Customer Satisfaction and HR - HR practices.

HR is crucial to improve customer satisfaction-surprising but true.

The adage 'customer is king ', signifies the importance and value of customers. Customers are crucial for a business and a customer friendly culture drives a company's profitability. No longer is the sales team alone expected to determine customer satisfaction. HR too plays a major part in ensuring customer satisfaction by hiring the best talent and training them to serve customers effectively. An analysis on 800 Sears Roebuck stores in 1999 revealed that an increase of 5% in employee attitudes increased customer satisfaction by 1.3%.

The Workforce Optimas Award winner, NCCI Holdings trained its customer service representatives in insurance data software products because a survey conducted by them revealed that its customers wanted assistance to use their products. Consequently, there was a significant increase of 33% in the customer satisfaction rating.

Customer satisfaction and loyalty can take the company ahead even during a downturn. Southwest Airlines boasted of profit in the fourth quarter of 2001 despite the sudden decrease in air traffic due to the September 11 attacks. Kmart on the contrary was declared bankrupt because it could not provide a customer friendly environment like Walmart.

According to Michael DeSanto, a consultant for Walker Information, the cost of acquiring a new customer is equal to 5 times the expenses incurred for serving an existing customer. All these instances reiterate the need to build a strong customer relationship.

HR's Initiative

In order to drive customer satisfaction to an enviable level HR should concentrate on smart hiring practices and employee development.

Hiring the budding star performers

To build a customer friendly culture HR should hire only such employees who are capable to reinforce customer satisfaction. According to Ron Zemke, president of Performance Research Associates, a consulting firm, a successful customer service representative is one who is an optimist, flexible and able to manage stress and criticism. He should be able to strike a balance between his interests and that of the company and the customer.

Scrutinising a potential candidate should begin from the time he appears for the interview. The candidate's body language and attitude before and during the interview might give some cues about his capabilities.

Probing situations the candidate may have encountered during his earlier work experience during the interview helps to identify the candidate's abilities and attitude. Patrick Wright director of the Centre suggested this probing technique for Advanced HR Studies at Cornell University to Whirlpool.

Talent+ Inc, another HR consulting firm helped Ritz-Carlton in restructuring their hiring system. Previously, their customer complaints reached an all time high of 27%. After the new system was introduced, the complaints dropped to an amazing 1% in the year 2000.

According to the company's managing director Lisa French, the new system appraises the prospective candidate's traits. This is done through open-ended questions in the interview and a comparison of their traits with those of well-known personalities in the same field.

Training the budding stars

On being recruited, a candidate should be trained to establish customer relationships. To serve the customer better one needs to understand his needs. For this the employee should be aware of the different personality traits and their behavioural patterns. The Meyers Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire is an effective tool in identifying personality types.

Effective communication skills need to be imparted. Further developing the voice tone of the employee and his body language take the lead here. Research shows that 55% of the total impact of an employee's interaction with the customers is by body language and 38% by his tone. In particular, employees serving customers telephonically need to improve their listening skills, as it is difficult to comprehend the same over the phone. Listening to the customer attentively and restating it concisely shows the kind of attention a customer is given.

The people at Rosenbluth differ here also. They insist that their employees speak in an amicable manner to customers. Words like 'certainly', 'it's been my pleasure' put the customer at ease and display the employee's zeal to serve.

Building customer loyalty through employee loyalty

Employee allegiance is crucial to build customer satisfaction and loyalty, because customer and employee satisfaction run parallel.

According to Michael DeSanto, new employees feel good about their company when they have the opportunity to acquire new skills and move up the corporate ladder. Once an employee stays with the company for about 3 years he gets restless if nothing new is happening.

Similarly, new customers feel thrilled by the attention showered on them by the company. Over the years, regular customers used to attention, however begin to feel neglected and explore new avenues.

An organisation that does not acquire the loyalty of the customer or employees might be left in lurch. The two are interdependent. If the employee is happy then the customer satisfaction is also high.

