Quality Service Marketing

Employee Turnover Revisited

The economy has changed significantly since the 2008 publication of Leigh Branham's book, The Seven Hidden Reasons Employees Leave. Enough so that Branham wrote a second edition of his book based on new data collected from employee exit surveys.

Branham states upfront that the reasons given by employees for leaving their jobs are “fundamentally the same.” What has changed are the implications from the data. For example:

• Employees are “five times more likely to leave a job because of an internal issue than in response to an outside opportunity …”
• Since employees don’t just leave for better opportunities (although that’s what they’ll tell the company because it’s easier), most employee turnover is avoidable and potentially preventable.
• Employees may leave their immediate managers, but they also cite lack of trust in senior leaders as a key reason for disengaging.

Dissatisfaction with pay is cause for some turnover, but more as an emotional issue related to salary fairness than with the actual amount of the salary itself. Branham explains that employees "are bothered by inequity – knowing that they make less than others who are no more qualified, or even less qualified than they are. They feel the injustice of getting the same pay raises as those who have contributed far less to the organization than they have ... It all adds up to feeling  ‘less than.’”

If you care about employee retention

This book will help you better understand why employees leave and what you can do about it. Branham shows how to recognize the warning signs that employees are getting ready to exit and shares examples of what employer-of-choice organizations do to minimize turnover. Given employees share responsibility for their own engagement, he also offers suggestions employees can consider before they leave as a last resort.

The Seven Hidden Reasons Employees Leave provides research-based evidence that:

“Most of the reasons employees disengage and leave are consistent, predictable, and avoidable, if the employers have the desire to retain and are willing to invest the time to take preventive or corrective actions.” – Leigh Branham

I strongly recommend Branham's updated book for managers and business owners who need to address employee retention for a better bottom line.

Celebrating a Special Book Anniversary

Five years ago this week marks the official release of my first book, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care. In honor of this 5th Anniversary, I’m offering a special book discount. (See details at the end of this post.)

My book and this blog are based on the fact that customer relations “mirror” employee relations: the way employees feel is the way customers will feel, and if employees don't feel valued, neither will customers. The topic is as timely as ever as managers seek help for engaging their employees and customers in a challenging economy.

My deepest thanks to all who have read my book, including those whose companies continue to purchase and share the book with their clients and enterprise partners. I’m especially gratified when I hear how people apply the content to strengthen employee and customer engagement. An HR director recently told me how her company used my book: copies were given to management team members who completed the book’s worksheets and internal marketing action plans. The results were compiled by HR and shared with the executive team to develop an overall internal marketing plan. The company also created a cross-functional team – the “Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most Committee” – to continually improve employee-customer care.

Since my book was published, I keep finding great examples of what works in fostering a positive workplace culture. To learn more, check out some of the organizations I’ve featured in this blog:

• Mustang Engineering
• SNVC
• Zappos 
• Mohonk Mountain House
• Just Born
• Jewish Family & Career Services

I’ll continue to share best practices and new ideas here in my blog, along with the “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of employee and customer engagement. As always, I welcome your ideas on this important topic.

Special Offer

Save 20% on the purchase of one or more copies of Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care from now through Nov. 30, 2012 when you order online from WME Books. Be sure to enter special discount code 103FOS (case sensitive, no spaces) in the coupon code box. The book also makes a great gift!

Can You Achieve 100% Employee Engagement?

One of the best descriptions between employees who are engaged and those who are not comes from BlessingWhite:

" ... engaged employees stay for what they give (they like their work) [whereas] disengaged employees stay for what they get (favorable job conditions, growth opportunities, job security)."

Given the choice, most companies would prefer their workforce be comprised of fully engaged employees. But is total engagement attainable or even realistic? According to employee engagement author and consultant Leigh Branham, not all employees choose to be engaged:

“Most employees want to be engaged [while] other employees simply don’t view being engaged as a desirable, or even possible, personal goal. They see work as a necessary activity, but not as a source of fulfillment. Many have a strong work ethic, but are uninspired by their managers or their daily work environment, so they withhold much of their energy and effort.” 

Just because every employee isn’t interested in being engaged doesn’t mean management should give up on it or work harder to force it on employees. Neither scenario creates a positive work environment.

While 100% employee engagement may not be realistic, smart companies focus on what they can do to maximize engagement in their organizations – including hiring right from the outset, recognizing and reinforcing a positive work culture that values people (employees, customers, business partners, etc. ) as well as profit, and keeping it simple. 

 

 

Image credit: http://terrynwilliams.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/employee_engagement.gif

August Blog Break

It's the time of year when I can take advantage of summer's slower blog traffic for a short break. I'll still be working next month on client projects and promoting the launch of my new book, Share of Mind, Share of Heart: Marketing Tools of Engagement for Nonprofits.

I'll be back with new content in September. Until then, enjoy the rest of the summer! 

Hello-Goodbye Email Etiquette: Adapting Traditional Writing Skills to E-Correspondence

In high school I was taught letter-writing that started with an appropriate greeting ("Dear ... ") and ended with an appropriate close ("Yours truly"). As a result, my emails typically consist of the greeting "Hi [name]" and my close is "Take care." In successive emails – multiple correspondence with the same person – it's become unnecessary to repeat the greeting and close. It's also expedient and more efficient to omit these two items in emails sent from smart-phones and mobile devices where brevity is necessary.

