Category: Engagement

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Engagement Marketing

Tribute to Bob Wood

This weekend, I lost a hero. I share my sorrow with the Lehigh Valley PA community in the loss of a beloved friend and philanthropist: Bob Wood.

Bob was the former Chairman of Wood Dining Services, a large regional food service management company based in Allentown PA.  Prior to becoming part of Sodexho, Wood Dining Services employed more than 15,000 people serving more than 500 accounts in 28 states – with an impressive 99% client retention rate!

I had the privilege of working for The Wood Company many years ago as a training consultant and learned of the company’s people-first commitment. Bob was the epitome of an engaged and engaging leader who truly cared about his employees and customers. He maintained a corporate culture that was best described on the back of one of the birthday cards it sent to employees:

“The Wood Company’s recipe for success is developing and nurturing its people. We value and understand the difference they can make in pleasing our customers. We believe in celebrating our people’s success and important events in their lives.”

Making people feel valued

I interviewed Bob for my first book, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee Customer Care.  Bob & company were featured in a chapter on how internal marketing could be woven through “ordinary, everyday activities rather than extraordinary events.” Internal marketing wasn’t a distinctive approach practiced at The Wood Company – it was something Bob did intuitively.

Here is one of my favorite stories about Bob and the power of employee recognition. Bob spent a lot of time in the field visiting clients and staff. In his pocket he carried a handful of small gold plastic pins in the shape of pineapples, the international symbol for hospitality that was also part of the Wood Company’s brand. Whenever he saw an employee doing something right, he gave that person a gold pineapple pin. Bob said he never ceased to be amazed at the employees’ reaction when he gave out the pineapple pins.

“I think these pins cost 47 cents … but these people think you gave them a pile of gold. Everyone wants to be part of something … everyone wants to feel that they are valued, that they made a difference. To the degree we can celebrate our people, that’s our greatest tool.”

In making people feel that they mattered, Bob, you made an incredible difference. I am honored to have known you and will continue to celebrate your memory in my book and workshops.

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Engagement

Volunteers: When Passion for the Mission Isn’t Enough

Like nonprofit employees, volunteers can also exit when they get frustrated and fed up. The reasons for disengagement are similar, and while it might seem easier for volunteers to leave a nonprofit since they’re not held to an employment contract, that doesn’t mean it’s any less painful when they’re passionate about the mission. As Sally Helgesen described, “Volunteers … work not for money but because they want to give back, make a difference, change the world. They work because they want to matter. Volunteers can, and will, quit the moment they feel undervalued.”

This would be a great place to work if it weren’t for the [expletive] volunteers!

Example #1. A nonprofit board member described frustration with an executive director’s lack of respect for volunteers. “It makes me feel that my personal contributions of time and talent are not valued, even though I am a top donor. The executive is stuck in a rut, verbally… [focusing] on perceived staff board shortfalls. Why have I stayed?… I am passionate about the organization’s mission and continue to hope that eventually… with the staff changeover, we’ll be able to use the enthusiasm and ideas [to make a difference] that the Board has proposed.”

Example #2. In response to increasing volunteer disengagement, a member-based organization set up a volunteer engagement task force comprised of volunteers and senior staff. Under the task force’s direction, a survey was conducted of current and past volunteer leaders to gain better understanding of volunteer perceptions and expectations. Resulting recommendations called for more intentional volunteer management and oversight. Staff responded by developing a volunteer philosophy and creating a volunteer leader advocacy position to implement a volunteer engagement and recognition plan – all done without volunteer input!

Volunteer Talent or Disposable Commodity?

The difference in how your volunteers are treated depends on the tone set by the person in charge. People have to matter as much as the mission.