One touch solutions at Captain D's

Captain D's proves that HR's role is detrimental in the restaurant industry where customer service is crucial.The HR initiatives taken by Captain D's to lower their staff turnover, increase customer service and thereby increase their profitability is commendable. Shoney's Inc, started in 1947, provides family dining at Shoneys' and Captain D's chain of restaurants spread over 20 states with 550 franchises.

According to Matt Gloster, vice president of administration for Captain D's, around 8000 employees are trained in all the aspects of restaurant business every year. An uphill task because employees are spread over 20 states and training them from recipes to business operations is an arduous task. The wide geographical spread made a simple thing like communicating a change in the recipe of a dish a complicated process during training sessions. The problem was that the changes have to be communicated to all the branches and thereby requiring to reproduce the same data a number of times.

OneTouch solution, an application software that has a video and two way voice and data application was introduced to allow the employees to communicate with the trainer.

The solution can be applied to PC or non- PC environments so Captain D's and Shoneys used it at all places in the restaurant. This ensures that groups or individual employees attend the training sessions. The training programmes introduced the employees to different topics and a quiz ensured that the trainees comprehend the programme.

Top managements know the developments in the restaurants when they access the data stored by Matt Gloster. Moreover, they can easily update the training programmes by downloading them. OneTouch also helped the restaurants to maintain a productive workforce by training the employees to multitask.

Captain D's thus improved its productivity and customer satisfaction and decreased turnover. Glowing over the restaurant's success Matt Gloster recalls the phrase coined by the chairman 30 years ago, ' show and tell '. The approach states ' tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll try to remember. Do it with me, and I'll always know how '.

The case of Captain D's shows the importance of an effective training programme to improve customer satisfaction. It also establishes the need to hire potential employees, train them and keep them happy.

Reference:The ManageMentor

13 things to never share or discuss with your co-workers.

"It's a social environment as well as a work environment. However, you must remember while you can be friendly and develop a good rapport, business is business and friendship is friendship."

Most workers don't realize that what they say has as much impact on their professional imges as what they wear. People who say too much, about themselves or others, can be seen as incompetent, unproductive and unworthy of professional development.

To avoid your next case of verbal diarrhea, here are 13 things to never share or discuss with your co-workers.

1. Salary information What you earn is between you and Human Resources, Solovic says. Disclosure indicates you aren't capable of keeping a confidence.

2. Medical history Nobody really cares about your aches and pains, your latest operation, your infertility woes or the contents of your medicine cabinet. To your employer, your constant medical issues make you seem like an expensive, high-risk employee.

3. Gossip Whomever you're gossiping with will undoubtedly tell others what you said, Plus, if a co-worker is gossiping with you, most likely he or she will gossip about you.

4. Work complaints Constant complaints about your workload, stress levels or the company will quickly make you the kind of person who never gets invited to lunch. If you don't agree with company policies and procedures, address it through official channels or move on.

5. Cost of purchases The spirit of keeping up with the Joneses is alive and well in the workplace, but you don't want others speculating on the lifestyle you're living –or if you're living beyond your salary bracket.

6. Intimate details Don't share intimate details about your personal life. Co-workers can and will use the information against you.

7. Politics or religion People have strong, passionate views on both topics. You may alienate a co-worker or be viewed negatively in a way that could impact your career.

8. Lifestyle changes Breakups, divorces and baby-making plans should be shared only if there is a need to know. Otherwise, others will speak for your capabilities, desires and limitations on availability, whether there is any truth to their assumptions or not.

9. Blogs or social networking profile What you say in a social networking community or in your personal blog may be even more damaging than what you say in person. Comments online can be seen by multiple eyes. An outburst of anger when you are having a bad day … can blow up in your face.

10. Negative views of colleagues If you don't agree with a co-worker's lifestyle, wardrobe or professional abilities, confront that person privately or keep it to yourself. The workplace is not the venue for controversy.

