It is no surprise to businesses that ensuring positive customer experiences, continuing to innovate, and providing added brand value generates revenue. Many businesses regularly monitor customer satisfaction through surveys, comment cards, secret shopper programs, complaint hot lines, etc., and then pour a significant amount of resources into making improvements and adjustments as a result of customer feedback. However, the more successful businesses realize that much of what shapes customer satisfaction levels are the direct experiences (either positive or negative) customers have with employees. These businesses start closer to the core by monitoring employee attitudes and satisfaction levels on a regular basis, then by addressing issues with targeted action plans for improving perceptions about the organization. These businesses recognize the importance of the value proposition to employees and put resources into preserving or reshaping the culture and work environment to raise motivation levels, build loyalty and encourage employee commitment and performance.
Employee commitment and engagement play a vital role in the Service Profit Chain. Happy and productive employees equal happy customers, which equal higher sales and greater profit. Thus, businesses could consider the employee point of view to be as important as the customer point of view. Joni Doolin, CEO and Founder of People Report, refers to this as the "Insperience" and challenges us to examine the value proposition organizations offer employees. Just as we ask the question "What makes customers want to buy our products?", we need to be asking "What makes people want to work in our company?". To examine how close your organization is to becoming an employer of choice and learn about the issues and "insperiences" that matter to your work force, employee engagement and satisfaction surveys can offer powerful insights that help shape your organizational and human capital initiatives.
