Quality Service Marketing

An Updated Holiday Classic

With apologies to Clement C. Moore, you can find many “Twas the Night Before Christmas” parodies. In the holiday spirit, here’s one of my favorites. 

One Crazy Cool Yule [Author unknown]

"Twas the Night before Christmas" has lots of nice rhymes
But I fear that the tale doesn’t fit modern times.
What is a kerchief? My dad wears no cap.
He snores the whole night, no way it’s a nap.

They tell me that Santa is coming tonight.
He'll be flying in here on a sleigh. Yeah, RIGHT!
When I was much younger I believed all that stuff,
Now that I’m older I know it’s a bluff.

As this Christmas eve is going so slow
I sneak down the stairs to watch HBO.
Nothing is stirring, it’s quiet down here.
Security’s on so there’s nothing to fear.

All of a sudden I hear the floor squeak
Someone is coming, sneakety, sneak.
And then as my heart leaps up to my throat
I see a fat man in a funny red coat.

He stands by the table and looks through the house
And takes from his pocket a tiny gray mouse.
He says, "Ho, Ho Ho, I truly believe,
There must be a mouse in each Christmas eve."

His belt buckle shakes as he laughs, look at that.
My gosh this jolly old guy sure is fat.
He looks up. He sees me and gives a big smile.
Says, "I came to see you. Let’s talk for a while.

"You’re one grown up child that doesn’t believe
That Santa Claus comes on each Christmas eve.
You’re a big girl. Your mind’s filled with doubt.
It’s simple, without me the joy is left out.

"I remember the time you sat on my knee
A smile on your face, eyes sparkling with glee.
Don’t you remember the thrill you felt then?
With a little belief you can feel it again.

"Santa Claus comes for each child at the start.
The rest of their lives I live in their heart.
If you are a youngster or wrinkled old guy
You still can hear sleigh bells ring cross the sky."

He turns as he says, "Will you please come out here?"
And there on the driveway stand eight cool reindeer.
They all nod to me and then snort in chorus,
"Who’s this pretty girl now standing before us?"

I wave as I tell them, "I’m Anna May."
As the big burly guy crawls into his sleigh.
He says, "It’s my new team, a real with-it crew.
I’ll let Captain Cosmos give their names to you."

"Here’s E-mail and Hat Rack, Cool Dude and Charley,
I’m Cosmos, there’s Awesome, Brucie and Narley.
Head Cat is Santa, the North Pole’s his home,
We see him all year cause we hang out in Nome."

Then they take off and fly to the roof
Tap a short rap and give a "high hoof."
All turn and shout, "Tonight reindeers rule.
The eight of us wish you a crazy cool Yule."

Then Santa shouts, "It’s true some things change.
But believe in the basics." As he speeds out of range.
Then I hear repeated, as my willing ears strain,
The words I now love, my favorite refrain.

"Twas the Night before Christmas" has some things outdated
But The Story, dear folks, is not overrated.
Throw open the window, and rejoice in the sight!
"Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night."

Whatever and however you celebrate this holiday, best wishes for a happy & safe one!

Be Thankful If You Don't See These Less-Than-Inspiring Posters at Work

The source of the following irreverent, satirical sayings comes from Despair, Inc:

• “Just because you’re necessary doesn’t mean you’re important.”
• “Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people.”
• “The best leaders inspire by example. When that's not an option, brute intimidation works pretty well, too.”
• “The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your failures.”
• “It's lonely at the top, but it's comforting to look down upon everyone at the bottom.”
• “Your role may be thankless, but if you're willing to give it your all, you just might bring success to those who outlast you.”

Despair, Inc. wouldn't be successful if its tongue-in-cheek demotivational posters didn't resonate with people. The company's satire is an effective way to deal with shallow engagement efforts.

So if you see any of these posters in an office, I hope it’s based on the manager's sense of humor. C’mon, would you want to work in a company where these quotes reflect its true culture? 

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.

What They're Saying About "Share of Mind, Share of Heart"

I’m thrilled with the positive response to my new book, Share of Mind, Share of Heart: Marketing Tools of Engagement for Nonprofits. Here are several recent reviews that I’m honored to share.

"With a great passion for (and deep expertise in) nonprofit marketing, Sybil Stershic has written an immensely practical, valuable book. “Share of Mind, Share of Heart” clearly explicates both marketing fundamentals and more sophisticated concepts for nonprofit marketing professionals in plain, easy-to-understand language, with concrete examples.

"Unlike many academic texts on nonprofit marketing, this book is peppered with questions designed to get you thinking tangibly and immediately about how the concepts discussed can be applied directly to the day-to-day business of your organization. I found her insights into internal marketing tools of engagement to be particularly apt and important. Too often in leanly staffed, undercapitalized nonprofits where staff is pressed for time, we overlook this crucial area. Morale and profits suffer as a result, with organizations sometimes seeming disconnected and disengaged from their customers, volunteers, and (in some cases) overall mission.

"'Share of Mind, Share of Heart' is a book that should be on the shelf of every nonprofit marketer, both novices and veterans." - Andrew Edmonson, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Houston Ballet

"Like the author, I have served on a variety of non-profit boards and counseled them about marketing. I've found that the whole idea of marketing is intimidating to many non-profits. They often believe marketing is too complicated for them and requires a commitment of resources (both human and monetary) beyond their capability. This insightful book dispels these fears as myths. Marketing is presented here as it truly ought to be: a simple, people-based idea about creating and communicating value. Each chapter provides an understandable exercise that will cause the reader to pause and reflect upon how to bring the marketing concept to life in any non-profit."     - Frank Haas, Dean of Hospitality, Business and Legal Education, Kapiolani Community College

"Every now and then, you find a book that contains more than a powerful message---it houses a poignant experience. Share of Mind, Share of Heart is an experiential wisdom-sharing tome written for organizations that benefit us all. Full of practical how to's and laced in the language and philosophy of non-profits, it will open eyes, enhance skills, and enrich outreach." - Chip R. Bell, noted author and consultant, The Chip Bell Group

I’m also honored to share these more detailed book reviews by Ivana Taylor, Small Business Trends, and Wayne Hurlbert, Blog Business World.

