To hold on to your customers amid strong competition, it’s important to provide a positive customer experience. But where do you begin?
You start from the inside out with the employee experience because the way employees feel is the way customers will feel – and if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers.
Picture the relationship between the two as a mirror. If employees are frustrated by company policy or internal politics, their attitudes can be reflected in their dealings with customers. Who wants to be served by employees who feel hassled or ready to disengage? It takes only one or two such encounters before a customer goes elsewhere. And who knows how many other customers will hear of their experience?
What do you seewhen looking into your company’s employee-customer brand mirror?
a shiny reflection of positive experiences with your internal and external brand?
a blurred image that needs polishing to be more employee- and customer-focused? or
a cracked image opening up opportunities for your competitors?
Three keys to creating a positive and polished brand reflection:
Proactively pay attention and listen to employees to better understand their experience in your workplace; e.g., employee surveys, management by wandering around, engagement discussions, exit interviews, etc. Do your employees have the tools, resources, and information they need to effectively serve customers?
Based on what you learn from listening to them, involve employees in improving business operations to better care for customers and each other.
If your organization is in transition or stressed with limited resources, positively acknowledge those who rally the energy and enthusiasm to serve customers and co-workers despite the situation.
If you need a reminder :
“There is no way to deliver a great customer experience with miserable employees.” Steve Cannon
“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” Stephen R. Covey
What a joy to be a guest on the “Profitable Happiness™” Podcast, hosted by bestselling author and musician, Dr. Pelè, who focuses on workplace happiness as a key to success.
In our engaging 30 minute conversation, we talk about what lead me to bridge marketing and human resources with internal marketing to create a positive workplace culture that values employees and customers. We also discuss interesting issues such as how to identify happy workplaces, how to save money on outside consultants, and how to have a positive impact in a toxic environment.
To learn more and listen to Dr. Pelè’s other interviews with “successful workplace happiness experts, executive coaches, and entrepreneurs, check out his website.
Have you ever found yourself in one of these situations?
Without warning, your position is eliminated due to restructuring
Your job security is at the mercy of company or government politics
Your job responsibility is minimized as a result of a management change or merger
Your competence and performance – reflected in stellar job evaluations – is questioned by a new boss.
Few people I know have been untouched by these situations. Their experience (and mine) leads me to describe the killer of employee engagement as “extraction” – i.e., “Let’s wring as much as possible out of employees until we no longer need them.”
“Don’t take it personally”
Company decision-makers and/or those delivering the bad news try to rationalize “It’s just business” so employees don’t take their dismissal to heart. But how can people feel otherwise with the pain of losing one’s job, credibility, or work identity? Those left behind wondering “who’s next?” can’t help but feel at risk.
Several people close to me have experienced this pain. Here’s what they – and anyone who is feeling undervalued in the course of “it’s-just-business” – need to keep in mind:
“Your inherent value stands regardless of others’ decisions. You are not a victim of your circumstances.”
[With Employee Appreciation Day approaching, I’m delighted to share this special post from my friends at myHR Partner. These HR professionals are serious about their work, yet also have a great sense of humor. I encourage you to visit their Modern Employer blog where you can find helpful and informative content.]
myHR Partner’s Cartoon Employee Hall of Fame
In recognition of Employee Appreciation Day, which falls on March 1stthis year, we would like to share our first Cartoon Employee Hall of Fame. It’s a short list right now, but we’ve included our expert commentary to make it special. We’ve also included suggestions for what to do to celebrate your workforce on their special day in honor of these inductees. Enjoy!
Homer Simpson With famous quotes like “Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers” and “I think Smithers picked me because of my motivational skills. Everyone says they have to work a lot harder when I’m around,” how could we not recognize Homer’s influence on legions of employees who seek to improve their work habits and have been encouraged to realize that at least they are not as bad as that guy.
Our HR commentary:Watching Homer Simpson at work, you have to wonder “Who the heck was that guy’s hiring manager?” Can you imagine what kind of antics would have turned up on his background check? The show’s writers are missing out on comic gold by not covering that in an episode. Talk about a company in need of help with its hiring process! Employee Appreciation Day idea inspired by Mr. Simpson: Donut buffet.
