Francis Egbuson

The Saturday October 26th 2013 New Vision newspaper cared a double spread titled "Lazy, thieving Ugandans give jobs to Foreigners", of course that was enough to interrupt my breakfast of fruit salad with honey, yogurt and nuts at Javas Cafe. Javas Cafe is probably an appropriate place to read this headline because it has a staff that is representative of both local and foreign workers who do a great job of providing predictable service and consequently lots of repeat customers. So I paused to read more. Quoting the former Executive Director of the Uganda Investment Authority, Dr. Maggie Kigozi, Some Ugandan employers take on foreign workers because Ugandans lack skills and are not trustworthy, "We lack experience because our companies are still young. When Uganda was embroiled in chaos in the 1970s, Kenya was peaceful and growing her skills in the hotel and banking sectors. That could be the reason why they have good managers,". The other "undoing", acc...

During my recent trip to Kigali, Rwanda where I facilitated a public workshop on the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People - Associates program - I ran into a Chef at hotel where we stayed. With one hand in the pocket while he prepared my omelette with other hand. What an image, first I thought this guy must be quite serious or just having a bad morning. So I asked "you a very serious Chef" I said and without thinking much the Chef responded "all the time". Wow, I thought, a serious Chef with one hand in his trouser pocket claiming to be serious "all the time". I almost dismissed it as another one of those hotel experiences that fits between a hotel room with no AC or fan and a Waiter who told me drinks like "Stoney" and "Krest" bitter lemon are Ugandan drinks!. But I thought a little more about it. Chefs like this one or employees who by their attitude make customer experiences unpleasant are the very reason businesses lose customers...