Great Customer Service Begins With Great Employees

It always amazes me when I have a question or a problem that I can go to "Google" and find answers. Almost any subject I inquire about can point me in the direction of helpful information.

Wouldn't it be great if a business could simply enter a question about their customers or sales history and up would appear useful information?

Well there are many "Googles" in an organization they are called employees. It is important to remember that experienced employees, as well as customers are a company's most valuable assets. Employees should be treated as valuable assets just like customers.

We all subscribe to the adage that it is cheaper to keep a current customer than to acquire a new one. This same premise applies to employees.

Employees in many cases know more about customers than owners or managers. When an employee leaves a company their specific customer knowledge can be lost forever or worse end up with a competitor.

Recruiting new staff is a time consuming and expensive exercise that directly affects your bottom line. Many organizations are unaware of the actual costs of employee turnover or why good employees leave.

Studies have shown that it can cost up to 18 months' salary to lose and replace a manager or professional and up to six months' salary to lose and replace an hourly worker. If you think these numbers sound high, consider all the different costs that are involved:

• Administrative expenses related to the exit of an employee and entry of a new hire
• Advertising expense
• Management time involved in reviewing applications, interviewing candidates and conducting reference checks
• Potential overtime costs for other staff while the position is vacant
• Time and resources spent for orientation and training of the new employee
• Supervisory disruption in orienting and training the new employee
• Loss of productivity while the employee is on the learning curve
• Errors that occur while the employee is learning

While pay and working hours are certainly important factors, studies also point to several other key reasons for leaving. These include:

1. Provide recognition for good work from management/supervisors.
Many employers refuse to believe this is a cause of employee discontent. If pay is adequate then an employee should be happy. That is the only recognition or appreciation necessary. People need to be stroked and made to feel appreciated. This is the way it is and the way it will be always!

2. Provide opportunities for advancement.
Whenever possible companies must try to promote within. Nothing contributes more to employee low morale than when a company hires from the outside when talent was available within. This not only causes employee turnover but causes resentment of the new hire which can devastate productivity.

3. Provide training to learn new skills.

People do not like to stagnate. Boredom with a position can lead to apathy and loss of productivity. Workers often feel frightened that there skills are no longer needed on the open market. Some people will quit their jobs because they panic.

4 Give employees more constructive feedback.

Employees often are conditioned to resist feedback when it is always negative. Point out what went right in an experience before jumping to what went wrong.

5. Share information with employees.

Keep employees in the loop. This can mean the difference in feeling like a useful part of an organization or being an outsider who doesn't matter.

6. Ask employees for input before making decisions that affect their work

This not only makes an employee feel valuable but can also produce helpful information. Many projects fail because they are designed without getting the input from the people who actually do the work.

These changes cost nothing to implement and the impact can be significant. For example, a large hotel chain calculated that a 10% decrease in annual employee turnover led to a 1-3% decrease in lost customers. That translated to a $50-$100 million increase in annual revenues.
The numbers in your business may not be of that magnitude but the concept is the same-employee turnover costs money -and some of the solutions don't require cash outlays.

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