Alan DraperEmployees are the backbone of any company. It’s them who help foster, and build relations with the customer. Treating your employees right will not just boost their well-being and happiness, it’ll gradually trickle down to your customers.
There are many ways to enhance employee experience. Making the workplace more creative is definitely a great way to engender employee satisfaction, along with increased productivity.
Here are the reasons great employee experience leads to great customer experience.
Happy employees do not fake smiles
Service with a smile is backed by research, which says – when an employee smiles the customer smiles too. The customer pegs this down to ‘satisfaction of service’.
However, the same research also says that there can be an ironic effect of decreasing authenticity. This simply means that a customer knows when you are faking it. If the employee isn’t having a good time at work, or is stressed out, or hates their job, it will show in the way they talk to customers. No amount of employee training can match up to employees simply liking what they do!
Today’s executives agree that employee well-being is the key to drive success. This is not just about physical well being like nutrition and sleep, but also mental well-being like better management of stress. 73% agree that employee engagement can influence mental health for the better.
The way forward: Invest in employee engagement programs that improve employee well-being. Increasing your wellness and engagement budget will have a positive impact on your employees, and eventually customer satisfaction.
They are your brand’s cheerleaders
When employees love their work, they show it on social media, and other forums. A happy #workselfie or just a post about why they love coming to work can get your company brownie points. If it starts trending, it will make you look good in front of existing and potential clients.
How much does authentic social media that isn’t backed by marketing efforts affect the company? According to a study by the University of Wisconsin, higher shopping rates can be achieved from noncommercial Instagram photos vs. professionalized e-commerce marketing. This shows that posting real photos and content about the brand drives results! All the more if they come from employees.
The way forward: Most companies exercise caution on employees talking about them on social media. While this is reasonable, make sure not to handcuff them on this regard. Customers love reading positive reviews of products and services they are about to use. Who better to gush about the products than your employees?
An awesome work environment makes them more productive
Working in a positive set-up can motivate employees to give their best to clients. This includes healthy communication with colleagues, great team spirit and recognition of work done. A good work-life balance can help them help customers.
Increasing employee engagement is the goal that employers should be striving for. Foresee, a Customer Experience analytics firm, examined the results of two studies that used their analytics technology. The first was about employee experience for American workers at all levels of employment. The second observed the retail experience of 40,000 Customers. What they discovered was Customer Satisfaction was highest in retailers with high employee engagement. This led to increased revenues for those stores by referrals; return visits and purchases from other channels.
A good workplace can help increase employee engagement. Google is the obvious choice to highlight how a great workplace culture boosts productivity. Googlers work hard for the company and love their job. Their office space, perks and innovative setup really helps employees showcase a good attitude to their work. This in turn brings a smile to the client’s face.
The way forward: Create a positive work culture where your employees can thrive. This will help them be more attentive to your customers needs
They can bring new ideas that will bowl over your customers
Consider this – the entry level staff at your company understands the workings at a grassroot level. They are perfectly stationed to know exactly what is going on in the practical workings of your business. Hence, their ideas to help improve a product or service come from a place of long time observation.
We can see that Amazon does this really well. Jeff Bezos gives ideas a chance, no matter where they come from. In 2003, Benjamin Black, website engineering manager and his boss, Chris Pinkham, vice president of IT infrastructure, presented a paper outlining a project. Bezos liked the idea and told them to start working on it, though it came from a lower-level employee that hadn’t worked there long. Amazon shows that fostering employee engagement by validating their ideas makes a difference to the bottom line.
The way forward: Give your employees the freedom to churn out good ideas that are beyond their job description. You never know which one might turn out to be a gem!
They build your customer’s trust in the business
A well-treated employee is the best ambassador for your business. When the customer or client asks questions, they will sincerely highlight the positives of working with your company. A customer’s experience heightens when they know that the employees say that their senior management trusts and values them.
Virgin is known for being a great host and a great employer. They take care of their people, and they know for a fact that employee experience is linked to customer experience. They made news for giving their employees who are new parents one year of fully paid leave. Richard Branson’s statement on this is, “If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your business.”
The way forward: Know what your employees’ needs are. It might just be the little things that make a whole lot of difference to the way they work. Trust your employees to deliver their best to the customer.
Conclusion
Enhancing employee experience shouldn’t just remain on paper. Employee engagement should be backed by financial support and implementation. They need to know that they are much more than just a cog in the wheel. Look after your employees and your customers will be in safe hands.
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This article was written for Business 2 Community by Alan Draper.
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A great customer service experience starts with giving employees a great employee experience. It’s this simple: What’s happening on the inside of your company is felt on the outside by the customer. All you have to do is get a list of the best companies to work for and the top rated customer-focused companies. You’ll be amazed at how many of the same companies show up on both lists.