SpongeBob Square Pants SpongeBob loves his job as a short order cook at the Krusty Krab, and he’s good at it, too. We salute his positive attitude and work ethic, although his mannerism and overly outward personality can at times feel like an assault on the senses. What he lacks in workplace etiquette he does make up for in song-and-dance routines, however. Because he doesn’t ever intentionally mean to annoy anyone, it’s funny to us. For Squidward, not so much.
Our HR commentary:Could you have a more energetic or optimistic employee? That type of enthusiasm in the workplace is definitely needed — in moderation, of course. When it begins to become a distraction to his coworkers, that’s when a constructive conversation should occur. Maybe Mr. Krabs could conduct such conversations 2,000 leagues under the sea. Employee Appreciation Day idea inspired by the square-pantsed one: Karaoke and line dancing lunch hour.
Mike Wazowski and Sully In a world where monsters generate their city’s power by opening random doors and scaring children, the Monsters Inc. team of Mike Wazowski and Sully are the undisputed company champs. They always bring in the most screams and are hailed by management as the greatest thing since sliced bread. They are good guys and dedicated workers and deserve to be recognized and rewarded for their achievements, including induction into our Hall of Fame.
Our HR commentary: Mike and Sully rock, there’s no doubt, but their rock star status might have inadvertently worked against the larger team they belonged to at the company. Even putting creepy, evil Randall aside, when team leaders focus too much on just the brightest shining gems in the company, they miss out on the diamonds in the rough. Missing opportunities to build up the rest of your team can really stifle growth, create internal resentment and discourage other talented employees. Employee Appreciation Day idea inspired by Monsters Inc.’s most famous duo:Door prizes, of course.
Fred Flintstone The world’s most famous prehistoric “bronto crane operator” (we believe the more politically correct title “geological engineer”) is anything but your typical quarry employee. He works at Slate Rock and Gravel Company, and even though his boss, Mr. Slate, has fired him on many occasions, Fred’s better work traits always seem to win him his job back at the end.
Our HR commentary:Fred Flintstone may be loveable but he is definitely the kind of employee who needs help keeping his emotions in check on the job. If you have a lot of Freds on your team, you probably should have training for managers on how to work with “drama queens” and other distracting personalities, as well as some team training on how to communicate more effectively. Employee Appreciation Day idea inspired by our favorite caveman:Company bowling tournament.
George Jetson
He works at Spacely’s Sprockets turning the Referential Universal Digital Indexer (R.U.D.I.) on and off. It’s reassuring to know that in the future a nine-hour workweek full of button pushing may be the norm. We must also admit that the we like the idea of someday being able to come home from the office to find that housework consists of pressing more buttons, when it’s not being done by a robotic maid, of course.
Our HR commentary:More than 50 years after ‘The Jetsons’ first aired on TV, there are still so many workplace communication issues in those episodes that are relevant. Email, texting, social media and other technological advances haven’t cured the problems. In some cases these modern conveniences have actually made the communication problem worse. One accidental reply-all email or ill-worded voicemail can make you want to just scream “Jane! Stop this crazy thing!” Employee Appreciation Day idea inspired by the Mr. Spacely’s star button pusher: This is a tough one. Maybe a ’60s inspired lunch theme and serve moon pies all around?
After hearing from clients and colleagues undergoing organizational restructuring, I’m totally confounded by their descriptions of what’s happening. Managers are brought in from “corporate” or outside the organization and placed in positions to make changes without gathering any input from current managers who are running successful business units.
Yes, I get that company execs can change strategy and supporting structure(s) when and how they want to. It’s the processes they use that are most concerning – especially when they seem designed to disengage. Like changing job responsibilities with no consideration or input from the managers and employees in those roles. Or telling people they have to re-apply for their current jobs. While such an approach might be a way to eliminate under-performers, it’s insulting to those who perform at or above expected levels.
Executives who initiate strategic changes without engaging current managers in the process disrespect them by dismissing their institutional knowledge and experience working in their respective departments.
While organizational change isn’t easy. it doesn’t have to be made more painful by those in charge.
“The trick is to know what to change when. And to achieve that there is no substitute for a leadership with an intimate understanding of the organization working with a workforce that is respected and trusted.” Dr. Henry Mintzberg
Caspar-the-friendly-ghost may be harmless, but ghosting at work is not — for either the individual or employer brand.
