Quality Service Marketing

Family in Business: A Unique Perspective

I know a lot of companies who pride themselves on creating a “family” atmosphere in their workplace. A family-oriented corporate culture can mean a lot of things, such as a collective group of people who share something in common … who feel a special sense of belonging … who take pride in their company’s heritage ...

So I was surprised recently when talking with the owner of a family-owned business who was adamantly opposed to having a family-oriented company culture. This type of culture idealizes the concept of family, he explained, while the reality is not all families are fully functional; e.g., sibling rivalry, overly demanding parents, recalcitrant children, etc. Instead, he prefers to describe his company as a “community of co-workers and collaborators.”

The reality is families, as well as corporate entities, can be dysfunctional. It’s all relative.

Sometimes the Obvious Isn't

When I talk about recognition in my internal marketing workshops, I share an example of a company that sends birthday cards to its employees. The value of this practice (especially compared to excellence-in-service and sales type recognition programs that single out exceptional performers) is that EVERY employee is recognized and acknowledged once a year.

At a recent workshop, one attendee had an “AHA!” moment when she talked about how her company sends birthday cards to its customers, yet it didn’t do the same for its employees. (I’m sure she’ll remedy the situation.)

Of course customers are valuable … and so are employees. Is your organization missing an opportunity to tell employees they’re just as important?

New Services Leadership Practicum

I’m excited to tell you about a new program, The Services Leadership Practicum, offered by ASU’s Center for Services Leadership (CSL). This program combines high level teaching on best practices in services management with a unique simulation that integrates human resources, marketing, and services operations management. Attendees participate in rival teams who compete with each other to manage a service firm serving both consumer and B2B (business-to-business) markets.

I asked Alicia Holder, CSL’s Director of Business Partnerships, how this program differs from their annual Services Leadership Institute and Compete Through Services Symposium. She told me the Practicum “has a major focus on strategy - finding your niche within the market.” Its simulation event is great for people who are expected to run a service P&L area and those who are new to services - especially if they’re transitioning from a product-based industry to a service-based one.

If you want to participate in a challenging & stimulating professional development experience, then check out this new educational event.

Administrative Professionals Day: Is It Still Relevant?

Tomorrow we observe “Administrative Professionals Day.” While the name has been updated – it was originally called Secretary’s Day when it started in 1952 – I wonder if the concept is out of sync in today’s workplace.

Back in the day before technology transformed the workplace, the secretarial position was critical to supporting management – this is the person who did all the typing/word processing (rarely, if ever, did you see a typewriter on a manager’s desk), placed calls, scheduled meetings and whatever else was necessary to keep the office running smoothly. True, most of these support type positions were held by women … in a paternalistic, sometimes chauvinistic organizational culture.

I know this from experience. In one of my early jobs in banking I held the position of Administrative Assistant in Corporate Planning, and my job description included making coffee for the weekly Senior Managers’ Meeting.

Now technology allows most managers do their own “typing” on their laptop or desk computers … schedule meetings on their hand held PDA’s … and connect directly to others with e-mail and cel phones. Today there are many people employed in a range of “support” positions in organizations, so do we need a special holiday to recognize Administrative Professionals?

I’ve heard a number of companies no longer observe this “holiday” (to the chagrin of restaurants and the greeting card industry).

What about your company?

Catch Me on "Women in Business Radio"

I’m excited to be a guest on the Women in Business program on wsRadio, hosted by Dr. Gayle Carson, this evening (April 15) at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST, where I’ll be interviewed about my book, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care.

Dr. Carson (aka the “Wiz of Biz” and a “Spunky Old Broad”) has built her career on advising and coaching CEO’s and entrepreneurial managers, so I’m really looking forward to talking with her.

Hope you’ll tune in tonight for tonight’s broadcast!

HRGURU.COM: For All Things HR

Check out the ultimate website for anyone interested in human resources: HRGuru.com. The site was launched recently by Monster.com as a one-stop shop for the HR field – with hands-on tools and information (including Centers of Expertise), interactive forums, and HR job postings.

Although I’m a career marketer, I’ve always been an advocate of HR, particularly employee relations, management and employee development. After all, my work with internal marketing is based on my passion to create a workplace committed to both employee and customer satisfaction; i.e., a blend of human resources and marketing.

I’m excited about HRGuru.com for two reasons: 1) it’s a terrific resource for HR professionals as well as those contemplating a career in human resources, and 2) I’ve been asked to contribute content to share my knowledge of employee-customer care and organizational culture.