“Eliciting superior performance from people requires making them feel as if they matter, as if they’re contributing, as if they’re making a difference. …Only an inspiring, trustworthy, respectful, and inclusive leader can attract and retain volunteers over the long run.” [Source: Sally Helgesen, “Why Mattering Matters,” Shine a Light, Leader to Leader Institute, 2005]

 

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Engagement

Nonprofit Employees: When Passion for the Mission isn’t Enough

I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately, especially working on my book about nonprofit employee and volunteer engagement. Despite their well-intentioned commitment, sometimes staff members (and volunteers) get frustrated with a nonprofit organization and reach the point where passion for the mission and meaningful connection are no longer enough to convince them to stay. In other words, once engaged doesn’t mean always engaged.

Why People Become Disengaged

People don’t stay committed to an organization when they:

1. Feel overwhelmed with too many or conflicting management directives

2. Don’t understand what the organization is all about and what is expected of them

3. Are afraid that their work isn’t valued

4. Don’t see how the various parts of the organization connect in the “big picture”

5. Don’t share a sense of ownership in the organization, including being involved in solving problems and offering ideas. [Source: The Art of Engagement]

High turnover and low morale are signs of a disconnected, disengaged workplace run by complacent management or the clueless-in-charge. And the damage isn’t confined to the internal organization – customers, donors, volunteers and other external stakeholders are aware of, and possibly affected by, employees who disengage at work.

Can you hear me now?

A nonprofit professional and her colleagues were increasingly frustrated, discouraged, and disheartened about their work situation which they described as “toxic.” Managers issued frequent conflicting directives and set unrealistic expectations while providing little guidance and insufficient resources to enable staff members to achieve their goals. Management also paid scant attention to staff concerns until a consultant was hired to address the issue of high turnover. At the consultant’s recommendation, management set up a “suggestion box” system to solicit employee feedback and ideas. More than 135 suggestions were turned in the first week, and there were only 30 employees on staff!

If you’re thinking about a “quick fix,” think again

Disengagement and burnout don’t suddenly happen. Most people start off engaged and excited about their work; the erosion occurs gradually based on one or more of the reasons mentioned above. According to Dr. Judith M. Bardwick: “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.”

 

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Engagement

Which Engagement Path Will You Take?

The following poem was written by David Zinger and is one of my favorites in his new book, Assorted Zingers (with great cartoons by John Junson).

Two roads diverged
by David Zinger

Let me tell you a tale
about the disengaged.
A tell tale sign is
you are told not asked,
you are fringed not foreground,
work is an energy drain,
not an energy gain.
You would rather be anywhere else,
yet you seem stuck in place.
And you have to stray
because of the pension, economy, fear, benefits
or just the plain inertia of it all.

It is time to tell a different tale
where you are connected
in the foreground
gaining energy
and making contributions.
If that tale cannot be told
get your tail out of there.
You only have so many days to work
and when you work in those days
and those days work for you
it makes all the difference.

Categories
Customer service Engagement

Do Your Customers Have a Rosie?

I’ve been fortunate in my 23 years as a consultant to work with truly wonderful people. Among them is Rosemary (Rosie) Makosky, who recently retired from Lehigh University’s Office of Distance Education (DE).

Lehigh was a pioneer in offering graduate degree programs by live satellite broadcast to corporate employees in the early 1990’s. I served as distance ed‘s marketing consultant back then, and we relied on relationship marketing for company/student recruitment and retention. Several times throughout the year we visited company sites to meet with current students and recruit new ones. These  visits also enabled us to acknowledge the efforts of corporate staff who helped coordinate the on-site details of Lehigh’s distance ed programs. As DE Director Peg Portz was fond of saying, “Our programs may be by distance, but not our relationships.”

Rosie was the student administrator who coordinated distance ed’s admissions, handled registration, answered student questions and concerns, etc. She was the behind-the-scenes “go to”person for students … but she wasn’t kept behind-the-scenes.  One of my favorite memories working with DE was accompanying Rosie on site visits, especially watching the reaction when she and the students met face-to-face for the first time. “So you’re Rosie!” they’d exclaim. “It’s great to finally meet you in person!” And then Rosie would engage in conversation asking about the student’s classes, family, and work situation. I loved witnessing such powerful connections – these students knew and appreciated how much Rosie cared about them.

