The problem with “No problem”…

Posted on March 22, 2012 | 2 Comments

This past week I received an interesting note from an old college buddy, Pete Walsh, who is also a frequent visitor to ideationz. He commented about the fact that when you say “Thank you” to a cashier or server or customer service employee, the most common response seems to be “No problem!” So why would this be worth discussing in the first place? Well, Pete’s point (which I agree with completely) is that we are losing our sense of courtesy and appreciation in many levels of social and/or economic interactions.

One might question (as Pete did) as to why it should be a “problem” for a retail employee to take your money in the first place? If there is no reason why a “problem” should exist in a retail exchange, then why would a store clerk be compelled to assure the customer that there is “no problem”? Why not respond back to the customer with a mutual acknowledgement (“Thank you” for being our customer), or, better yet, to make the customer feel a little special (“My pleasure” in serving you today). Or, simply acknowledge the customer with a sincere response (“You’re welcome”) and move on.

Responding with “no problem” implies that on some level the store employee had to go out of his or her way to process a transaction, which is the reason the retailer exists in the first place. The reply seems both inappropriate and odd. My curiosity piqued, I kept a tally of six exchanges that I encountered with cashiers, mostly of a demographic between 16-25 years old, somewhat evenly split between male and female. In three of the six instances, I was told “No problem” when I thanked a store employee. In one situation, I was ignored completely by the clerk. In one exchange, upon my thanking the store employee, the response was “Next!” And in one retailer, my “Thank you” was treated to a seemingly genuine “Thank you”. One in six is not impressive.

Granted this is not a scientific study of contemporary mannerisms, but it does raise some interesting questions for retail management to ponder. One, if you can’t rely on your (largely millennial) employees to interact appropriately or courteously to your customers, there might be a training need that should be considered.  Second, if a courteous and appropriate employee is becoming less visible in today’s marketplace, then there might be an opportunity to differentiate your business by nurturing and encouraging simple rules of etiquette.

I suspect that Pete is not the first person to have been put off by this apparent trend.  I would be curious where you stand on the matter. Are you comfortable with being informed that providing minimum service in exchange for your money is “no problem”? Is this another indication of eroding social mores, or is it really just “no problem” at all? What do you think?

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Posted in Consumerism, Employee Development, Human Behavior, Retail, Social Issues

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Engagement, one employee at a time…

Posted on March 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

A thought-provoking research project conducted in late 2011 provides insight into the sad reality of employee engagement in America. The findings show that  the percentage of disengaged and under-engaged employees has risen from 59% in August 2010, to 65% in February 2011, to 70% in September 2011. What’s more, the poll finds only 8% of the U.S. workforce is fully engaged, approximately one of each twelve employees. Depending on how you see things, this is either dismal news, or indicative of a terrific opportunity for leading organizations to gain a tremendous competitive and financial advantage.

The data cited above comes from a survey conducted by Modern Survey (www.modernsurvey.com) in a white paper from Bruce Campbell, a Senior Consultant at Modern Survey. Of particular note, is the fact that while employees may declare a high levels of job satisfaction, there is no correlation between being satisfied and being engaged. In other words, employees may say they are satisfied with the company, yet be either under-engaged or disengaged from the firm.

This makes sense if you look at the key drivers of employee satisfaction. The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) identifies the five most important factors underpinning employee satisfaction are:

  1. Job security
  2. Employee benefits
  3. Compensation
  4. Opportunities to use skills and abilities, and
  5. Workplace safety

Interestingly, none of the above topics are seen as critical to engaging employees. In February, 2011, a national workforce poll found the five best predictors of engagement are:

  1. I have a high level of confidence in my company’s leadership
  2. My company treats employees well
  3. My company is headed in the right direction
  4. I have a good opportunity for growth in my company
  5. I have confidence in my company’s future

Note the huge gap in variables. While satisfaction stems largely from corporate “hygiene” factors (comp/benefits, safety, security) the aspects most important to securing engagement are far more individualized, looking beyond the “tablestakes” of pay, benefits, job security, safety. Instead, it seems the critical elements of engagement are focused on minimizing unforeseen risk, maximizing personal development, and working in an enlightened cultural environment.

Of companies that were unsuccessful in addressing any of the five engagement drivers above, a whopping 77% of employees were disengaged, with 0% indicating that they were fully engaged. Where companies were successful in addressing 3 of the aspects above, there were on average 26% of employees disengaged, with 7% of employees engaged.  Where companies were firing on all five cylinders, the percent of disengaged employees dropped to 7%, while those employees who are fully engaged rose to 27%.

How does this translate to financial performance? Best Buy, for example, indicates that for every 1/10th of a point increase on a five point scale in employee engagement, annual profits increased by $100,000 per store on average. Gallup estimates that the decreased productivity of disengaged employees costs their employers between $3,000 and $13,000 annually.

The question becomes, “What are you going to do to foster engagement?” While there is no silver bullet, there are practices that will help, and a model for creating and sustaining a heightened level of employee engagement.

