Employee-friendly standards ensure customer-friendly standards.

Processes are being automated and rapidly replacing human service. However, some services will remain based on direct service by salespeople and consultants for a long time to come. Therefore, they are the most important point of contact with customers.

Companies are developing standards and service guidelines to deliver the greatest possible value to customers. Employee standards and guidelines certainly address this issue at the level of their mechanical application. This solution is essential for brand new employees who simply need quick guidelines on how to behave toward customers.

From projects for our clients and numerous conversations, it's increasingly important for everyone in the company to have a common understanding of the approach to building customer experience and the values behind it. Richard Branson has spoken extensively on this topic, pointing out for years that Employee experience is key to customer experience.

The balance between the mechanical application of service standards and the understanding of the values that the company is to deliver (be close to the customer, always help him or deal with matters as quickly as possible) is crucial for 2 reasons:

✅ Constant change. In the era of the employee market, turnover in service positions and "moderate willingness" to work in services, it is difficult to convince employees to mechanically apply standards without understanding them.

✅ Unusual situations. Even if standards are successfully applied at the operational (mechanical) level, a lack of understanding of the values behind them – in an unusual situation – will cause service employees to act as they see fit. But how? Sometimes this will be consistent with what the standards creators intended, and sometimes the response will be less than accurate.

 How to achieve a balance between the operational implementation of the standard and the values?

There are several ways to do this:

✅ Frontline worker participation. Involve front-line employees in creating solutions. They often have a deep understanding of the customer's needs, expectations, and reactions. They also have a realistic perspective on what's best for the customer. This really works, and we also gain supporters of later solutions.

✅ Employee-friendly standards. Create employee-friendly standards. Yes, employee-friendly standards, because if employees feel comfortable with the standards, they will be implemented. I'm writing about this because I sometimes "grind my teeth" when I see unnatural behaviors expected of employees toward customers. And worst of all, employees actually perform them. This results in a parody of natural service.

✅ Space. Leave room for independent decision-making. Give employees the opportunity to decide on selected service areas at their discretion, but in a way that aligns with company values. You'll gain employee engagement and the opportunity to actively engage with customers.

I encourage you to try this approach because it really works. 💪