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by Mark Heymann, ISHC - UniFocus Chairman & CEO
I read an article a few months ago that
was based on some recent customer
research and concluded, much to no
one’s surprise, that employee attitudes have
a significant impact on a customer’s loyalty.
I say this is nothing new, because quite early
in my career I heard an executive of Dunfey
Hotels (I know I’m aging myself), state at a
manager’s meeting “Guest relations mirror
Employee relations”. This statement was
made well over a quarter of a century ago,
and yet I look at the landscape of the service
industry and see little that has changed
regarding structured feedback from our most
critical and expensive resource.
We’ve spent a lot of time coming up with
catchy phrases to describe employees; cast
members, associates, team members and
others, yet we continue to utilize the same
feedback mechanisms that were prevalent
when I first got into the service industry.
And even these, mostly once-per-year
surveys, are not even used consistently.
Without trying to offend anyone, I am amazed
at the infrequency of formalized employee
feedback or in some cases, none at all. I
was speaking to the senior executive of a
chain of restaurants recently who informed
me, when I spoke of formal employee
surveys, that they have never done one, and
in the same breath stated that the employee
turnover rate was over 300%. I have heard
from other executives that they don’t want
to do surveys because; 1) They’re not sure
what they would do with the information; 2)
That they were not prepared to act upon it,
or 3) That they knew the results would be
poor, so why spend the time and money to
get the information. My response to all of
these comments is to point out that when an
ostrich’s head is in the sand, it can’t tell what
direction it’s going.
I’ve heard for years about management by
walking around and speaking to the staff
gets good information. And surely it does
help for some managers, but not for the
majority. Anonymity is a key to real,
candid feedback that is actionable, not
just anecdotal.
The solution is really QUITE SIMPLE
If we are concerned about getting
regular, valid feedback from our external
customers, we should be willing to
invest in getting periodic feedback from
our internal customers. I emphasize
periodic because the days of one
survey per year, with lengthy strategy
sessions has long passed. At minimum,
organizations should be doing trimester
surveys that yield real-time insights
and tactical plans. Benefit analysis can
be relegated to one of the surveys per
year. The key information that surveys
need to focus on are the “satisfiers” of
employment, to Hertzberg’s term. And
with the increase in frequency, you can
correlate your information with your
guest data to develop fully linked action
items with measurable results.
At the present hourly wage rate, it is
reasonable to expend an additional 1
to 1.5 hours per employee to find out
what they really think on a regular
basis, throughout the year. To put this
in perspective, 1.5 hours divided by
2080 equals about 1?2 of 1 percent of an
employee’s annual raw cost (excluding
benefits). If you put it in terms of
reducing turnover, the cost of a single
employee turning over ranges anywhere
from a low of $2500 up to $8000. So if
you save one employee that equals the
cost of surveying between 225 and 700
employees. What a great ROI.
But skip the numbers. It’s the right thing
to do, if we really care about this vital
resource. Regular feedback ensures
that corrective action is implemented. It
shows the staff that their opinions are
taken seriously and that the organization
is prepared to invest in them and ensure
their satisfaction. What we have found
is that once the employees realize that
there are going to be regular surveys,
and that there is a clear expectation that
improvements will occur from survey to
survey, participation grows, as well as
commitment to the organization. And
with that growth we see improvements
in Guest Loyalty.
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