Tag: human resources

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Customer service Engagement Training & Development

Great Customer Service Quotes for Training

“It’s risky to underestimate the benefit of exceptional [customer] service; it’s equally risky to overestimate the level of customer service that you are currently providing.” Unknown

I often use this quote in the beginning of my customer-focus workshops to engage attendees on the impact of customer service in their organizations. Discussion is based on addressing these questions: Who defines quality customer service? How is it measured? To what degree is your company truly customer-centric? etc. learn_and_share

Another approach to foster discussion and idea-exchange is to add the words “How do you …?” at the beginning of each of these customer-centric guidelines from Diana LaSalle:

  • See who you are and what you offer through the customer’s eyes.
  • Consider the well-being of the customer in all decisions.
  • Train and trust employees to care for customers in the moment.
  • Anticipate customers’ needs by continually striving to improve their experiences.

You can also use the following quotes as a springboard to talk about the importance of taking care of customers:

  • “The easiest way to turn a service into an experience is to provide poor service – thus creating an memorable encounter of the unpleasant kind.” B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, The Experience Economy
  • “Customers care about the degree to which you respect and value their business … If you provide customers with clues that you don’t value their business, then all the customer satisfaction in the world won’t help you.”  David C. Lineweber
  • “Technology has evened quality; hardware is all the same. The difference is how you treat customers. If you treat them well, they’ll love your product. If you treat them poorly, they’ll find 100 things wrong.” Lee Iacocca

I welcome your favorite quotes and suggestions for using them in staff development.

 

 

 

Categories
Engagement

Engaging in Work and Life: How to “Live Fully”

For World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th, employee engagement thought leader David Zinger advocates helping “all employees live fully at work – with a full life and a life full of meaning and mattering. We need to recognize when employees are struggling and what we can do to help.” His message is timely given recent public attention on mental health issues and suicidal behavior, and it has important meaning for everyone inside and outside the workplace.

David describes “living fully” as the opposite of suicide:

To live fully is to have a full life in years while putting fullness into each day. It embraces and acknowledges life’s joys and suffering, both our own and others, letting in compassion and support. Living fully is about living for both us and for others. Living fully at work is more about work/life integration than trying to find an ideal state of balance. Living fully at work is the new meaningful employee recognition when we are attuned to others in our work community and we recognize and connect with them during progress, celebration, setback, struggle, and loss.

He also suggests how to apply “living fully” at work:

  1. Accept each day as an invitation to live fully.
  2. Be mindful of moments and in touch with all your fluctuating emotions.
  3. Engage with both your work and the people you work with.
  4. Acknowledge impermanence – know that even negative experiences will change over time.
  5. Move beyond isolation from others by making connection and contribution.
  6. Flourish at work with positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment, and strengths.
  7. Open your head, heart, and hands to your coworkers.
  8. Transform the ritual question of “how are you today?” into an authentic curiosity and really listen and respond to what the other person says.
  9. Face fears and create safety at work by caring for others and caring about what they are trying to achieve in their life.
  10. Know that small is big, by taking small steps day after day you will make a huge difference in your life or the life of someone else.

I love David’s suggestion to “entertain a playful serenity with this modified serenity prayer”:

“God grant me the laughter to see the past with perspective, face the future with hope, and celebrate today without taking myself too seriously.”

[Note: the above content is excerpted with permission from David Zinger’s post: How to Live Fully at Work: The New Employee Recognition.]

Thank you, David!

 

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Engagement

When the Board Doesn’t Care About Employee Engagement – The Market Basket Saga

It’s the case of a CEO who did well by his employees (personable management style, career growth, great pay, profit-sharing, etc.) and, in turn, customers – engendering the loyalty of both. So much so that when the CEO was ousted in a board-level family feud, employees and customers protested loudly — with employee rallies and online petitions by customers to boycott the company  It’s the story of the Market Basket  grocery chain that finds itself in a management and public relations nightmare.

With empty shelves, frightened or disgruntled employees, and frustrated customers, I can’t begin to imagine how much the company is losing in actual dollars, not to mention brand damage.

“Put your staff first, customers second, and shareholders third … then, in the end, the shareholders do well, customers do better, and your staff are happy.” Sir Richard Branson

This win-win-win approach works for Starbucks, Virgin, Zappos and many others companies. It’s also a winning strategy of Firms of Endearment that “follow a stakeholder relationship business model rather than a traditional stockholder-biased business model.” Why doesn’t the board of Market Basket get it?

UPDATE: Ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas is back at the helm after the company reached an agreement with him to purchase the grocery chain from the family members who fired him.

This quote from a HuffingtonPost article brings it all together: “Most times, CEOs and the company’s business model don’t always align with the employees’ best interests,” said Paul Pustorino, an accounting professor at Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School. “What this proves is when a CEO can align the best interests of the company with the best interests of the employees, that generates strong employee loyalty and customer loyalty.”

 

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Engagement

Why We Need to Put the Brakes on Wheel-Spinning Managers

Bike racing is a great sport but it’s a lousy metaphor for management. I know because I had the unfortunate experience of seeing such management in action.