I loved watching Rosie work her magic with students. Regardless of when they called, she never treated them as an interruption. She was always responsive, empathetic, and concerned in helping students get what they needed so they could succeed. She shared their triumphs and occasional setbacks. What I call being truly customer-focused is part of Rosie’s DNA. If only we had more Rosies in the workplace …

Thank you, Rosie, for all you shared and taught me when we worked together. Enjoy your retirement, dear friend!

Categories
Engagement

You Can’t Keep an Engaged Volunteer Down

Hurricane Irene’s recent landfall on the east coast and my current work in volunteer engagement reminded me of a dear friend and fellow volunteer’s extraordinary experience during Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

I was on the board of the American Marketing Association (AMA) as VP of Professional Chapters back then and had the privilege of serving with many dedicated volunteers on the Professional Chapters Council (PCC). An advisory group comprised of past chapter presidents, PCC members provided guidance and tools to help strengthen chapter leadership among AMA’s network of more than 90 chapters in the U.S. and Canada. We also visited chapters to recognize special achievements – presenting chapter excellence awards, anniversary gavels, and new chapter charters.

Who Said Getting There is Half the Fun?

Chris Bonney, a PCC member from Hampton Roads VA, was scheduled to meet with the Triad chapter in Winston-Salem NC on September 22, 1989. Here’s how he described that incredible trip. (Keep in mind, this was before the prevalence of blackberries and i-phones.)

“Neither rain nor wind nor dark of night could prevent me (although they all tried) from attending the 20th anniversary celebration of the Triad Chapter in Winston Salem. It started with my first plane being delayed nearly four hours because of complications related to an earlier accident at La Guardia airport. Accordingly, I missed the only two connections from Charlotte to Winston Salem – not to mention the baby who threw up on my lap as we circled over Charlotte …

“Having too much time and energy devoted to making this meeting, I rented a car in Charlotte and drove the 90 miles to get to the meeting, arriving an hour and a half late. I was determined not to be forever known as ‘that guy from the PCC who never showed up.’ When I arrived at the meeting room (after spending 15 minutes stuck in the elevator in the hotel’s parking garage), I found the chapter president doing the old shadow-pictures-on-the-wall hoping he could hold the group’s interest until I arrived.”

And for the return trip …

That’s what it took for this intrepid volunteer to reach his destination. Chris’s getting home was no easier as Hurricane Hugo was making its destructive way up the eastern seaboard.

“Having been assured by some [expletive] at the airport that the plane would be flying in the morning, I was crazy enough to drive through the hurricane back to Charlotte to catch my plane home. (By this time Hugo was reclassified as a tropical storm but still packing winds of 60-90 mph.) What a joke! Although Charlotte experienced nothing like the tragedy of Charleston, it was still pretty trashed – thousands of tree uprooted and broken in the highways, flooding, power lines down, billboards and signs asunder …

“With no power anywhere, the city was – according to the car radio message from the two radio stations working on emergency generators – virtually closed for business. I drove the car right up on the curb by the front door of the airport to escape the winds. By 8:30 that morning, there had been so much damage to the airport that they hadn’t even been out on the field to check the planes and runways.”

With all flights cancelled, Chris drove home. It took him more than six hours, and he eventually made it home safely. Despite all the delays in traveling, Chris reported that the chapter visit was well worth it. Trophy

I found this description of his harrowing travel experience in a special presentation I made several weeks later to recognize Chris for his dedication, determination, courage and commitment to the chapter, PCC, and the AMA.

Thanks, Chris, for what you did back then … and for the memory of it now.

 

Categories
Engagement Marketing

What I Did on My Summer (Blog) Vacation

Thank you for your patience during my blog break. What did I accomplish this summer?

Most of my time was spent researching and writing several chapters for my new book on how nonprofits can use internal marketing to engage employees and volunteers. I interviewed colleagues and experts in the field and will connect with more of them this fall.

