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Actively Engaging the Disengaged part I
| The key to a successful relationship is not only to be clear of the task and communicating it but taking the time to understand others. In this unit we discuss •The Art and the Science of Employee Engagement •Customer Engagement through Service Recovery |
Employee Engagement: The Art and the Science
Task and relationships are two major ingredients that take place in any form of interaction. The sooner organizations can realize that if they want to focus on getting things done according to importance and urgency, they would have to look into qualities of experience from the relations of the employees.
Organizations do have an interest, to make their shareholders happy. The mission of most organizations would be to increase their sales turnovers, to reduce their overheads and make great profit.
Do we spend time in a relationship to better understand our employees?
What we focus on will expand. If we keep focusing on getting employees engaged in their task, have we overlooked some areas? Do we spend time in a relationship to better understand our employees? What makes them engaged at work? There is a greater driving force that allows more work to be done with greater efficiency and effectiveness by just connecting with them on a deeper level.
Task and relationships are two major ingredients that take place in any form of interaction.
Some thought triggers about employee engagement.
•Are we investing time understanding our direct contacts such as supervisors, subordinates and any other internal customers?
•Are we taking an active role understanding the talents, style and skills our employees possess?
•What are the company values, our values and others values?
•What engages them at work?
•What disengages them?
•When was the last time you invested in better understanding their values and expectations?
•Do we focus more on the task and forget about the relationship?
Are we using technology such as text messages, emails and letters that we lack the human touch?
The key to a successful employee-employer relationship is not only to be clear of the task and communicating it but taking the time to understand others. Why do I say this? Allow me to share with you an experience encountered by a friend. He engaged a few staff to work for him to complete a project. Initially they were very extremely committed and enthusiastic. However, in the heart of the project he faced so much of excuses raised by the employees and witnesses a reduction in productivity that resulted in the delay of the project. Fortunately my friend believes strongly in empathy. Being a people-oriented person, he invested the time understanding their concerns, values and aspirations. Just by that experience, working on those interactions and relationship, he was able to secure an extremely committed and happy team and many projects and contracts.
Are we using technology such as text messages, emails and letters that we lack the human touch?
I would like to strongly urge you on to look into this matter. Are we spending enough time in better understanding our employee?
Building Customer Relations: The Art of Service Recovery
"Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends."
- WALT DISNEY
It is very hard to keep customers, so take care of them if not the competition will.
Serving a customer could be quite challenging at times. It is always good to have patience and understanding. Most instances the customers would come back.
What is service recovery?
Probably it is the process of making the things right after something has gone wrong. When something does not meet with the customer's expectations, how do we deal with or handle them? What could our goal be?
Prevent and uproot the problem before it snowballs.
One thing is certain are that our goal is to drown the customer's bad experience with a surfacing great experience. We have to prevent and uproot the problem before it snowballs into becoming a "formal" complaint.
Why is it important to indulge in service recovery?
It certainly would make the difference between customers leaving the experience being annoyed, angry and disappointed with ill feelings verses leaving the scene delighted, satisfied and remaining loyal.
Our goal is to drown the customer's bad experience with a surfacing great experience.
One thing for certain is that it decreases risk to the organization and it would definitely make our lives so much easier, even in the long run.
It lets us know that we can better meet the customer expectations and needs and that we can make a positive impact on the lives of our customers. As John Maxwell the American author and motivational speaker would word it as "People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care."
Service recovery is everyone's responsibility and it is all about handling customers concerns immediately and effectively when a customer perceives that we did not meet their expectations.
On a flip side always treat the customers' complaints as valuable feedback to sharpen your sword in service recovery.
Remember if you do not have the ability, the resources or the access to act on a complaint then please find someone who can act and make the connection. Sometimes it is not only what you know and also who you know.
The customers only have to complain once.
Great to adopt an idea we can R.E.L.A.T.E to. First we could (R) ecognize the issues and concerns faced by the customer. Showing (E)mpathy and (L)istening to the customers. (A)pologise for their inconvenience and acknowledge the experience they are facing. (T)olerate their temperament and thank the customer. (E)xplain the actions that you would be taking to rectify the situation.
Recognize their concerns and feelings. Look out for non-verbal cues that may indicate dissatisfaction and suggested words that could be possibly used such as "You seemed to be upset about something" or "I sense your concern".
Empathize and try to put yourself in their shoes and see it from their view point. Adopt empathetic body language, ask empathetic questions and have empathetic responses
Listen and stay calm and relaxed. We have to be extremely composed and do not be a participant in the emotional experience.
Look out for non-verbal cues that may indicate dissatisfaction.
Good to acknowledge and validate the customers feelings like "I can hear how upset you are about this" and "I can understand why you feel the way that you do".
Apologise without blaming others as you point one finger, three points right back at you. Suggested words could be "I'm sorry that we did not meet your expectations" or "I am sorry that you are feeling upset. From what you have said I can understand why you feel the way you do". An apology is expected and encouraged. It is not an admission of guilt and be sincere. An apology acknowledges that something has gone wrong. It should be blameless. Saying that you are sorry does not equate to the fact that you are at fault. It does not matter who did what to whom or who caused something to happen. You would have sincerely wished that it not had happened.
Do use open gestures, be warm and sincere, us open body language, use more "I" statements and make eye contact, modulate your voice lower than theirs. Don't smile inappropriately, and be defensive or resort to arguments or sound robotic.
Tolerance is strength when it comes to service recovery. Remember to thank the customer. "Thank you for making us aware of your experience" and "Thank you for telling us how we can better serve you the next time round".
Be a problem solver "What can I do for you right now that would help resolve the situation or bring us closer to a possible solution" or "I sincerely want to help. Let us talk about some possible solutions for the concern that you are currently facing".
Be a problem solver.
It would be ideal to estimate the customer's expectations. In most instances, the customers just want to be heard or vent out their frustrations. An apology is all they are expecting or wanting.
Explain to your customer what you are going to do and please follow through what you said that you are going to do.
Respond back to the customer within the time promised
"I know this will not make up for what you have been through today, but please accept this with our sincere apology."
Activities
Employee Engagement
Find a partner and practice asking these following questions
What is the philosophy or principles for doing what you do?
What is the purpose of doing what you do?
What is the one special skill that you have allows you to do your work different from the rest?
As you are doing this activity observe the body language, the choice of words your partner uses and the tone of voice. Watch what he/she says and how they say it. Observing the tone of voice. Once you have asked these questions, switch roles and allow being interviewed.
Service Recovery
Find a partner and practice asking these following questions, but this time with a more aggressive mannerism
If you feel the situation need an approach to help you better handle the situation, use a triple A approach
1)Acknowledge the situation by giving your partners the 1st importance
2)Assess by asking more descriptive questions such as who,why,when,where and how
3)Alternatives to be suggested to allow quick and impromptu thinking
Checklist: How good are you at engaging people?
Checklist
| Checklist | I’m Good | Need to get better |
| Good Eye contact | ||
| Pace my questions well | ||
| Have sufficient pauses in my conversation | ||
| Was confident asking the question | ||
| Fluent with the flow of question | ||
| Able to handle challenging situation questions | ||
| Use appropriate tone of voice |
Multimedia Resources
Video on Public Speaking