Special thanks to Andrew, Frank, Chip, Ivana, and Wayne for taking the time to review and share their thoughts on my book!

The Assimilation Approach to Employee Onboarding

Not all organizations offer a formal orientation or onboarding program for new employees. Even so, they shouldn't leave the process to chance.

Corporate without class by David Zinger

                                                                "The new guy
                                                                down the hall
                                                                needs to learn
                                                                how we do
                                                                things around here.
                                                                We'll train him
                                                                without a course
                                                                by rolling eyes,
                                                                banter at lunch, and
                                                                afternoon chocolate bribes.
                                                                He'll fit in,
                                                                won't make waves
                                                                and tread lightly
                                                                around cultural cubicles." 

 
[Source: Assorted Zingers  by David Zinger, with great cartoons by John Junson.]

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.

Employee Engagement is Looking Up

Above the bottom line by David Zinger 

“Dwelling above the bottom line
our contributions 
our meaning 
our routines 
our relationships 
our passions 
our connections 
our fears 
our irritations 
our time 
our lives. 
Business is looking up. 
It doesn’t all come down to the bottom line.”

From what perspective does your organization view the bottom line?

[Source: Assorted Zingers  by David Zinger, with great cartoons by John Junson.]

An Almost Perfect Workplace

One of my favorite business books is Zappos.com’s  Culture Book that is published annually. It’s written by Zappos employees who share, in their own words, what the company culture means to them.   

I ask participants in my internal marketing workshops to consider if their organizations would be willing to solicit employee comments about their workplace culture, publish the results, AND THEN make them available to the public? The responses reflect how confident and proud managers are of their organizational culture.

Occasionally I encounter people who joke about companies, like Zappos, that are known for having a strong employer brand. Typical comments include:

• “Yeah, they’re the ones who put the ‘cult’ in culture!”
• “I wonder how much Kool-Aid the company trucks in?”
• “Where DO they find all those happy employees?!”

I find the folks who make these jokes to be cynical, even downright dismissive, as they struggle to comprehend an engaging place where employees actually enjoy going to work.

Yes, Virginia, there are such workplaces … and most of their employees appreciate how fortunate they are to be working in such organizations.

Just as important, these employees also know that an engaging workplace doesn’t ensure an idyllic one. Engaged employees accept that not every day will be perfect. As a Zappos employee acknowledged in the latest Culture Book:

“A lot of people might say that Zappos employees work in an unrealistic culture, where everyday frustrations don’t occur and cupcakes grow from rainbows in our break room. While I’ve yet to see the cup-cake-producing rainbow, I can say that we do have all of the same pet peeves as everyone else, but because of our Zappos Culture, we rise above it and overcome.”

Well said!

[2010 Culture Book excerpt used with permission. © 2012 Zappos.com, Inc. or its affiliates.]

Beyond Employee Appreciation Day

This Friday, March 2nd, is Employee Appreciation Day.  I’ve written about honoring this holiday before with the message that “recognizing and affirming employee value is critical to creating and sustaining employee engagement” – and this reinforcement is needed more than once a year.

We all want and need validation – to know that our work matters … to know that we matter. According to noted psychiatrist and author Dr. Barrie S. Grieff:

“No one dies just from working too hard. But when people don’t get any recognition in their work, the stress of that lack of control can kill them.”

For ideas on expressing employee appreciation, here are great resources:

• Zane Safrit’s 52-Week Plan to Recognize Employees
• Baudville's Ten Theme Ideas for Employee Appreciation Day
• About.com Human Resources

National Fun at Work Day

January 28th is National Fun at Work Day, seriously!

How/if you celebrate this “holiday” depends on your organization and its culture. Not everyone is fortunate to work in a company like Zappos, whose core values include “Create Fun and a Little Weirdness.”  Zappos knows a fun workplace can be an engaging one.

“Humor is a delightful and powerful way to open doors, minds, and hearts. Isn’t that what we and our organizations should be doing?” according to Joel Goodman. Founder of The Humor Project. Humor in the workplace is a great de-stressor and can help open communication within an organization. (For more benefits of workplace humor, check out Joel’s article “Taking Humor Seriously”.)

Have your heard this one?

In his recent post about using humor to enhance group effectiveness, Steve Davis wrote:

“When all else fails, lighten up. Injecting a little humor may be all that’s needed to lift a group out of a rut when they get stuck, help put them at ease in times of stress, make bad news easier to accept, or introduce a sensitive subject.”

Steve also shared this story about how a telecom company introduced a price increase to its employees:

“A frequent hostile question from the audience was, ‘Why are long-distance rates going up?’ One speaker gave this reply: ‘It’s sort of a good news-bad news situation. It’s true that long-distance rates are going up—that’s the bad news. The good news is the continents are drifting closer together.’”

How to have fun at work 

For ideas, here are a few resources to get you started that I found online:

“25 Ideas for Building Fun into Your Work Setting” by Dr. Paul McGhee

Employee Morale News

301 Ways to Have Fun at Work by Dave Hemsath & Leslie Yerkes 

Is your workplace fun?

What makes it fun? I welcome your examples …

P.S. If for some reason you miss “National Fun Day at Work” this month, there’s always “International Fun Day at Work” that’s celebrated April 1st. And don’t forget “Recess at Work Day” on June 21, 2012!