11. Hangovers and wild weekends It's perfectly fine to have fun during the weekend, but don't talk about your wild adventures on Monday. That information can make you look unprofessional and unreliable.

12. Personal problems and relationships – in and out of the office Failed marriages and volatile romances spell instability to an employer. Office romances lead to gossip and broken hearts, so it's best to steer clear. The safest way to play is to follow the rule, 'Never get your honey where you get your money.

13. Off-color or racially charged comments You can assume your co-worker wouldn't be offended or would think something is funny, but you might be wrong. Never take that risk. Furthermore, even if you know for certain your colleague wouldn't mind your comment, don't talk about it at work. Others can easily overhear.

Exit Interview - A Tool

Employees who intend to leave their present company are by and large satisfied with their jobs. They, often leave only because they feel they are not valued. A majority of the employees who feel this way say it is demonstrated by the fact that management fails to either ask for or listen to their opinions.

There are a variety of ways that management can choose to convince employees that they are genuinely listening and most importantly responding. However, the critical factor is that management must actually use this information.

Many companies use exit surveys and interviews as a tool to enhance organisational effectiveness. Robert Hoffman, the principal, chief executive officer of HR Advice, which helps guide employees and employers on HR issues, says several factors influence the positive impact of exit information. These include:

Goal of the process - Companies should have a clear idea of what they hope to accomplish by implementing a formalised exit assessment process. The primary objective should be to foster an environment of open communications, which will continually improve behaviours within an organisation. Secondary agendas, including identification of performance issues, reasons for poor morale or changes needed in job content, should be recognised before the employee leaves the organisation.

Organisational readiness - The best HR tools are wasted, if introduced at the wrong time in an organisation. Employers should be aware of the receptivity of the company when introducing the exit process. Environments with mistrust, changing cultures or excessive management turnover may strain the usefulness of exit information. Departing employees may be unwilling to disclose information, or provide misleading information as an attempt to disguise true feelings about the company.

Timing, documentation and responsibility - Companies should decide how to conduct the exit interviews. Should you conduct an in-person interview or just hand out a form? When should the information be collected? When it is fresh in the minds of the departing employee or weeks later when they have reflected on their experience? Should an outside firm be used to maintain confidentiality or can the HR department be trusted with the information? The answers to these questions should be based upon your objectives and the resources available within the company.

Application of results - Possibly the most critical factor in the assessment of exit information is the use of the results. A mechanism to communicate and summarise the results to managers and key employees is recommended. The company should use the information to influence job content, policies, training programmes, feedback mechanisms and operating structure consistent with the objective of continuous improvement.

The positive impact of these factors can be seen when organisations implement them for better performance.

Ref: TheManageMentor

Effective HR practices

Change is an ongoing phenomenon in every organisation. Organisational change promotes activity in a work place and is a sign of positive growth. Why should HR practices be evaluated? HR practices need to be evaluated to know how effective they are and if the objectives of implementing that practice is achieved. If there is a significant improvement in employee’s performances and organisational performance, then such a practice is effective

Reasons for evaluating the HR function:

Marketing the HR function

• Providing accountability
• Promoting change and developing the current state of the organisation
• Assessing the financial impact on implementing HR practices
  

Primarily there are two approaches to evaluating HR effectiveness:

The audit approach focuses on reviewing the various results of HR functional areas. Emphasis is on Key performance indicators and customer satisfaction measures.

The analytic approach focuses on either determining:

• Whether the introduction of a program or practice has objectives and results defined
• Estimating the financial implications towards implementing a practice
• Benefits to employees and organisation as a whole, on implementing such practices.
  

Perspectives to improving the effectiveness of HR programmes

The change model perspective: For new HR practices to be successfully implemented, acceptance by customers, managers, top management, and employees is essential. This will determine the success or failure of the HR practice. The process of change is based upon the interaction among employees, formal organisational arrangements, and the informal organisation.