Still I struggle with this as I tend to include a greeting and close in almost all my emails: 1) mostly out of habit, and 2) because my mother was an English teacher. I’m trying to break this habit by only using the greeting and close in my initial email and not in follow-up emails to the same person or group of people. (Frankly, I don’t like receiving an initial email correspondence without an appropriate greeting and close; expediency does not excuse a lack of courtesy.)

I've noticed little consistency in the emails I receive, so I asked several colleagues what they do when writing e-mails. Here are their responses:

This is tough for me to break, too, so here's how I think about it: Any same day conversation gets one time where I address the other person, and then all day long, I think the other person "knows" I'm talking to them in my e-mail, so I don't repeat my name, or my close. I think of it as a conversation where I wouldn't say "Hi Sybil" every time it was my turn to talk, or "Goodbye Sybil" every time I was done talking. The next day, I'll use it again as it's like a new conversation to me. Phil Gerbyshak, chief connections officer.      
 
Like you, I tend to be ‘old school,’ treating each email as it own unique message. If, however, I know there will be a ‘back and forth’ within a short period of time, I might forgo the greeting and close. I think a lot of the etiquette issues are really about the people with whom we’re emailing. Whenever I’m emailing a client or even a social media connection, I have a greeting and a close. It’s pretty much only with long time personal friends that I drop those formalities. Dawn Lennon, career strategist, coach and mentor.       

Great question. My answer won't offer much relief, though. Disclaimer: I'm an art major, too. I use email to interact with such a broad range of connections, from close friends to total strangers. I have no hard and fast rules, except to personalize it for that level of connection. I use greetings of everything from "Yo" to "Dear" and my closes range from today's "Rock n' Roll" to "All the best," "Best regards," "Thank you.”  Zane Safrit, business consultant.      

I always use the informal introduction of: “Hi [first name].” I always sign off with: “Thanks. Wayne." Wayne Hurlbert, business blogger and social media consultant.

I still address e-mails with "dear" and close with some kind of sign-off. I see it as unnecessary, but an indication of civility or courtesy. If I'm writing a client and it isn't just another in a string of recent messages, I think they deserve whatever little bit of time it takes to indicate courtesy. Most probably wouldn't notice it if I didn't do it. But it helps define me, for better or worse. So I'll continue to do it until I sense I'm so far behind the curve that it becomes embarrassing. Chris Bonney, marketing researcher.

My emails usually open with the person's first name only. In multiple reply situations, I tend to leave the name off – depending on the content. If it is lengthier or a more formal message, I include the same again. As for standard close, I don’t have one in my signature. I usually end with a "’Thanks’ or “Have a great week’" type of thing, plus my first name. Sometimes it sounds overly solicitous, so I delete it altogether. Jane Vanderhorst, marketing consultant.

I also reached out to Marsha Egan, workplace productivity coach and author of the popular Inbox Detox blog:

Great etiquette is to use the person’s name somewhere in the email. The next is to be authentic and sincere. Remember that any email can be forwarded so you're writing for the universe, not just one person. Grammar and spelling [also] count!

Marsha’s reminder that “you’re writing for the universe” is powerful and one that I hope is being taught in today’s writing courses. [Do schools still teach these classes?]

A special thanks to Phil, Dawn, Zane, Wayne, Chris, Jane, Marsha, and everyone who took the time to share their thoughts with me. To my blog readers, your input on this topic is also welcome!

Nonprofit Engagement Dilemma: A Caring, Yet Complacent Board

A  friend of mine works as a marketing director for a nonprofit with a stagnant board of directors. The by-laws stipulate board membership be drawn from the regional service-based organization that founded the nonprofit more than fifty years ago. As a result, the governance structure has evolved into an insular board with life-time terms. The good news is board members take pride in their involvement with the nonprofit based on its mission, and they have a strong passion for the founding organization. The board is also fortunate in that the nonprofit is well run by a dedicated professional staff.

The bad news is staff members have to work around a board that has become complacent. As long as the nonprofit is thriving, the board is comfortable with its oversight. Board leadership is not interested in how it can improve its governance and support. So the executive team leads the organization by focusing on the mission as it tolerates a board that has “a golden operation in their hands and do not understand what to do with it.”

As mentioned earlier, this nonprofit is doing well except for the executive team’s frustration. Passion for and commitment to the mission sustains these staff members … for now. 

Effective board member engagement is more than just showing up at board meetings and talking up the nonprofit. It also involves a commitment to improving its governance and collaborative relationship with staff. As well run as my friend’s nonprofit is, it could be so much more with a fully engaged and mutually respectful staff-board partnership. 

My Father's Day Tribute

In honor of Father’s Day this Sunday, I wanted to share a little bit about my beloved father and what he taught me about marketing – without realizing it at the time.