As part of my research, I read the following books (and I highly recommend them):

In addition to keeping up with my client work, I managed to get in a few days of vacation and enjoyed spending time with friends and family.

Hope you had a great summer!

Categories
Engagement Marketing

Special Request Over My Summer Blog Break

Note to my loyal blog followers:

It’s time for my annual break since blog traffic is typically slower in summer. What’s special about this year’s break is that I’ll be using the time to research and write my new book for nonprofits: Engaging Nonprofit Employees, Volunteers, and Consumers: A Manager’s Guide to Inside-Out Marketing (the “working title” at this stage).

Please let me know if you want to share any good or bad examples of internal marketing in nonprofit organizations. The “good” examples of nonprofits that effectively engage staff and volunteers (including board members) I choose to use in this book may include the organizations’ names, pending their permission. However, I won’t name nonprofits with “bad” examples of what not to do when it comes to engagement or, conversely, how to alienate staff, volunteers, and (ultimately) consumers.

Note to new readers:

Welcome! I hope you’ll take a few minutes to explore my blog that offers an abundance of thoughtful content – more than six years worth! I also invite you to share good and/or bad examples of nonprofit engagement.

See you in September

I’ll return to posting this fall with new content – including updates on my new book. In the meantime, enjoy the summer!

 

Categories
Engagement

Many Employers Still Clueless (or Why I feel Sorry for HR)

I truly feel sorry for the HR folks who work with these CEOs. HR folks shouldn’t have to sell the importance of employee engagement – they should be supporting the CEOs in their efforts to create and maintain an engaging workplace.

Until these CEOs truly “get” employee engagement, I urge HR professionals to start stockpiling sunglasses. Because when the executives’ rose-colored classes fall off, they’re going to be blinded by all the empty space once filled by their employees.

“CEOs are not listening to the message around engagement, because HR is not convincing them of its importance,” according to an HR Magazine post.

“ … employee engagement and loyalty is at a three-year low, but many employers have no clue as to the dismal state of affairs,” reported in a recent study.

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Engagement Marketing

Tribute to a Services Marketing Leader

This is a special post that pays public tribute to one of my mentors, Dr. Stephen W. Brown. Steve recently retired from Arizona State University as a well-respected marketing professor, researcher, and founder of the Center for Services Leadership in ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

Before I tell you how I met Steve, here’s a bit of background. Steve Brown is internationally known for his pioneering research and thought leadership in services marketing and management, service recovery, and building a service mindset in product-dominated companies. He is a founder of the Center for Services Leadership (CSL) which he helped grow to become one of the premier centers of research and education in services marketing and management. (I highly recommend CSL’s annual Compete Through Service Symposium and Services Leadership Institute. ) As a result of his research and leadership contributions to the field, Steve received numerous international and university-wide recognition, including honorary doctorates from Finland’s HANKEN School of Economics and Sweden’s Karlstad University.

Mentor, Advisor, and Sounding Board

I feel privileged to have learned so much from Steve even though I was never in one of his classrooms. I first met Steve in 1983 when he was President-Elect of the American Marketing Association. I was newly elected to the AMA Board of Directors and learned a lot from Steve’s leadership style. He laid out an inspiring vision for the marketing association based on the profession’s growth and its role in the emerging field of services marketing and customer satisfaction. Shortly before I took office as AMA Chair-Elect in 1996, I met with Steve to gain insight on leading the association.

My career path closely followed the growth of services marketing as a new field, and Steve was most generous in sharing his research and helping me learn about this new discipline. I also reached out to Steve for advice before I launched my business as a services marketing consultant (more than 20 years ago) and when I wrote my first book on internal marketing.

I am fortunate to have benefited from his guidance and friendship. And I am only one of many students and marketing professionals who have been helped by this man throughout his distinguished career. How lucky for us that in your new role as Emeritus Professor, you’ll continue to be involved with the Center for Services Leadership.

Thank you, Dr. Stephen W. Brown, for giving so much of your time to teach, guide, and inspire. Best wishes in your well-deserved retirement!