part of a successful team.

Integrity and Trust

It is the play, accountability for our attitudes, the freedom to be creative, and accepting responsibility for being a member of a team that contributed to the integrity of the aquatics staff and programming last summer. It was from this integrity that a trust was created among staff and customers. It felt good to be involved with aquatic facilities that were doing good things. This was shown by the increase in season swim pass sales, the overall increase in participation of all our aquatic programs, and the overall customer satisfaction often described in program evaluations.

Recruitment and Retention

Recruitment and retention of qualified staff continue to challenge the aquatics field. There are more and more choices of places to work and jobs that don't require as many, if any, hours of certification training. In some instances, lifeguards and swim instructors are making the same or less than the employee at a fast-food restaurant who's flipping burgers. With this in mind, it becomes important to create an atmosphere within the workplace where smiles are common, the business at hand is taken seriously, and people and their contributions matter.

An example of this is the $1 fish key chain that supervisory staff gave out at each bi-weekly staff meeting. This simple and inexpensive "award" became a badge of sorts among staff. Staff were looking for ways to improve customer service and go above and beyond. Staff wanted to be recognized for their contributions. The FISH philosophy is one step toward creating such a workplace.

Do I sound like a salesperson for the FISH video? Yes, but I'm not. I am, however, an advocate for positive changes within the aquatics profession. It is becoming more and more difficult to sell the benefits of what we do to the public. How we promote these benefits is becoming increasingly more important. How many aquatic facilities are closing in your area due to lack of funding? How many aquatic facilities in your area are old and in need of repairs but, because of lack of funding, the repairs aren't being made? The aquatics profession needs to be proactive in promoting the benefits of what we do and in creating a niche within our communities. Do your 15-year-old lifeguards know how to sell the benefits of your aquatic facility? More importantly do you trust them to sell these benefits in an adequate fashion? I believe the FISH video and philosophy create all these positives and teaches staff to be promoters of all the benefits that happen at aquatic facilities. I am not suggesting that you all run out and buy the FISH video. I am suggesting that you remember to have fun and look for positive ways to empower your staff to provide exceptional customer service and aquatic programming at your facility.

THE AQUATIC PROFESSION NEEDS TO BE PROACTIVE IN PROMOTING THE BENEFITS OF WHAT WE DO AND IN CREATING A NICHE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES.

Contact the Pike Place Fish Market at (800) 542- 7732.

Fishing for improved customer service? Look no further than the aquatics division at the Roseville (Calif.) Parks and Recreation Department, where senior recreation supervisor Alexa Pritchard has adopted a world-famous model for superior customer service. Pritchard's FISH philosophy has not only improved the overall delivery of service to patrons, it has improved how staff members relate to one another and the pride they take in doing their jobs. "Is excellent customer service providing a listening ear to a co-worker?" asks Pritchard. "Is it helping a child put his head under water for the first time? More than anything, excellent customer service is about being totally focused on the moment and on the person or task with which you are engaged" (p. 64).