Transcript www.maritz.com

The Customer Experience
Trust Factor
Do You Know How Well Your Employees
Are Delivering on Your Brand
Promise...and What You Are Going to Do
About It?
D. Randall Brandt, Ph.D.
Vice President
Customer Experience & Loyalty
Background
“In the mid-1980’s, when my colleagues and I
began helping clients improve customer retention,
…we found that we could not progress beyond a
superficial treatment of customer loyalty without
delving into employee loyalty…that it was nearly
impossible to maintain a loyal customer base
without a base of loyal employees, and that the
best employees prefer to work for companies that
deliver the kind of superior service that builds
customer loyalty.”
Frederick Reichheld
The Loyalty Effect
The Service-Profit Chain
Operating Strategy and
Service Delivery System
Service
Delivery
Employee
Revenue
Growth
Satisfaction
Internal
Service
Quality
Capability
Loyalty
External
Service
Quality
Value
Productivity
Customer
Customer
Satisfaction
& Loyalty
Profitability
Customers Defect Because of Poor Experiences with
Employees
Reasons for Customer Defection
Other
Service
(43%)
Employee Attitude and/or Behavior
(77%)
Other
Nature of Service Failure
Source: 2006 Maritz Poll
Linking the Employee Experience to the Customer
Experience: Findings from Previous Research
UNDERSTANDING
& FOCUS
ENABLEMENT
MOTIVATION
ALIGNMENT
• Customer service orientation
• Performance feedback
• Adequate resources to serve customers
• Clear performance goals
• Co-worker capabilities
• Training for current job
• Role conflict
• Reward and recognition
• Fair treatment
• Job satisfaction
• Management support
Antecedents of Poor Service
Quality
UNDERSTANDING
& FOCUS
ENABLEMENT
Don’t know what customers want or expect
Failure or decision not to address these wants and
expectations
Poor performance and/or quality assurance problems
Overpromising and mis-communication
ALIGNMENT
The Research Questions
To what extent is overall employee engagement linked to service quality
delivery?
Are the key drivers of employee engagement also the key drivers of service
quality delivery?
Do the type of people and/or the type of organization actually account for
differences in service quality?
The Survey
Financial services (retail banking) tellers, customer service representatives, and
branch managers
On-line survey method
Survey content:
- Overall engagement
- Perceived customer service quality delivery
- Specific elements of the employee experience
- Demographics
- Firmographics
Our Employee Measurement Framework
Conventional Employee Surveys
Leadership &
Management
Performance
Climate
Overall
Employee
Engagement
My Job & My
Place In This
Organization
Customer
Orientation
& Focus
Customer
Satisfaction
& Loyalty
Business
Results
Index of Overall Employee Engagement
“I am completely satisfied with my job”
“I would recommend my
company as a great
place to work”
“I would be very happy
to spend the rest of my
career at my present
company”
Service Quality Delivery
“Our customers would rate the service
we deliver as excellent.”
Completely
Disagree
Slightly
Disagree
Neither Agree
Nor Disagree
Slightly
Agree
Completely
Agree
Key Findings
Do employee engagement and service quality
delivery go hand in hand?
Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement
Service Quality
Service Quality
Employee engagement and service quality delivery
are only moderately correlated
Employee
Engagement
(14%)
Service
Quality
Key drivers of overall employee engagement do not
include customer-focused issues
Top Fifteen
Drivers of Engagement
Engagement
I look forward to comingExcitement
to work every
dayrk
fo r wo
MyEmpo
company
is a funcco
place
to work
werment/A
mplishment
My job gives me a strong feeling of personal accomplishment
Co mpany Fun
I am provided with the resources
I need
to perform
job
P ro vided
with Reso
urces my
needed
Pay I receive is fair for theWage
workfair
I perform
fo r wo rk
My company has effective training
programs
Effective
Training
I am recognized for my work in waysRec
thatwo
arerkimportant
me
perso nal to
reward
Open and honest dialogue is encouraged atOpen
my company
Dialo gue
Work expectations at my company
are realistic
and fair
Expectiatio
ns - Realistic
Company genuinely listens to and cares about
employees
Co mp
Listens
My work and personal life are Bwell-balanced
alanced Life
Senior management’s actions are consistent
words
Senwith
M antheir
co nsistent
All employees have an equal opportunity
for Opp
advancement
Equal
A dvance
We are all on the same team workingSame
for the
same& goals
Team
Go als
I have opportunities to develop the skills needed
myskills
job
Opp to
to do
devel
Lower
Impact on Engagement
Higher
Key drivers of service quality include multiple customerfocused issues
TopService
Fifteen Drivers of Service
Company has the necessary capabilities
to satisfy customers
Capabilities to Satisfy Cust
Work expectations at my company
are realistic and fair
Expectatio ns - realistic
We are all on the same team workingSame
for the
same goals
Team & Go als
Company has formal programs/processesFotormal
ensure
service quality
P ro g high servcie
Company’s leaders are ethical
and -honest
Leaders
ethical
Company commits the resources required
to meet customer needs
Reso urces - M eet cust needs
Open and honest dialogue is encouraged inOpen
my company
Dialo gue
Company sets specific goals for improving Go
customer
service
als o f Service
My company is a fun Co
place
to work
mpany
Fun
I have authority needed to respond to
customer
problems/requests
A utho
rity custo
mer pro blems
I have opportunities to develop the skills needed
to devel
do myskills
job
Opp to
I look forward to comingExcitement
to work every
dayrk
fo r wo
My company has effective training
programs
Effective
Training
Company genuinely listens to and cares about
employees
Co mp
Listens
I enjoyP romyvided
interactions
with
customers
with Reso
urces
needed
Lower
* Items in red are customer-focused elements of the employee experience.
Impact on Service Quality
Higher
Demographics and Firmographics Not Linked to Service
Quality
Demographic or
Firmographic
Significant
Difference?
Age
Education
Full-Time vs. Part-Time
No
No
No
Gender
Income
Job Title
No
No
No
Tenure
No
Type of Institution
No
Conclusions & Implications
Summary & Conclusions
Employee engagement is linked to customer service, but not as strongly as
expected.
Employee engagement is part of the larger employee experience – it is
primarily driven by factors that are internally-focused.
The employee experience also has a customer-focused aspect that centers on
employee perceptions of their and/or the organization’s capacity to deliver
excellent service quality.
Summary & Conclusions
The demographic and firmographic characteristics of employees and
organizations delivering high levels of service quality are not significantly
different from those of employees/organizations that deliver lower levels of
service quality.
Explicit customer focus, readiness, and empowerment appear to differentiate
firms delivering high service quality from those that deliver lower levels of
service quality.
Managerial Implications
Improving employee engagement may not automatically lead to improved
customer experience.
Managers seeking to leverage the employee experience in order to improve
customer service and satisfaction need to address issues not typically included
in conventional employee surveys.
- Readiness
- Empowerment
- Explicit Customer Focus