What is customer service? Part 2
Ignore the human needs of the workforce, fail to provide a sense of purpose and fun, expect more than is reasonable from a person to allow them to manage a life quality and service performance will not be easily sustained. Poor service will increase and employee turnover will become endemic.
A recent McKinsey study, "Building A Strong Performance Ethic" promotes the lie by reinforcing the myth that 'leading' companies are successful. Really! It depends on the definition of success!
Many simply have good marketing hype and consultants who lift their share price. I could not count American Express, Disney, IBM, Coca-Cola, Shell, Exxon and McDonalds as 'successful. Amex has the most appalling reputation for treatment of retailers and card holders, Disney is a sham (excluding its cinema), IBM are a great failure story, Coke are dishonest manipulators, Shell and Exxon damage the world environment and harm local cultures and McDonalds pimps on our youth. Strong enough! Perhaps over the top, but the point is the deceit cannot last, bring internal satisfaction and certainly does not lead to success in customer service. And our task for the day was to look at service!
It seem appropriate that McKinsey's pointed to issues other than service that allow their 'success'. They listed clear and compelling missi1ons (that consultants write), clear lines of accountability (that consultants restructure), transparent and timely performance feedback (that keep HR consultants busy) and visible and effective consequence management (for the outplacement consultants). Funny about that!
I would count Budget as a great success. Still today I hear many people relate their experience as customer or employee with the enthusiasm of a warmly cherished formative experience. We do not have enough of this type of success - a success that means something to people.
It seems clear to me if we continue down the 'control' path we will lose touch with what is important to people and certainly not win in the service stakes.
Released from dehumanising corporate cultures, many have sought alternative work opportunities that are more rewarding on a personal level. The observation that the fast food chains are losing out to the small niche filling 'coffee shops' is testament to the 'village community' that has a far greater history and link to human society than the recent centralisation and industrialisation of work. Why? The local shop offers a human face in an individualised manner that gives us a sense of our own place and worth. Watch it. It's coming fast. The Harvey Normans and McDonalds will fail. Leisure and learning organisations are booming. Alternative and natural solutions are thriving. The banks and telcos are under unrelenting attack while communities are taking control of their councils and schools.
Hey - get a life!