I once worked for a boss who had a bike racing poster in his office. The poster was a gift from the Lehigh Valley PA-based Velodrome cycling track to its corporate sponsors. Over time I came to view this poster’s image as a symbol of my boss’s wheel-spinning management style. He would give direction for a project and then shift gears once the project was well underway. My staff and I were continually frustrated as a result. Despite the pressure to complete our work with limited time and budget resources, we had to stop the project in progress, regroup, and somehow find the time to do things over – all on budget and deadline, of course.

So forget about this type of fast track management. You can’t win with disengaged employees drained of energy and enthusiasm.

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Engagement

Employees as Volunteers? Or Volunteers as Employees?

If your organization relies on paid employees to get its work done, would you treat them any differently if they were volunteers?

Other thought leaders have shared their views on this topic, including:

Here are my thoughts to build on this management discussion. The key difference between these two sets of workers are that volunteers “aren’t bound by the same command and control requirements that employees have.”  This means volunteers can voluntarily choose to offer their time and services to what they consider a worthwhile organization. They can also voluntarily choose to withdraw their time and services  when it no longer suits them. Even though employees are in contractual work situations, they can also choose to stay or leave an organization. Unlike volunteers, however, employees may need to stay for their paychecks even though they would prefer to leave — engagement for payment purposes only.

If your organization relies on volunteers to get its work done, would you treat them any differently if they were employees?

As I’ve found in my work in the nonprofit sector, the presumption that all nonprofits value volunteerism is not necessarily the case. Some nonprofit managers only give lip-service to their volunteers despite benefiting from their time and skills. These managers can take advantage of their volunteers’ passion for the mission for only so long before those volunteers get frustrated and leave.

What matters to employees and volunteers is being treated with respect while getting the tools and information needed to effectively contribute their time and talents. Whether an organization is profit-driven or mission-driven, the quality of workplace engagement depends on its culture and values including how its people are treated, regardless of their paid or unpaid status. Both employee engagement and volunteer engagement are critical – neither should be taken for granted.

 

Categories
Marketing Training & Development

Is Your Recruiting Hurting Your Brand?

Talk about first impressions! Managers responsible for recruiting new employees have a significant impact on both the employer brand and their organization’s overall brand.

Here are two examples of how an ineffective recruiting experience – described by a potential candidate looking for work in the nonprofit sector – resulted in a negative brand impression. [Note: I’ve heard similar job applicant horror stories in the for-profit sector as well. ]

Example #1. “I had a telephone interview for a grant writer position in an arts-related organization. It was clear during the interview that the supervisor had no interviewing skills — she did not seem to know what she wanted to ask, nor could she process my responses. She was very busy concentrating on what to say next rather than evaluating my answers. Mid-way through the interview she sighed with exasperation and said she had no idea how to talk with me because I was not ‘part of the art world.’  At the conclusion of the interview the HR person asked if I would be available for an onsite interview, and I said yes. I never heard from them again.”

Example #2. “In my experience with another organization, the telephone interview was a fiasco. Three people on a speaker phone interviewed me; I could barely hear one of them and was never quite sure who was speaking.  The first question asked why I had applied for the position. My response addressed the unique combination of duties, appeal of the variety of work involved, etc. When I finished my response they told me they were no longer certain that the position would be structured as posted. They then asked a series of narrowly focused questions that indicated very clearly that they had not read my resume or that they were incapable of shaping the questions to elicit additional information. At the conclusion of the interview, the convener told me that additional interviews were being scheduled the following week and that he would be in touch ‘either way.’ Two months passed and I received an email from him saying they had decided to put the position on hold while they reviewed and possibly revised the position’s responsibilities.”

Bottom line brand impact

The job candidate had previously worked in HR. Here’s what she had to say about her experiences with the two organizations that interviewed her:

“As a former HR and management professional, I am appalled at the ridiculous turn the interview process has apparently taken. I am struck dumb by how little regard or understanding these folks have of their role as brand slayers. They seem completely unaware of the fact that an interview is not a one-way street.  While they are asking questions and making some attempt to assess the applicant, the applicant is gaining a great deal of insight into the nature of the organization and the people who inhabit it!  My respect for these organizations is diminished, my interest in supporting them in any way is erased, and my new and distinctly negative view of their capacity is going to be a topic of conversation for some time to come.”

Do the people who recruit and interview potential employees for your organization understand how their actions affect perceptions of your employer and external brand?

 

Categories
Engagement Marketing

Internal Marketing Goes South

I was honored to be one of three speakers from the U.S. invited to participate in the 6th International Marketing Congress: Marketing from the Inside, hosted by Asomercadeo, the Colombian Marketing Association. My Atlanta-based colleagues, Debra Semans and Ron Strauss, and I journeyed to Medellin, Colombia, recently to share our perspectives on internal marketing and internal branding. Stershic presentation at AsomercadeoMore than 400 business professionals gathered at the Congress to focus on the strategic impact of internal marketing in organizations “where there is a synergy between the areas of marketing, communications, human resources, and senior management.” Speakers addressed the elements of employee engagement, corporate culture, corporate social responsibility, marketing’s relationship within the organization, and leadership on brand-building.