What are the change related problems that might arise when such programmes are implemented?

• Resistance to change from employees or external members
• Control of the whole programme
• Owners responsible for monitoring change
• Task redefinition
  

Benchmarking: Benchmarking is another practice to improve organisational performance standards. The practice of finding examples of excellent products, services, or systems is called "best practices." This technique can help companies learn form one another and compare one another’s standards.

Managers need to consider several things when benchmarking:

• Information about internal processes should be collected to compare with best practices of other companies.
• The purpose of benchmarking must be clearly identified, as must the practice to be benchmarked.
• Top management must be committed to the project.
• Descriptive and quantitative data should be collected to implement benchmarking.
• To ensure broad coverage, managers should gather data from companies within and outside of their industry.
  

What is the best way to implement HR practices?

• Overcome resistance to change by involving employees as much as possible.
• Manage the transition using effective communication
• Shape the political dynamics by seeking support of key, powerful people.
• Redefining tasks by using training

Ref:TheManageMentor

Hidden store - HR practices

Managing Human Resources successfully is the toughest challenge organisations encounter. HR encompasses a sum total of human intelligence, skills, talents and knowledge. Organisations rely on these resources of employees for their prosperity and success.

Out of the door

Organisations often perceive employees as cost investments rather than a knowledge investment. However, employees invest their intelligence and skills in the organisation and if any of their expectations are not fulfilled, they decide to leave for a better place. The reasons for an exit could be low compensation, domestic problems or change in goals.

Research reveals that knowledge workers generally quit because of the organisation's inability to leverage employees' talents.

Saviour

The exit of the traits and skills of employees is a major concern of organisations. It creates a work gap. To fill-in this gap, organisations need employees with the same skill sets. 'Knowledge Management' comes to organisations' rescue here.

"Knowledge Management embodies organisational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings ," said Yogesh Malhotra, CKO, Brint institute for Knowledge Management.

Hewlett Packard Laboratories has developed an employee directory of internal experts called Connex. It helps in locating subject experts.

Knowledge Management enables organisations to impart the required knowledge to the new recruits or the successors of the exiting employees. It facilitates the enhancement of capabilities and creativity of employees.

Fusion -New perspective

Exit interviews and Knowledge Management

Conventionally, HR used exit interviews as tools to strategise employee retention, ascertain job satisfaction and design reward strategies. Questionnaires reveal the reasons for leaving, comments on the work culture, job responsibilities and remarks of the employee. The information extracted is only about the organisation. But exit interviews may be used for 'determining the knowledge necessary for performing various tasks'.

The municipal authority of the city of Toronto for instance, employed an intern to develop its database. He developed it for forwarding invoices to all domestic animal owners of the city. The intern left on completion of his job.

The governing body faced problems. The permanent employees did not know the access and execution of the programme. The capital used to develop the database became a dead investment. The loss can be attributed to the absence of an exit interview. An exit interview would have enabled sharing of the information essential for the execution of the programme.

Knowledge management and knowledge sharing avert information gaps that result from employees exiting along with their expertise and ensure continuity of work.

Knowledge capture - the essence

Exit interviews must be designed to capture work knowledge. To encapsulate employees' work knowledge, the interview must be employee and organisational specific. It must satisfy the employee and the organisation. To capture knowledge organisations require:

Objective

The organisation should first determine the objective of interview. Its primary objective should be to enhance the employees' performance. Essentially, an exit interview should concentrate and highlight, 'what, how and why' of employees' work.

"The exit interview should focus on the achievements and performance of the employee. And we try to get insights about his learning, growth, reasons for leaving etc in the interview," said Joydeep Bose, then GM, (Corporate HR), Wipro.

MphasiS, the company that designs and builds IT architecture, applications and services, is one of the few companies where exit interviews are knowledge focussed. "It helps in identifying various training needs, opportunities for supervisory skill development and improving competitiveness. Besides, they identify legal issues and provide an excellent documentation process." said Vivek Dayal, Global head, Corporate Communications.

