He has always appreciated the importance of employees and once said that a successful entrepreneur must have a dedicated staff to support. Therefore, he has always kept in mind that he must "train employees well so that they can find better opportunities after leaving the company, and treat them well so that they do not want to resign".
That's for "people in the house". What about unsuccessful applicants to Virgin, how do you treat them? The story below, shared by him on his personal blog, has spread quickly, especially among human resources, with the desire to "make the world a better place".
Sam Cox applied to be a flight attendant for Virgin Atlantic subsidiary but failed in the interview process. And here's what Richard Branson sent to Sam:
“Dear Miss Sam Cox,
I'm sorry that your application to Virgin Atlantic was unsuccessful this time, but I would like to give you some words of encouragement to keep trying again next time.
I once flew with a rival airline of Virgin, and I was very impressed with the service on board by a flight attendant. I asked: "Why don't you join Virgin?", the flight attendant replied: "I applied, but it didn't work".
This shows me that the very good Virgin employees I've come in contact with may not be successful at the interview round (usually due to the sheer volume of applications). So I hope you don't get discouraged. Please continue to submit your application.
To thank you for taking the time to apply and to encourage you to keep applying, I am attaching a £20 shopping voucher for you to use on the plane or to purchase duty-free purchases with Virgin.
Wish her success in the future.
Best regards.
Richard Branson
Chairperson
Virgin Corporation”
As for Sam, she persisted in applying and succeeded as an assistant to Richard Branson.
In an interview, he also shared: “Companies should treat everyone well – employees, customers, job seekers, and even people who have just heard about the company. You never know in advance what roles you'll be able to meet these people in the future. Plus, if everyone treated everyone the way they want others to treat them, the world would be a better place.”
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