Are Your Employees Your Customers?

Question: What happens if you make an investment in training, but you don’t choose the right program? What happens when your investment is wasted and good will evaporates because there is no follow-up reinforcement or coaching? 

When your attempt to provide training is just lip service – because it doesn’t really address your employees’ needs, it’s inexpensive and you think “it will do,” or there’s no follow up and everything goes back to the way it was before – you are sabotaging your organization’s success and not leveraging one of the highest ROIs you can earn.

You can successfully use training to address customer service, process efficiency – and employee engagement, retention, productivity, and innovation – all at the same time.

In a well-run organization, valued customers can be internal or external. We define a customer as anyone we serve. That means, depending on your responsibilities, there may be no difference between internal customers – serving your fellow employees and management – and external customers who purchase or use your goods and services.

We then define good customer service as the experience all of us want to have when we are the customer. It should reflect what your organization believes and the values you share, as well as providing the same treatment to everyone in the organization whether it is the president or the front line person. 

In order to enhance your customer experience and increase your revenue opportunities, invest in company learning that addresses technical skills, attitude self-management, and overall employee engagement all at once. We recommend four steps to maximize your investment:

1.      An assessment in which executives, managers, supervisors, and key frontline personnel talk about their teams’ needs and help identify the gaps between your organizational goals and your organizational output.

2.      The development and implementation of training – a learning experience – that is customized to your organization. This creates buy-in and addresses the specific skills, attitudes, and actions employees need to help your organization succeed.

3.      Executives are provided an overview of the learning experience and how it is integrated into your organization’s mission and performance objectives. 

4.      Supervisors and managers attend their own teams’ training so they can learn the content and leverage it, be aware of dynamics, address sensitive issues, and reinforce their team’s learning through coaching.

If you want your business to grow, the employee experience is as important as the customer experience