For me, the highlight of this conference was learning that the core business concepts that my North American-based marketing colleagues and I advocate are becoming more universal in practice. This revelation was reinforced in the following themes repeated frequently during the conference:

  • People are the central axis of a company.
  • Employees and customers need to feel valued.
  • Organizational culture nourishes the brand.
  • Marketing, Human Resources, Operations, Finance, and all other areas of an organization need to work together as a team.
  • CEOs talk about human capital, but few actively engage them.

Another highlight of the trip was experiencing the ultimate in southern hospitality. Cristina Jaramillo Lopera, Academic Leader of the International Marketing Congress, and Asomercadeo’s leaders and event staff were most welcoming and accommodating. Truthfully, I was apprehensive about traveling to Medellin given the area’s reputation and that fact that I don’t speak Spanish. Cristina graciously hosted us on a wonderful tour of Medellin. The city and country-side are truly beautiful; the city is also aptly recognized as Innovative City of the Year.  I was impressed with its public access to arts & culture. The strong sense of pride that residents and businesses have in Medellin and Colombia is palpable. And I look forward to returning someday.

 

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Engagement

Keeping Employees from Becoming Invisible

New employees are easy to engage. Companies welcome new recruits with open arms as they explain the company’s mission-vision-values and goals, outline employees’ work duties, introduce them to their managers and co-workers, and perhaps even assign them peer mentors. I’m simplifying the onboarding  process here, but  new employees receive a fair amount of attention to engage them from the start.

This level of attention wanes the longer employees are on the job, and that’s when the potential for becoming invisible sets in. To illustrate, I often ask attendees in my internal marketing workshops about their job descriptions. Less than one-third typically respond that their job descriptions are up-to-date. In some companies, employees only get reminded of their fit within the organization and what’s expected of them during the annual performance review – an event about as welcome as a root canal.

Gradual descent into disengagement

It’s not that employees are clueless about their roles or that managers are purposely keeping them in the dark. (I know, I’m giving employees and managers the benefit of the doubt here.) The reality is that marketplace changes – including increased competition, evolving customer needs,and financial pressures – also prompt changes in company goals and strategies. Yet revised strategies and adjusted expectations of employees don’t necessarily filter down to everyone in the organization. With managers struggling to cope with limited resources, information overload, and demanding bosses, who’s got time to update job descriptions? Or keep employees in the loop by addressing their questions and concerns in staff meetings?

To learn what’s going on in the company, some employees will take the initiative to approach their managers. Over time, however, these employees may become frustrated and disengage if they have to continually seek out company and job-related information. Meanwhile, other employees will:

  • Tap into the company grapevine to get information
  • Hunker down and keep doing what they’ve been doing until they’re told differently
  • Grow frustrated and eventually leave or retire on-the-job.

To prevent employees from becoming invisible and disenfranchised within the company, managers need to proactively share what’s happening in the company and why. They also need to reinforce employees’ alignment and fit within the organization, including how their efforts individually and collectively contribute to the bottom line.

“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

 

Categories
Engagement

When Your Plate is Full

Engaging the meatball
by David Zinger

Another meatball tossed
on our overflowing
spaghetti-like plate of work.

Before forking into our crowded strands of work
yet another meatball is tossed on the pile
colliding with the meatball already there
precipitating an avalanche of meatballs
hurdling downwards in all directions at once.

If work is to nourish us we must say no
even when we are told, “it is just one more meatball.”

[Source: Assorted Zingers, a book of poems on workplace engagement by David Zinger, with great cartoons by John Junson]

Categories
Engagement Featured Post

The Funny Thing About Employee Engagement

It’s easy to make fun of employee engagement based on how some companies approach it. They proclaim “employees are our greatest asset” — it says so in our annual report! — but it’s all lip service. They conduct an employee engagement survey or two, but don’t respond to the results. They may even appoint an employee task force to come up with ideas to improve engagement, but with no authority or budget to make anything happen.

It’s not surprising that these companies experience low morale and engagement. They also inspired a business, Despair, Inc., that sells anti-motivational products that satirize superficial engagement. Here’s a sample of Despair’s demotivational posters:

  • “Apathy: If we don’t take care of the customer, maybe they’ll stop bugging us.”
  • “Get to Work: You aren’t being paid to believe in the power of  your dreams.”
  • “Perseverance: The courage to ignore the obvious wisdom of turning back.””
  • “Worth: Just because you’re necessary doesn’t mean you’re important.”

Sadly, Despair, Inc. wouldn’t be successful if it didn’t resonate with people who work in companies where workplace engagement involves displaying motivational posters and initiating token employee recognition programs.

For those of us passionate about employee engagement, Despair’s response to ineffective, insincere and/or shallow attempts to engage employees is an opportunity to poke fun at ourselves, while also reminding us of the importance of our work.