For everyone interested in learning about and keeping up with the HR field, we now have a tremendous resource to go to: HRGuru.com.

Bad Bosses - Good Teachers

This isn’t an April Fool’s joke – bad bosses have a lot to teach us (especially by example). And you don’t have to go very far to learn from them.

Bad bosses are a hot topic these days. Witness the best selling book, The No Asshole Rule, Zane Safrit’s “Worst bosses of the Year … so many choices” and Management-Issues’s “The Search for World’s Worst Boss.”

I’ve had my share of bad bosses. Fortunately, none would have been contenders for the World’s Worst list. In retrospect, I learned some valuable lessons from them – mostly about how not to treat employees.

Here are my top three lessons learned:

1. Do not treat employees as minions whose sole function is to bolster your ego.
2. Do not give employees assignments without all the proper information they need (either because you’re into power trips or because you really don’t know what you want, but you’ll figure it out as soon as they finish the assignment – at which point you’ll change your mind and direct them to do it differently.
3. Do not assume your employees have no life outside the office and are available to help you 24/7. (I had one boss in particular whose mantra could have been: lack of planning on my part will constitute a constant emergency on your part.)

If you’ve worked for a bad boss, please share what you learned as a result.

Would You Work Here?

I came across this “vision statement” that was meant to rally employees in an organization and industry undergoing change. (Note: I've done some minor editing only to disguise the name and type of company,)

"We are ONE TEAM determined to build a thriving organization.

We understand that consumers will always have more choices; therefore our actions must by driven by what they need.

We will inform and empower our community through new products and yet-to-be imagined ways while we adapt and sustain our organization well into the future. We will drive urgent change.

By doing this, we will build a thriving organization, admired by employees and customers for making our community an even better place in which to live well, do business and prosper in a free society."

I admit that I don’t know the circumstances of who created this vision statement (presumably a management team), how it was positioned, and how it was introduced. But its tone really put me off.

While the ultimate intent -- to “build a thriving organization … for making our community an even better place” -- is lofty, to me the language used throughout the vision statement sounds heavy handed: “We are ONE TEAM … our actions must be driven … we will drive urgent change … “

And then there’s the corporate ego that refers to “a thriving organization admired by employees and customers …”

So I ask you: is this a place you would want to work?

If you read this vision statement differently, I would love to know your reaction.

Wharton Study: Employee Satisfaction Contributes to Bottom Line

Concern for employees’ satisfaction is more than just a “feel good” aspect of management. Wharton professor Alex Edmans’ recent study confirms that happy workers positively impact financial success.

His study examined the stock returns of companies from Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” between 1998 and 2005 and found they had higher financial returns – more than double those of the overall market.

According to Edmans, “One might think this is an obvious relationship – that you don’t need to do a study showing that if workers are happy, the company performs better. But actually, it’s not that obvious. Traditional management theory [still] treats workers like any other input – get as much out of them as possible and pay them as little as you can get away with.”

Part of the problem is rooted in managers’ short-term thinking as they are measured and rewarded on short-term results. Investing in employees, however, is considered to be a long term proposition … despite the fact that it can pay off.

Edmans' research is the latest of numerous studies citing the financial impact of employee satisfaction. One of my favorites is the 1997 classic The Service Profit Chain, by Harvard B-school professors James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard A. Schlesinger, that documented the self-reinforcing relationship between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and the bottom line. While a lot has changed in the 10+ years since the book was published, the need to pay attention to employees is as important as ever.

Employee Engagement: "Untapped Potential"

My last post was about "Straight A Management" as a way to attract and retain young professionals. Here’s why it’s more important than ever for all employees.

Towers Perrin's latest Global Workforce Study reported dismal findings on employee engagement levels. They define engagement as employees “willing to go the extra mile to help their companies succeed.”

The study found only 21% of employees surveyed are engaged in their work. (Here’s a scary thought: if only one out of five employees are fully engaged, what are the others up to?) And 38% of employees surveyed admitted they were partly to fully disengaged.

The research also confirmed the self-reinforcing relationship between strong employee engagement and the bottom line. It found companies with the highest levels of employee engagement had better results in increased operating income and earnings per share.

According to Towers Perrin Managing Director, Julie Gebauer, “ … at a time when companies are looking for every source of potential advantage, the workforce itself represents the largest reservoir of untapped potential.”

Hard to believe so many companies continue to overlook the obvious.