Issues related to compensation, communication, job satisfaction, employee morale, overall work environment and comfort level with technology provided form an important part of the interview. Employees' accomplishments, approach to work and working relationship with seniors and organisation are crucial to enhancing performance.

Plan

Exit interviews ought to be planned right from the inception of the organisation. It helps in handing over responsibilities and identifies the right employee to be entrusted with the job responsibilities of the departing employee. Consequently, an efficient employee replaces the exiting employee.

Input

Employees' inputs at handing over stage before leaving the organisations are the most significant. Organisations and concerned authorities must let them concentrate on dispensing and gathering their knowledge. This is the most productive period for the organisation as the knowledge is passed on to the successors. Exiting employees must not be coerced to finish pending works.

2-D of knowledge

Working knowledge can be segregated into-explicit and implicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is the relevant material or content that employees use for routine work. Implicit knowledge is that which is hidden in the working pattern of the employee.

The interview should elicit the employee's explicit knowledge related to work.

Explicit knowledge

The material or content used during routine work may be manually written or compiled in folders in the employee's personal computer. These folders or files should be carefully transferred to the library or some secure destination of the organisation.

Helpful notes or educational tips may be appended to this information. This imparts better understanding and eases the new employee's workload.

Implicit knowledge

For implicit knowledge, organisations need to depute successors to the exiting employees prior to their departure. Capturing such knowledge needs regular interaction between the exiting employee and his successors.

Reviewing the important jobs performed by the employee is the first step. This reflects in their work plans or job descriptions. Discussing the working style and approach towards work of exiting employee is necessary. This may reveal the additional support required for perfect execution of the job.

Knowledge sources

Employees' work circuits are crucial information pools. Employees derive work knowledge from their peers and superiors. The interview should reveal these sources and their contribution. An organisation must maintain these learning relationships.

Model: questionnaire or e-mail?

Exit interviews are most effective when conducted face to face. Pre-formatted questionnaires are impersonal, exasperating and unproductive. In-person interviews help in understanding the mental, emotional and social concerns of the exiting employees better.

For effective and efficient interviews organisations need:

Interviewer: He is the soul of the interview. His skills determine the accomplishment of the interview's objectives. Outsourcing an interviewer is a viable option. Outsourced interviewers are trained and more objective and can understand and interpret the discussion with employees. Employees are more at ease to interact and part with their knowledge with an outsider.

Timing: For desired results interviews must be properly timed. The collection of information also should be timed. If the separation of the employee is not voluntary or employee is emotionally charged up at separation, the interview can be delayed. Postponement helps the employee settle down and brings out honest information. In regular cases exit interviews must be scheduled close to the separation date.

Atmosphere: An exit interview must be conducted in a congenial atmosphere. It must facilitate healthy interaction. This affects the employee's comfort levels and gives desired results.
Rapport: Organisations need to establish a 'parting relationship' with exiting employees. This is necessary as these employees might return, or the organisation might consider them for reemployment. Also the organisation may require the employees' services. Continuing relationships could help locate prospective recruits.

Follow-up: Follow-up has two tasks, documentation and analysis. Documentation is as important as the process. It aids and routes through the actual process of follow-up action. Analysis of the information gathered during the exit interview determines the necessary action to be taken. It gives a clear picture of on-the-job issues.
Invaluable

Employee input is in fact necessary at all stages of work. It ought not to be restricted to exit interviews only. Exit of employees cannot be anticipated. Thus, HR must encourage knowledge sharing and incorporate knowledge based exit interviews in the organisational culture and practices.

Effective exit interviews not only disclose employee related issues but also solve many business problems. They facilitate communication of employees' contributions to the organisation. Consequently, both employees and the organisation feel satisfied.

Organisations must realise the worth of their investment and the precautionary measures to be employed to retain invaluable knowledge workers and ensure profitability