I’m a massive advocate of ‘employee first’ philosophies in any business sector.
Some companies just get the importance of hiring the right employees. American company The Container Store have employees so much at the heart at what they do, they have an entire section on their website dedicated to putting their employees first. Their motto, “organisation with heart”, is far from fluffy sentimentality; with more than 200 hours of training in their first year, employees really are their most valued asset. As their site says: “1 Great Person = 3 Good People”. I’m inclined to agree: when we’re hiring and investing in truly great people, we can afford to pay them above industry average: because we’re getting three times the productivity. TheContainer Store profits off an employee first strategy and reaps the results.
But this definitely isn’t an industry norm. By contrast, we’ve all walked into a branch of a chain store and been greeted by a grumpy-looking assistant – or two of them chatting between themselves while casually ignoring you. We’ve all had our questions met with eye rolls or disinterested grunts. Just as familiar is the shrugging, bored cashier or the assistant who sighs when you ask her to check the store room. We’ve all been there – and we’ve all hated it. Admittedly, being British, the chances are you’ve smiled politely and moved on, even though internally you’re vowing never to set foot in the place again.
Customer experience isn’t just about the product. You could be selling the best jumper in the world, but if ‘Hi-I’m-Janice’ makes finding one in a medium feel like a battle, you’ve lost yourself a customer. Which in turn, means a loss of revenue. Which could lead to an impressive windfall to the world’s second best jumper manufacturer. Hiring the right staff for your brand isn’t just a good idea: it’s a matter or life or death for your outlet.
When hiring, remember to PICK: Positivity, Initiative, Customer-centrism and Kindness in every employee you take on. Frankly, anyone working in customer service without those skills should really re-evaluate whether they are in the right sector. You simply can’t form a brand culture without individuals who genuinely believe in what every customer assistant should be doing: caring for their customer. Frame the entire interview process around those skills and personality traits. Are they engaged with finding a workable solution for a problem? Can they empathise and engage with what a client or consumer needs? Is their body language and tone reflective of what they need to say? Do they want to invest in making your brand better?
Take Zappos, for example. The online shoe and clothing retailer, based in Las Vegas, has a wonderful strategy for dealing with potentially uninvested employees: they are offered $2,000 to leave their job in the first week if they aren’t right for the role. You think that’s crazy? Not when you consider that the costs of investing in that employee for one, three, even six months can add up to a lot more if they’re unsuitable. Taking the hit early on could save you serious dollars in employees who won’t turn up to shifts, can’t be bothered to deal with customers and will drop out when they want to take part in a university production of Guys and Dolls instead of coming to work. Zappos has a whole ‘PEACE’ team (Programs, Events, Activities, Charity, Engagement) that provides fun and engaging opportunities for employees to speak to their individual passions, including monthly birthday parties and a ‘Wishez’ program that enables employees to make and grant wishes among themselves, either anonymously or publicly. Another great idea from them are ‘Hero/Sidekick’ Awards, which allow individuals to recognise peer strengths and achievement. In my mind, they are an ideal model for how a company should implement creative employee engagement.
But employee loyalty doesn’t begin and end with hiring great people. You need to work out how you can retain your best employees and help them achieve their goals. No one is actually passionate about selling jumpers, and it’s ridiculous to assume that’ll be enough to keep your recruitment base engaged. Offer schemes and initiatives that empower your employees to believe in your work culture as a long-term career option for them.
Burnout and the desire to leave starts when you don’t feel valuable, or as if there is a ladder to the next step: AO.com actively hires people who are ambitious, as they will perform their roles with more purpose than those who are simply meeting the rent. Another great strategy from AO.com is giving frontline staff in customer service the power to make decisions without escalating to a managerial level, enabling them to make customer service decisions up to £5k.This means that customers receive immediate attention, and aren’t required to hang around waiting for a more senior member of staff’s sign off on a price match, for example. This culture testing and incentivising goes a long way in ensuring that your customer service is constantly improving.
Ultimately, you need to take ownership of the hiring, training and care of your workforce. Just because a job is at a junior level doesn’t mean that it’s unimportant, or that an individual can be easily replaced. Your front of house staff are your best representatives; invest in them, and the returns will be immeasurable – and not an eye roll in sight.