The practice of “ghosting” – when one person ends a relationship without warning or explanation – has spread from the dating scene to the workplace. It occurs when people:
Don’t show up for job interviews
Don’t show up for their first day on the job or don’t return to work after starting a new job
Quit with no notice.
The term “ghosting” may be new but the phenomenon is not, as I recently learned. The long-time owner of a retail service business shared her experience with new employees who didn’t return to work after lunch their first day on the job. She attributed it to an inability to admit dislike of the work and/or an inflated sense of self-importance; i.e., “I don’t need to let the boss know I don’t care to work here anymore.”
According to HR professional Tina R. Hamilton, “Ghosting is the new word for an old problem.
“Since I entered the world of HR in the 1980’s, employees no-showed for work or seemed to drop off the face of the earth, and applicants suddenly disappeared just when you thought you had a good one. It is an unfortunate situation [and] I think that, in some cases, employers can look within and see if there is anything more they could have done to keep the employee/applicant more engaged in the process or in the job.”
The economy and some employers are also partly to blame Today’s low unemployment, in which employees have more job opportunities and companies are challenged to find and keep talent, is one reason for increased ghosting at work.
The quality of a company’s culture and leadership also impacts ghosting. Frustrated and/or burned out employees find it easier to disengage from a toxic situation by leaving without notice; i.e., “If the people in management don’t care about me, why should I care about them?”
Another contributing factor is the backlash to years of HR ghosting when prospective employees get no response to applying for jobs (with their resumes “falling into HR’s black hole”) and when serious job candidates hear nothing from a company after completing one or more interviews. Here’s Hamilton’s take on this:
“As far as employers notifying applicants, there are so many options with technology that can notify applicants automatically that there is almost no excuse to not notify applicants. Even if an employer does not have an applicant tracking system, they can save reject applicants with a simple email reply. It fairs poorly on the employer if they do not respond in some way, especially if it involves an applicant who has spent time in a live interview process.
“In a tight labor market like we have today, it is critical to have your company look its best in the eyes of the applicants.”
Regardless of the economy, employers and employees need to be professional and responsible when dealing with each other.
When it comes to communicating about applying for, starting, or leaving a job, any form of ghosting is unacceptable as it reflects poorly on the source. In this case, no news isn’t good news.
“Using emotional intelligence and showing deep human respect for employees is key. Without that, your IQ, occupational knowledge, and educational degrees mean little to employees.” Kate Nasser
About Kate: Known as The People Skills Coach™, Kate Nasser is a thirty year workplace-tested consultant who continues to advise leaders and teams throughout the world on high morale and service for operational excellence. She is highly sought speaker because she brings morale issues to life and delivers solutions. In her first book, Leading Morale, she offers everyone the intersection of research and practical experience to lead morale instead of taking it for granted and scurrying to fix it later.
QSM: Please tell us why you wrote Leading Morale.
Kate: I wrote Leading Morale because leaders weren’t doing it. They saw morale either as something that just happens (i.e. you can’t actually lead it) or cheer leading events — brief moments of appreciation — that don’t lead, build, or sustain morale.
QSM: What do you think will surprise readers the most when they read your book?
Kate: I believe leaders will be surprised at what morale really is and how much they are influencing it. They will read insights that will stop them in their tracks and make them question what they subconsciously do. Lastly, leaders will be happily surprised at how they can easily lead morale.
QSM: In your experience, what is the biggest challenge in building and sustaining a more empowered and engaged workplace culture?
Kate: The biggest challenge is for leaders AND managers to replace their comfort of leading/managing goals to inspiring people to lead and manage their efforts to reach the goals.
QSM: I dream of an ideal world where people treat each another with genuine respect and dignity — a world where we wouldn’t need your book (no offense!). Accepting reality, however, what do you think is needed to get us closer to this ideal (beyond making your book required reading in all schools)?
Kate: I love this question, Sybil, and I am not offended. To have a world where people treat each other with genuine respect and dignity we must:
a) Think of it as very reachable not as an ideal. As soon as we see something as an ideal, our brains tell us that we won’t get there. Some people then check out and think, well then … forget it.
b) Do it, show it, and discuss its importance daily. This is how you create a culture..
c) Politely demand it. When someone treats you disrespectfully, don’t tolerate it. Speak up civilly and say, “I treat you with simple respect and I expect the same in return. Nothing more, nothing less.” As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” So don’t consent to disrespect and indignity.
