Employee of the Month – or Customer Experience?
As humans, we all have a fundamental need for recognition and to feel we have the resources to be able to do our best – including in the workplace. Crowning an Employee of the Month is a relatively easy and inexpensive way for management to recognize positive conduct among employees – but to what extent does this motivate their colleagues? Is there a better way to go about it?
“Do as your colleague does”
When management highlights one employee’s performance as praiseworthy, it sends an indirect message to their colleagues that they should also do the same. By signaling that the other employees don’t deserve the same special consideration, management risks demotivating employees who may already feel overlooked.
If, as a manager, you want to promote a sense of team spirit rather than competition among your staff, you might instead choose to make the customer the focal point for the exceptionally positive experience, and only involve the employees secondarily.
The Alternative: Focus on the Customer!
In a customer-centric organization, the focus is on promoting a customer first culture, and calling attention to employee performance should only ever be from the customer’s perspective. If you want satisfied and loyal customers, you need insights into the customer’s experiences with your employees. It is these interactions that leave the customer with an impression of the company and that have a strong influence on their loyalty.
To communicate the importance of customer-centric behavior to an organization’s employees, management can replace the Employee of the Month with the Customer Experience of the Month – and in so doing promote excellence in customer care from the customer’s point of view.
Share the Customer’s Story
One of the leading premium car brands in Denmark makes it a point to share examples of positive customer experiences with employees. SMost recently, management shared the following story about an employee’s exceptional performance with all of the brand’s dealerships – as seen from the customer’s perspective! In practice, the CEO shared an email from a woman who had received service far and beyond what could be expected:
“Yesterday at 5:45 p.m. I got a flat tire outside your dealership. I had my nine-year-old son with me and my dilemma was that I was due to pick up my seven-year-old daughter from tennis at 6 p.m. Because my husband is a customer, I parked my car outside and ran inside your dealership hoping that you were still open and could help me. […]
The showroom was closed, but I found someone in the workshop. He immediately volunteered to drive me over to pick up my daughter. He closed up the workshop, picked up his car and off we drove. Your employee then offered to drive us home – 30 minutes away – so I wouldn’t be stuck out in the middle of nowhere with two kids, one of whom was crying. […] I’m so tremendously grateful for all the help I received. And want to extend my heartfelt thanks to your kind employee from the workshop. As I said to my children yesterday, it’s people like him who make a difference.”
The woman in this example did not drive a car brand that was sold by this dealership (her husband did), and yet, the employee willingly offered his help outside opening hours(!) – an action that went far beyond what his boss and colleagues could expect!
Nurture a commitment to providing unique customer experiences
Sharing an example of how someone went the extra mile for a customer and created a unique customer experience is an excellent tool for inspiring your employees. Just give careful consideration to the message your want to get across to your employees.
To promote positive customer experiences, consider the following questions:
- Do I want to stimulate individual or team performance?
- Is my objective to encourage competition or a sense of team spirit among my employees?
- Which approach would have the strongest influence on motivation throughout the organization?
- Is there good reason for limiting the number of employees to receive recognition?
- How do I best ensure that my employees understand the experience – from the customer’s point of view?
– And remember that the Employee of the Month must never shift focus away from what matters most – customer satisfaction!
Celebrating an extraordinary customer experience is just one of many leadership tools for inspiring and motivating your employees.
Enjoy your work!