First, you have to shift your focus from the “basics” that define workplace satisfaction, to a more individualized (employee-level) approach. If you don’t have a competitive compensation, benefits, training or performance management process in place, you need to get that done. But don’t fall into a trap of believing that doing so is enough.

Open, candid, transparent leadership is one key to how employees build confidence and trust. Employees must understand the mission, the vision, the values, and (most critically) their role in propelling the company forward. Communications are key, and alignment is the goal. If first- and mid-level managers continually second-guess the direction of the firm, it is likely that employees will be confused or disillusioned about the future.

In an environment of economic uncertainty, you want to minimize negative distractions, while keeping a positive outlook in the hearts and minds of your workers. This requires a focus on addressing both professional development as well as recognition for raising the bar in their workplace performance. Feeling appreciated, acknowledged and on an upward track in terms of skills/competencies can do wonders when it comes to engaging your employees.

Providing measurement, by dashboards or scorecards for the individual employee as well as natural workgroups, departments, divisions or corporate entities, is essential. If you can’t tell someone how they are doing against the defined mission, how will they know (or care) if they are doing a good job?

Again, there is no single process that will guarantee future results. The only certainty would seem to be that doing nothing or very little will insure your organization’s continued demise. The historical ‘basics’ won’t get you to where you need to be. Only by creating an employee-centric approach, which emphasizes alignment of personal development with corporate goals and objectives, will you have a chance to move beyond a declining status quo.

 

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Posted in Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement, Human Behavior, Leadership, Organizational Change, Talent Management

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An activist songwriter nailed it…

Posted on February 9, 2012 | 4 Comments

Bruce Cockburn, the renown singer-songwriter from Canada, wrote “the trouble with normal is it always gets worse”. This is more true than ever, and on far more fronts than geo-political, ideological or socio-economic. Contemporary standards place expedience, cost-reduction, and immediate gratification well above more traditional values of efficacy, reliability, and the corporate conscience. It is as true in product design, sales and marketing as it is in finance, manufacturing and logistics.

Each time we lower a standard, every instance of cutting a corner, and all the decisions made to disguise a defect in the name of “new and improved” serve to reset the bar for what “normal” is. In the post-9/11 months and years we heard the refrain “welcome to the new normal” to reference compromises in liberty, freedom and mobility. In the declining years of 2007 to the bottom-seeking of 2009 and the endangered job market since, we have seen “normal” unemployment jump from 4-5% to 8-10%. This is the world we live in now. The trouble with normal? It always gets worse.

As marketers, we can’t solve global warming, quell social unrest, or shift economic curves. What we can do is recognize, acknowledge, adapt, and innovate. Example: Every product made today, every service offered in commerce is a commodity. There are far fewer dollars chasing far more spending and investment options than ever before in history. Somebody is going to win, and someone else is going to lose.

Your first responsibility to evade complacency is to recognize that whatever it is you make, whatever it is you sell, is now competing with everything else that has been made or offered for sale. There used to be budgets, assigned in categories, with some assurance that needs would be met (even if wants were not). There are no more budgets. Instead there are unmet needs chasing scarce funding. Wants? Don’t even go there. You can’t afford it.

When you acknowledge that in this economy there are no sellers, only buyers, you have made the first giant leap. You can’t sell anything anymore. It was said once that “people don’t sell stocks; people buy stocks”. This is the number one reason social media has become everyone’s darling. People tend to buy less on what satisfies a need and more on what others will think of them and, most of all, on what they will think of themselves for having bought. Economics matter, but only to the extent that they define broad segments of purchase intent and relative timing. The decision-making process is going to come down to emotions first, and then the rationalization will occur.

This is why you either adapt or you become extinct. If adapting prolongs your life, reinvention offers survival, and innovation is the only real path to the future. The process is continually accelerating, making it necessary to creatively destroy what you have built before someone else does it for you.

What does this have to do with sales? With marketing? I would hope the implications would be obvious to all, but just in case… If you carry a business card with “Sales” or “Business Development” on it, you need to let go of any and every attribute of your company, its products and services that give you specific comfort. Instead, move beyond to the place where your customers are treading. Understand those unseen, unknown fears that they are living with. If you can show them a better (more predictable, consistent and reliable) path to where they need to get, you will be recognized for it, considered, and possibly adopted. For at least a while anyway. Until someone else comes along and renders you obsolete. Figure it will take at least six weeks to three months before you are outed.

For those in marketing, the best alternative you have is the one that makes people talk, either vocally or in some unpaid media. Paid-Owned-Earned is one of the most critical concepts around these days. Content is the currency that makes your product (or service) virtuous. You already know this, but we tend to be forgetful of what we have learned in our quest to see around the next corner.

The trouble with normal is it always gets worse. It’s been true since the dawn of time, only made more immediate by the technological explosion of the past twenty-five years. Your very future depends on how readily you can recognize, acknowledge, adapt and innovate. Anything less and you are Amtrak, Kodak, Rolm, Wang, Gateway, Nokia, My Space, or SuperPages.

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Posted in Change, Corporate Culture, Creative Process, Innovation, Leadership, Marketing, Organizational Change, Personal Development, Social Issues, Social Media, Technology

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