Living the Brand
I was catching up on some blogs and I came across one at ownyourbrand.com
Mike talks about being in an airport eatery and overhearing a conversation between two emloyees:
Employee 1: “We get paid the same if we take our half hour break or not.”
Employee 2: “Wrong! Take a half hour break and you get less. I never take a break!”
The debate raged on in full earshot of the line of hungry (and weary) travelers at the Denver International Airport.
Now I think that this (unfortunately) is becoming more and more common in the service industry. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched cashiers chatting on the phone with their boyfriends, feign interest in a customer, completely ignore customer even actively and obviously running away from customers. Mike has named these brand killers “Zombies”.
Along with the agency, I also own a few food service businesses. Included in that is a coffee shop. It is incredible how quickly one “Zombie” employee will infect an entire crew. Sometimes, by the time you realize that the whole team has been converted, it is almost too late.
Luckily we have a meter to determine when our employees fall off brand. That meter is tips. When tips fall low, everyone starts to complain “I only made $20 today!”. After hearing this for a few weeks, I called an employee meeting to discuss a few things. What I really wanted to discuss was the creeping sense of apathy of the crew in regards to customer service. But the old”Service with a smile” bit wears thin in these kinds of meetings. Instead I addressed what they seemed to care about the most - tips.
Now don’t get the wrong idea. The emloyees do care about the customers. They know their names, their drinks, their pets names and kids names and so on. But sometimes they get in a groove where they go on autopilot and just go through the motions. They are zombified. So at this meeting I addressed tips. Anyone listening would have thought the whole meeting were nothing but a strategy meeting on how to earn more tips. But what I did was take what was measurable and used it for a meter to measure their effort and adherence to our brand position. I told them that if their tips are dropping, then they need to figure out what they AREN’T doing for their customers.
After that meeting I made them a scale. We set tip percentage goals of 15%. If they were earning 15% against their gross sales then they were doing a good job, they were pushing the brand. This gave them something to measure on the daily basis. What I ended up learning was that it wasn’t the money that motivated them - it was the instant gratification and acknowledgment of a job well done. They could tell at the end of the day that they had accomplished something positive. They knew that they had made someones day a little bit better.
People need to feel like their efforts matter. Like your example conversation between employees. My employees know that they matter and that their efforts are measurable and recognizable. Isn’t that what we all want? My point is… treat your employees like your best customer or member. Live your brand, treat your employees according to that brand, and they will become ambassadors of your brand. If you don’t live it or believe it, no one else will either.
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I love this post too. When I was in high school I had the pleasure of working for ‘Enry Beazely’s Fish n Chips. I was a serving wench. Wore the outfit and everything. Mr. Beazely told us all the time that serving people is a noble profession - it matters what we do. Take pride in it. And that we did. He also thanked us regularly for being such professional kids. On Thanksgiving morning (each of the four years I worked there) Mr and Mrs Beazely would cook for US. They “gave thanks” on that day for us.
How many credit union executives can say they’ve ever done that? (and I’m not talking about the cooking part…)
Denise,
I love your example. Growing up, I had every kind of crappy job with an impossible boss. Now I try to be the kind of employer that I wish I had. Today, I still have great relationships with almost every employee that I have had. I find joy in their accomplishments.
I learned this from one manager that I had years ago who sat me down when I was a 19 year old know-it-all and gave me the tools to be successful. I try to do the same for all the folks who have worked with me through the years.
Its far easier to cheer your employees on, than to motivate them with a whip.
Thanks for participating 
What a great expansion on my post.
It takes leadership to create a workplace where people “feel like their efforts matter” and you supplied that!
Thanks for enlarging the conversation.
Keep creating,
Mike