My father was a tailor who operated a small alterations and dry cleaning business. When I was little, I loved visiting him at the store to watch him work on a treadle sewing machine that was surrounded by rainbows of thread neatly stacked on shelves. Sometimes I would accompany him while he picked up and delivered his customers' dry cleaning.(Home delivery of services was the norm when I grew up, including doctors making house calls.)

Reflecting on my childhood, I learned a lot from my father amid the colored spools of thread and smells of dry cleaning solvent. I especially loved how customers loved my father. My father was not only a craftsman when it came to sewing, he was a master of relationship marketing. Whenever customers came into the store, my father would warmly greet them, inquire about their family, and then get into the specifics of their clothing alteration needs. He took as much care with the customers as he did with their clothes. And they kept coming back, while referring new customers to him.

The term “relationship marketing” didn’t exist back in the 1950’s-70’s when my father ran his tailor shop. It was just an intuitive way of how he did business. I was blessed to be his daughter and learn from him.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad! Thanks for a wonderful legacy.

Dear Mr President: About Employee Engagement ...

I’ve enjoyed being a guest on many radio shows since my first book, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care, was published. One of the most unexpected and intriguing questions I was asked was on Zane Safrit’s show. In what he called the “Imagination Moment,” Zane asked me to imagine responding to an email from President of the United States that read:   

‘Sybil, our economy reflects our failure to take care of the people that matter the most. I want you to come to the Oval Office and present your three ideas to reverse this trend, nationally.’ 

This was my response:

1. Gather information. First, I suggested business/industry associations and academia partner with each other to collect examples of effective employee- and customer care. They all have members from whom they can gather info on what works and what doesn’t.
2. Make people aware of engagement’s impact and importance. In a collaborative effort, business and academia could then create awareness among their members and the business community about the positive relationship between engagement and the bottom-line.
3. Help people learn and apply engagement skills. Lastly, provide the appropriate education and training organizations need on how to engage their employees and customers.

Although Zane interviewed me in early 2011, the question and my response is just as valid today. (While it may seem simplistic, keep in mind this was a spontaneous response on a live broadcast.)

This post is not intended to incite any finger-pointing in the campaign, but I am curious – in what other ways can engagement help with our economy? What advice would you give the Oval Office?

Volunteers Know What Matters

The recent PR firestorm involving two well-known women’s health organizations (I’m not going to rehash the situation here) reminded me of an experience I had in my early years of nonprofit consulting.

I was asked to facilitate a special meeting between two nonprofits involved in helping people with cancer – one was an established organization, the other was a relatively new start-up. The existing nonprofit felt threatened by the new group. In my meetings with senior staff from the existing nonprofit, some people admitted they wanted the new organization to just "go away" – they were concerned about competing for donor and volunteer support. Fortunately, they accepted the new group’s invitation to sit down together and explore how they could both serve the community.

Can’t we all just get along?

I remember my feelings of trepidation as I prepared for the joint meeting - I was a facilitator, not a peace-keeper! But my fears dissolved after I interviewed a number of volunteers from both organizations. Their message was clear and consistent: “We don’t care who we work for as volunteers, we just want to eradicate cancer! So find a way to work out your differences.“ 

That was the message I shared with the two organizations at the outset of their meeting-of-the-minds. Their volunteers provided the critical reminder that purpose supersedes politics.

Both organizations took the message to heart. I’m happy to report that meeting was held more than 20 years ago, and both organizations continue to co-exist and collaborate in their efforts to serve people with cancer.

Special Note: National Volunteer Week is coming up soon: April 15-21, 2012. Special thanks to all volunteers who help make a difference in our world! 

 

 

People, Purpose and a Positive Brand

Much has been written the past few weeks about Greg Smith and his public reasons for disengaging from Goldman Sachs – with a lot of the discussion centered on the importance of corporate culture.

Employees don’t work in a vacuum. For better or worse, they’re greatly impacted by “the way things are done around here” and what actions get rewarded and reinforced; i.e., behaviors that reflect a company’s culture and values.

Sure, a company needs profits to survive … but profit is only one of several components critical to sustainable success. A company also needs its employees, stakeholders, and partners associated with the enterprise to be aligned around a purpose that goes beyond pure profit. As these successful executives have learned:

“Maximum growth and high ideals are not incompatible; they’re inseparable. … A brand ideal of improving people’s lives is the only sustainable way to recruit, unite and inspire all the people a business touches, from employees to customers. Without that connection, no business can truly excel.” Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer at Procter & Gamble and author of Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies

“The companies that put profit before people are a vanishing breed. Companies big and small, with a multiple stakeholder approach to business, the ones that value their employees and customers as much as shareholders, are realizing that the financials only get better. If you want to make more money, focus on your people first. It’s not only the right thing to do. It’s good for business.” Paul Spiegelman, founder and CEO of the The Beryl Companies, in his article “Attention Goldman Sachs: Time to Buckle Down and Focus on Culture”

“Over time, as we focused more and more on our culture, we ultimately came to the realization that a company’s culture and a company’s brand are really just two sides of the same coin. The brand is just a lagging indicator of a company’s culture.” Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO and author of Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

The bottom line: Focusing on people and purpose creates a strong culture and positive brand that helps drive profits.