A motivated workplace helps all of us do our jobs better. Employees recommend us to prospective customers; they are commonly at the front lines, and the success of most organizations are based on employee loyalty and dedication. From self-awareness, employees can nurture customer satisfaction. Unfortunately we all know that bad employees cost us money, time and lost customers, so as we improve employee satisfaction and a lifetime of loyalty, we are improving everything about our customer service.
Taking a look at what actions result in long-term employee satisfaction besides the most obvious of wages and benefits, employees like to be recognized and rewarded when they go beyond what is expected. It’s the ideal employee we have read about at the Ritz Carlton that reminds us of the “Wow” factor that is admired by all of us.
So how do you do this? Consider some employee opportunities that reward achievement. Seniority and personal achievements should always be recognized. When an employee reaches a five, ten, twenty year or more milestone in the company, or has achieved additional certification or education, special recognition is appropriate. Depending on the company policy, budget or protocol, definitive rewards keep employees striving towards the next level.
Employees should be able to voice their opinions and concerns to management without the threat of repercussions. If an employee perceives something in the company policy or required protocol when dealing with customers isn’t working, someone in management should deal with the problem before it becomes a major issue. If an employee perceives something is wrong, that is their reality.
Even though it is a competitive job market right now, it isn’t always going to be like this, and for those employees who do exemplary jobs, perhaps some measures of appreciation can go a long way. In most companies, human resources can work out flexible schedules and work hours to accommodate employees. In the summertime when children are out of school, working flexible hours can make a major impression on a working mother and encourage loyalty. Some companies rotate Fridays off for employees in the summer (when it is not a seasonal business).
Work with employees who want to work on their career advancement. The motivation of knowing that tomorrow will bring new opportunities to employees motivate personnel to strive to be the best they can. In the service industry the employee is the face of your business. You want your staff to be positive when recommending your company and working with customers. Realize the importance of your employee investment and always help each person strive for excellence.
photo credit: liber
Seth Brickner | Trainer & Developer, Impact Learning Systems International
[email protected]
http://www.impactlearning.com/blog/author/sethbrickner/
Good points Cheryl. A couple of things to add:
1) Re: exemplary employees: don’t forget that these employees need coaching and reinforcement too. Acknowledgement that someone is doing a great job is important, even for those we consider to be “self-motivated,” because they won’t stay that way forever without recognition.
2) Re: career advancement: Every department of your organization should have a defined path detailing how someone moves vertically or horizontally in the company. This becomes their path to development, and ultimately to the company’s success. These defined paths should list the skill sets, training and any certification required to move up to the next level or to cross over into another department. In this way, every employee knows exactly what s/he needs to do to advance within the company.
I used to work in tech support, and it was typical that once someone reached a certain level of proficiency they often left us to move to another department. Rather than curse the loss of the time we’d invested in that person, we saw ourselves as a training ground for other parts of the company. The best contribution we could make was to train people well and then show them what they needed to do to move on.
Howdy Cherl,
Great work outlining the basics of how employee satisfaction and the customer’s experience are linked. I’ve done quite a bit of writing on this topic, and I thought it would be helpful to provide a few specific examples of companies that are keeping employees engaged…
The Ritz-Carlton consistently wins (and keeps!) engaged customers, thanks to their dedication to employee engagement. Here’s an article on their approach: http://blog.peoplemetrics.com/ritz-carlton-case-study-luxury-retailers-know-customer-engagement/
Costco also receives high marks from employees:
http://blog.peoplemetrics.com/costco-case-study-employee-passion-increases-employee-retention-and-customer-engagement/
As does Trader Joe’s:
http://blog.peoplemetrics.com/fun-the-secret-ingredient-in-employee-engagement/
And for those readers who just can’t get enough, here’s another general overview of how Employee Satisfaction/Engagement and Customer Satisfaction/Engagement are linked: http://blog.peoplemetrics.com/the-link-between-employee-engagement-and-customer-engagement/
Bottom line: When you see your people as people, and not as automatons, they will put out better work. 🙂
Hope you & your readers find these extra resources helpful. Keep up the good work!
~C
Thanks Cheryl for the interesting insight in the article. This reminds me of Vineet Nayar’s book, “Employees First, Customers Second”, where he states the same that employee satisfaction is the key to a better customer service. If the employees are happy the customers will automatically be served in the best possible manner and therefore, he puts quite an effort to prioritize the employees’ satisfaction over the customer in his organisation