It seems as though many people are getting swept up and focused on the concept of the “voice of the customer.” While I acknowledge that it is important I’m also wondering what happened to the voice of the employee? When did we become so obsessed with external voices that we forgot to look at the voices we have inside the walls of our organizations? With the current economic conditions and the fact that less than 33% of employees are actually engaged with the companies they work at today(according to a study by Blessing White), I believe that the voice of the employee has never been more crucial to pay attention to than it is today.
It’s really interesting to me to hear about how many people are familiar with customer facing social tools yet not familiar with emergent collaboration tools which can be used to connect employees and allow them to collaborate with one another. I’ve said this many times but I believe that employees are the most valuable asset that any organization has. Organizations are spending so much time trying to monitor the web for conversations and trying to talk to and engage with customers that they forget about the people that they need to engage with most, the employees. We develop command centers, social media programs, micro-sites, communities, in person events, unique loyalty programs, and a host of other things.
Meanwhile employees are still stuck trying to access the information they need with over a dozen usernames and passwords, can’t find the right information they need to get their jobs done, feel disconnected from their companies, spend a full day a week in front of email, can’t find the right people to collaborate with, don’t know how to share their ideas, can’t store or transfer their knowledge for others, and a host of other things.
Don’t you think it’s time we focus on our employees?
What say you?
Voice of the employee is very important for many reasons. Organizations should provide an outlet for employees to voice concerns, suggestions, feedback and use to engage in general collaboration. With these tools in place, organizations can quickly gain valuable operational data and insight that can be used to improve processes and employee job satisfaction. What does that typically equate to…less attrition, better employee performance, better customer service, and a better bottom line.
When an organization decides to put these tools in place, they must also be ready to act on the issues that surface through their use. Ignoring findings or discussions can have a dramatic negative impact on overall morale, organizational trust, and company loyalty. Any ‘good will’ achieved by implementing a collaboration or voice of the employee program will be quickly lost if no changes (or even acknowledgement of surfaced issues) are made.
Implementation of employee collaboration tools are a great step forward but organizations must be willing to not only watch and listen but also act on what the voices are saying.
My company, PeopleMetrics, just uncovered some really interesting data that examines the overlap of the employee and customer experience. Essentially, we found that Employee Engagement sky rockets when they are empowered to truly solve customers problems. So you’re absolutely right – providing collaboration tools, connecting employees, listening to employee ideas – is actually the best way to solve your customer’s problems.
http://www.customerthink.com/article/customer_feedback_creates_meaning_at_work