|
March 6, 2009 13:37 - Staff Satisfaction Surveys Stink!
It's an easy fix for organizations to churn out the annual or even bi-annual ('to show we really care') survey to their people, to assess 'staff satisfaction'.
It is a great tactic for the Annual Report. Yet in my opinion, in most cases, it stinks!
Once the results are in, they get analysed at Corporate, Divisional and Area level. Any improvements result in back-slapping ceremonies. Individual teams may get feedback on how they did.
Yet for many organizations that's where it stops.
Sure, they may have a briefing and belief they are going forward, but no-one gets into the deep-seated behavioral issues that need to shift - because it's tricky, time-consuming and indeed they may have no clue as to how to take this element forward (but they did their survey OK!)!
Whilst the big-picture organization things are important, they usually fit at the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
The upper levels of fulfilment and self esteem cannot be delivered at arms length.
The only delivery-boy for the behaviors that really make a difference to your employees engagement is the direct environment where they work.
And that's where each and every manager needs to get into close one-to-one relationships with each of their people.
To truly listen, to understand what they can really do to maximize engagement/retention/attendance as the minimum (and extremely good indicators in themselves, rather than the wheeled-out "to show we care 'survey'").
Big-time pro-active contribution from a whole team of employees (or is it 'colleagues'?), the bigger reward.
One-on-one coaching for a manager in this area, by someone who knows what they are doing. really can add positive numbers on the bottom line.
I know, I've worked with clients who have seen number spiral, for the want of a pretty small investment in relative terms.
And once behaviors shift, they shift for a lifetime of value!
March 10, 2009 11:23 - Doing the Opposite
Whilst many of the opportunities each of us face every day seem to have straightforward solutions, sometimes it’s worth considering taking a different angle.
As we go about our daily lives, we follow set patterns of behaviors that are along paths we have walked many times. It becomes difficult for us to amend our thinking and so we carry on as we have before.
So, I’d like to suggest an alternative course of action for a while. Just humor me for a while as you read on!
How would it be if instead of makimng a decision that you would normally do, you instead consider carefully doing exactly the opposite.
For example, if you have a set procedure to follow, I’d like you to consider what would happen if you did the complete opposite.
What would happen? What might you learn from thinking this way? Indeed, what positives might you gain, maybe unexpectedly, if you seriously considered doing the oppositie to where your natural and common thinking would ususlly take you.
Clearly there are some life and death situations where this would not be a valuable course of action to consider - and these will be less frequent than you might expect. It depends on how flexibly, risky even, you might want to try out.
Many times when you take this option and consider the other way, even the opposite way, there will be a learning to gain from seeing a completely different angle/perspective.
It just depends how you look at it and whether you can be creative enough to allow yourself this opportunity.
March 15, 2009 11:30 - Not My Fault!
One of the biggest challenges in life, is where things go wrong. If not quite wrong, then at least not quite to plan.
Many people in these situations, whether it be a bigger picture life thing or just the small twists and turns of each of our day-to-day activities, find it much easier to blame others - sometimes, for almost everything!
Taking responsibility for each of our own lives is vital, if we are to see a way forward in a constructive way - a way where we take control.
It's much easier - and very common - to blame someone else for the way difficulties and challenges in our lives show up. The truth most often is, that we are responsible for the life we end up with.
And by blaming others, we take away the honest truth, that we bring onto ourselves what we deserve from the actions - or lack of actions - that we subject ourselves to.
This happens in the workplace too. Whether you are a manager or an employee (or as is most common of all, both!), what you get is most often what you deserve from the position you put yourself in.
'My boss is useless'; 'No-one cares about me at work'; 'It's really tough here and getting worse'; and 'I can't trust my people to do anything right', are amongst the phrases I hear, that people make when their workplace isn't working right.
The truth is, in life, that what you get, is down to your actions in all but the most extreme situations.
Just like redundancy is in the news all the time now. 'It just isn't fair' might be a reflection on what is happening to some people. Yet again, there is no fairness about it!
Preparing yourself in advance for what 'might happen' is good thinking in these times.
And if you do find yourself in this situation, thinking deeply about 'what's next' (see this article), will ensure that you have a positive focus.
Many times we hide ourselves from what is becoming the truth because it is easier to bubble along - the challenge of different, new actions and their consequences maybe seems to be far too difficult.
Once you are in that position, it is just not acceptable to blame you lot on anyone else. It's down to you to create actions that provide the outcomes you want.
It's down to you to ask yourself "What can I do", and stop whining, taking personal responsibility and action.
What - is about the action you can decide on.
Can - accentuates the positive - more is possible than you might think!
I - is yes, about you and standing up for yourself.
Do - is the 'getting on with it' part and making that difference happen!
It's pretty much never anyone else's fault, even though you might like to think it is and yes, you can do something about it.
March 25, 2009 10:21 - Bad Customer Service - Where Does the Fault Lie?
I'm going to be all contentious here - are you ready?
Bad customer service is almost never the fault of the person who gives it. Period.
When we are at the blunt end of bad service as a customer, we immediately feel that it's the one facing us (or in an increasingly virtual world, on the other end of some sort of line or another), who's at fault.
Yet, I'm pretty sure that most people who go to work each day want to feel that they have done a great job. Trouble is, their environment isn't always right.
So, what does that mean? Well, let me share with you 5 top line reasons why the obvious culprit in not the individual in your line of fire, the person right in front of you:-
1. The Wrong Person
You see, when organizations recruit customer 'facing' personnel, they need to be very definitely choosing those who like interacting with others.
So often, what I call 'people-people' don't get selected because they can come across as a bit forward at interview, and that can irritate the selection team.
This is wrong.
People-people are outward and love interacting. So, when selection teams recruit, sometimes the wrong person gets put in front of you because the wrong choices were made, often for the wrong reasons.
2. The Wrong Priorities 1
Customers aren't quite the priority the organization says they are.
Of course every organization on the planet 'says' that the customers is 'the most important person' (I actually disagree - see 4. below) - and then they don't walk their talk. A customer is only the priority level that the sharp-end management gives it.
So they go giving their supposedly customer focused employees a ton of other jobs to do so they make best (financial) use of them.
Where is the logic of that?
3. The Wrong Priorities 2
Organizations love processes!
It's what employs a whole bunch of people and then, with all that 'delighting customers' they are supposed to be doing, they lumber their people with audits and stock control and a multitude of non-customer aligned activities that support who?
Probably the bean counters and auditors who provide the processes in the first place. The customer front line employees have to comply, or they get into trouble - or focus on customers.
Well, we know what they are going to do, aren't they.
4. The Wrong Focus
Organizations upset their people without even trying.
They fail to recognize and act on some of the most basic standards that any employee might expect.
Pay gets botched and/or paid late; workwear is always 'delayed'; people don't say 'thank you'; personal ambition isn't on the radar; holidays get moved.
None of this helps a customer facing employee be at their very best when they need to be.
5. The Wrong Managers
More and more these days, manager appointments are being dumbed down to a pretty low denominator.
Managers are given roles that don't suit them and they don't have adequate people skills to make the best of the people they have; nor appreciate the criteria required to get the right fit.
Add to that where managers don't show they care about their people because their communication skills are lacking and you have the absolute recipe for trouble.
Can you see the reasons why it's pretty unlikely that customer facing employees are rarely where the fault for failure lies?
If you're a manager yourself, what do you need to change in the way you run your team; department or business. What do you not know about how the sharp-end works. And, when will you find out about it.
Or maybe you are part of the problem, not the solution?
|