QSM: Thank you, Kate! You can see her in action in video footage at KateNasser.com. She welcomes your questions and challenges.
“Companies are in a talent war. It’s a race to get the best candidates quickly since unemployment rates are lower than they’ve been in years.”
“The days of employees being thankful just to have a job are over and likely will not return for a while. Instead, the onus is on employers to cultivate and appreciate talent.”
“With the labor market as tight as it is, employers would be wise to do everything in their power to retain exceptional employees while simultaneously recruiting strong candidates.”
Business media contain similar quotes on today’s low unemployment situation. As an employee engagement advocate, you’d think I’d be excited about the flurry of attention given to employee recruitment and retention. But I’m not.
Reactive engagement
In the current economy, company execs concerned with repositioning their employer brands to be more attractive for recruiting purposes and/or seeking to hold on to their employees have re-discovered employee engagement. “We need qualified employees who want to work here and not jump ship for other opportunities. So what can we do now to engage them given the tight labor market?”
Here’s what bothers me about this situational response. Reactive engagement isn’t sustainable — particularly when applied as a short-term solution by short-sighted executives. Because what happens when the economy cycles back to high unemployment? That’s when these same execs revert to treating their employees as commodities, and management’s message changes from “What can we do to keep you here?” to “You’re lucky to have a job!”
Engagement matters regardless of the unemployment situation
Even when unemployment rates go up, companies need to invest in employee engagement, development, and retention. Because high unemployment also means reduced consumer spending; i.e., when fewer people are working, they tend to spend less. So even though companies might enjoy a “buyers market” when it comes to employees, they have to work harder to compete for customers. And to effectively attract and retain customers, you need highly engaged employees.
“If your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers.” Sybil F. Stershic
That’s the message some people in executive and management positions send their employees. I’ve heard this many times, and here’s how it plays out.
New employees starting with a company are likely to receive a fair amount of attention through orientation and on-boarding. This attention wanes, however, the longer employees are on the job. From the employee’s perspective job descriptions fail to keep up with changes in job scope … top-down communications predominate while bottom-up feedback is not encouraged … staff meetings are considered a waste of time … and annual performance reviews become meaningless.
As a result of management and organizational complacency, employees feel invisible — a condition that leads to their disengaging on the job.
Here’s what several thought leaders say about this:
“When employees feel anonymous in the eyes of their managers, they simply cannot love their work, no matter how much money they make or how wonderful their jobs seem to be.”Patrick Lencioni
“When people are perceived as a cost and not a resource, when they are treated as a liability and not an asset, when no one seems to know or care that they are there, they don’t work well, and they don’t stay.”Dr. Judith M. Bardwick
“Don’t make your employees guess about whether they’re doing enough or fulfilling [the company’s] expectations … Make people feel like they are in the loop, and they’ll feel more engaged … ”Alan E. Hall
“Once you start treating employees as more than a job description, suddenly they go, ‘Oh, wow! Maybe I should bring my whole self to work today!'” John Boiler
Workplace engagement is a both a responsibility and choice shared by employees and employers:
Employees are responsible for their own engagement in that they choose to show up in their jobs ready, willing, and able to do their best work, and
Employers are responsible for choosing to foster an engaging workplace where employees are enabled to do their best work.
What drives an employee’s decision to be engaged at work is based on how that person answers these three questions:
What’s in it for me besides a paycheck? This is a primary consideration that gets to the heart of why an employee chooses to stay with an employer based on the nature of the work involved, how meaningful it is, quality of organizational culture, and benefits.
What difference do I make?
Employees want to know how their efforts contribute to the organization’s mission and goals. This involves having a clear line-of-sight as to how their work impacts the people they serve (customers, clients, patients, members, guests, etc.) co-workers, stakeholders, the community where the organization is located, and the organization’s overall success. Think of the NASA janitor who wasn’t just cleaning floors — he was helping to put a man on the moon.
Does my employer care about me and my work? Employees also want their employers to recognize and respect their roles within the organization and support them with the tools necessary to do the best job possible.
Takeaway questions for managers What are you currently doing to positively or negatively impact your employees’ choice to stay engaged?
