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5 Essentials For Animated Employee-Customer Engagement

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Service sucks! It is a sentiment loudly echoed everywhere as customers too frequently are on the receiving end of pedantic, indifferent customer service. We might promptly get what we request at a fair price. But if the light is out on the body delivering the goods, there is no emotional connection. Lame engagement makes the passionate competitor down the street look decidedly appealing.

So, what's a leader to do in this era of fickle employees who want a paycheck but have an aversion to working? Why do frontline employees treat customers so poorly while taking their money? What is required of leaders eager to kindle in employees a passion for customers? In a word, it takes a special kind of trust.

The Pandemic Residue No One Talks About

Few business topics have been studied more in the last ten years than employee engagement. The post-Covid "where-have-all-the-workers-gone" quandary has fueled a search for practical fixes. "If you had told me we'd have millions of workers still on the sidelines and have wages going up because people couldn't find workers, you could knock me over with a feather," says Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting and advisory firm Grant Thornton.

The culprits have ranged from excessive government handouts to fear of getting Covid. One element often ignored is how "working from home" altered employment requirements for prospective workers. Leaders of a virtual workforce are forced to trust employees out of range of close inspection. Now trust is a leadership necessity. From a leader's vantage point, trust means faith or hope. But for employees it is their capacity to confidently answer five questions. Answering these questions can turn lethargic employees into ones eager to ensure customers leave pleased and impressed.

Do I Work on Purpose?

Today's employees work smarter when they feel a part of an important and noble mission. They also make more responsible decisions for the organization and the customer. The award-winning Kimpton Group Hotel chain grounds everything in its statement of purpose: "At Kimpton, it's always personal. We believe that heartfelt, human connections make life worth living." Famous for frontline willingness to be whimsical and charming, leaders' actions match their words. CEO Michael DeFrino puts it this way: "We believe it's our employees who anchor the Kimpton experience. It's important they feel invested in the business and know that their opinions and ideas are valued."

As a leader, what can you do? First, talk often about your mission. Focus on what you want your unit, team, or organization to BE, not just what you want it to DO. Communicate the "whys" when making assignments. Recognize heroes by "telling their detailed stories" —especially the examples of mission alignment. Make sure your own actions are consistent with your unit’s purpose. Hold people accountable for mission-aligned work; it creates habits that become automatic practice. Finally, remember that where you spend your time and the issues that get you excited or worried tell your employees a lot.

Do I Belong Here?

The desire to belong is a foundational value in humans. A sense of belonging comes from inclusion, the experience that one has been invited without condition and embraced without reservation. It fuels the security of connection and confidence of affiliation. Accenture is ranked the #1 company for inclusion according to Refinitiv's Diversity & Inclusion Index. With over 700,000 employees in 120 countries, Accenture is the largest professional services firm in the world. CEO Julie Sweet addresses inclusion this way: "We're supposed to be bringing out-of-the-box thinking and innovation, and you cannot do that unless you've got diversity and inclusion."

As a leader, what can you do? Value teamwork. Focus on encouraging and rewarding collaboration. Use small teams to help select new employees. Stamp out any hint of discrimination due to gender, race, creed, sexual orientation, age, or handicap. Delegate big problems to teams for solutions instead of individuals. Start every day in every unit with a huddle that always ends with team members' suggestions for improving the next huddle. Be a strong team member of your team; a passionate leader in the one you lead.

Do I Feel Free?

Helping employees feel free starts with a leader's belief that employees are trustworthy, conscientious people eager to do the right thing if given the right preparation and opportunity. Trust does not mean unlimited license; it means responsible freedom—a feature unleashed rather than bestowed. Flight attendants with American Airlines can award frequent flyer points to passengers. Nordstrom is famous for its one-line policy to "use your best judgment in all situations; there are no additional rules." Lockheed-Martin's mantra is "great leaders help employees act like owners."

As a leader, what can you do? Do a service procedure audit. Employees may feel restrained by a rule or practice no longer relevant. Remember, customers do not want uniformity in service. While they enjoy consistency, they also want to be treated uniquely, requiring frontline flexibility. When employees make an honest mistake, ensure forgiveness is spoken not just implied. Always give employees the benefit of the doubt. Commend employees for seeking assistance from others, including other managers. Ensure employees know that being resourceful is more important than always being right.

Do I Experience a Path to Mastery?

"Knowledge is power," said philosopher Francis Bacon. Training employees, not once but constantly, provides the power of confident wisdom, not just basic competence. Wisdom fosters the capacity to invent, inspire, and influence, qualities needed to create an experience customers are compelled to share. Find novel ways to foster employee growth. Wegman's sends deli workers to Italy and Wisconsin to learn about cheese; butchers are sent to Colorado to learn about beef. Chipotle offers employees more than 5500 remote courses. Marriott uses ballet instructors to teach banquet employees to walk with a sense of style and confidence.

As a leader, what can you do? First, emphasize proficiency by recognizing employees whose performance stands out. Use high performers as mentors to others. Turn every coaching and performance review discussion into a learning conversation. Since learning is a door opened only from the inside, nurture the kind of relationship that encourages employees to want to invite you in, right along with your suggestions and ideas. Allow time in meetings for employees to share key learnings. Be a lifelong learner. Your example is one your employees will follow.

Do I Feel Energized?

I recently watched the TCU-Texas football game. My oldest granddaughter is a first-year student at the Fort Worth university. As the score tightened, the cheerleaders grew louder, the band played with vigor, and the crowd grew more animated. The bright team spirit was as glorious as the sea of purple and white moving as one. Players on the field encouraged the crowd to break the sound barrier. When the game ended with TCU having the winning score, adoring fans poured onto the field to connect with players, football staff, and other fans. I thought, "What does this look like at work?"

As a leader, what can you do? Like TCU fans, energy at work begins with leaders who serve as cheerleaders. View service as an honorable cause in the way it can elevate the lives of its recipients. Confront "spirit leeches," those pessimistic, doom and gloom folks eager to suck the zeal out of all around them. Be an enthusiastic service provider to your employees. All of us remember how we are served long after we have forgotten what we were served! Treat every opportunity to serve as a chance to create a masterpiece, one that will be a model for your employees.

"Real trust," wrote marketing guru Seth Godin, "doesn't always come from divulging or from providing more transparency, but from the actions that people take (or that we think they take) before our eyes. It comes from people who show up before they have to, who help us when they think no one is watching." Trust-building from leaders is always homegrown (from the heart) and handmade (actions speak louder than words). Granted, it takes guts. But it is the most substantial proof of whether you genuinely believe in the talent you chose to be on your team.

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