The Personal Touch

The personal touch is an important component of Zane State College’s mission and campus culture. It is defined by three R’s:  respect, responsiveness, and responsibility in all professional relationships, specifically, employee to student, employee to employee, and employee to community.  In contrast to a customer service philosophy where “the customer (the student) is always right” and customer demands take precedence, the professional/client relationship is a better analogy to describe the employee/student component of the personal touch philosophy. Clients (students) pay to work with professionals (college employees) because they want to guidance from people with expertise.  However, in order to take full advantage of a professional service, the client must prepare in advance for a scheduled appointment (in the college setting this could be a class or an advising appointment), listen and learn from the expert, and follow through with necessary tasks after the session in a timely manner.  For example, a client working with an accountant would prepare financial records to take to the appointment, complete tasks during the meeting based on the accountant’s knowledge and experience, and follow through with additional tasks such as compiling additional information to send the accountant by an appointed deadline.  Both the client and the accountant expect their interactions to be mutually respectful and responsive and that each will carry out their responsibilities within the designated time frame.  An optimum outcome occurs only when both parties apply the three R’s.  Likewise, while college employees acknowledge their obligation to model and teach the three R’s, they should also expect students to reciprocate. By accepting your position, you accept Zane State’s mission and your obligation to deliver and influence student development of the personal touch.