Front Line Employees

Front-line employees are the face and voice of almost every business. Are you developing them as brand champions?  Recent research has indicated that when organizations invest in their front-line employees, it’s one of the key elements to creating a high-caliber customer experience.

I was grocery shopping one Sunday – not my favorite shopping experience. From the middle of the store, I heard clapping and cheering, hooting and hollering. Obviously, something was being celebrated. When I finished and was at the register, a very pleasant cashier, “Jane” was helping me. One of her associates joined us and started bagging my groceries. She turned to Jane and congratulated her on her award. “Was that you they were clapping for? What did you win?” I asked. Jane was the proud winner of a customer service award. In addition to the heart-felt recognition, she also received a gift certificate for a dinner out for two. “How nice that the company recognizes its employees,” I said.  “Oh, the recognitions would have been enough. The gift certificate is like the frosting,” Jane replied. Both women went on to tell me how much they loved working for Harris Teeter and how much the company recognizes and appreciates its employees. I left the store after completing this required errand feeling uplifted. What a great story.

Compare that to two other recent experiences I had with organizations I won’t name. When Barbara and I gave feedback about a style preference in a clothing store, the sales associate responded, “Write to the company, please. The e-mail address is on the receipt. They don’t listen to us.” Don’t listen to their sales force – their face to the customers? Seriously? Or the flight attendant I was sitting next to once who told me the CEO of the company told them that the flight attendants don’t add to the bottom line! Seriously, with whom does the flying public most interact? Not the CEO, that’s for sure.

The front line of your organization is critical. They can create a culture of efficiency and excellence and that results in productivity and profitability. Are you assuring that they are the best that they can be? Are you investing in them?

Investment in your employees can take many different forms. We recently heard the story of Michelle. She worked in customer service for a large organization in the health-care industry. Cost was an issue—one of the factors holding her back from an education, but the company made an investment in her through tuition assistance and a special program that allowed her to get an associate’s degree in 12 months. She got promoted and went on to work towards a bachelor’s degree. The investment of their money and her time paid off.

Investing in your employees, however, need not always have a significant dollar amount associated with it. Jane was thrilled to be recognized—which cost nothing. The gift certificate was a nice, additional investment. While her attitude was pleasant, our sales clerk’s self-esteem and enthusiasm could be elevated to great heights if the company invested some time to listen to their front line. They could be superior brand champions. As far as my flight attendant goes, I know the industry is having its challenges, but I’m not sure I’d rush back to fly on his carrier anytime soon. If you don’t treat your employees with fairness and respect, how will they treat your customers?

Curiosity Sparks Innovation

There is a wonderful new book out by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman titled A Curious Mind…The Secret to a Bigger Life.  You may recognize Brian Grazer who is the Academy Award winning producer of such films as A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Splash and more. He also produces award winning television shows which have been nominated for 43 Oscars and 149 Emmys—in other words, he is a successful entertainment producer!

I first heard about the book from an interview with Brian in the United Airlines magazine and I loved reading about how for years Mr. Grazer has been holding “curiosity conversations” with just about anyone you can think of!  He’s sought out interesting and accomplished strangers—from spies and Nobel laureates to artists and CEO’s. These talks have inspired many of his films and TV shows.

The book makes a strong case that “curiosity is the tool that sparks curiosity and curiosity is the technique that gets to innovation.”  He suggests that questions create the mind-set of innovation and creativity. Curiosity presumes that “there might be something new out there.”  I love the way Brian explains it—he says” he keeps asking questions until something interesting happens.”

He says that “being curious and asking questions creates engagement” so there is a link to one of the most frequently discussed management topics today—employee engagement!  Another link to the world of work is his belief—and I totally agree—that curiosity sparks innovation.

So, what should you do if you want to have a curious conversation—especially one that might lead you to innovation?  The authors suggest you start close to home with people you already know—family, friends, work-related colleagues. Think of someone who might have an interesting job or who has had a very different life experience from yours.  Begin the conversation by telling the person that you’ve always been curious about their work (or their achievements or education or whatever makes them unique) and that you’d like to spend 20 minutes or so talking to you about what they do (or what their challenges are or…)

Here are some tips for having a successful curious conversation:

·       Be sure to clearly state that you want to hear their story—not that you are looking to sell them something or looking for advice—you are curious about them and their story!

·       Be careful to stay within the timeframe you agreed to before you started so that you honor them.

·       Prepare your questions ahead of time and be sure to ask open ended questions like, “Tell me about why you decided to study … “or “What was your first professional success?” or “What’s surprised you the most about where your passion has taken you?”

·       Even though you have thought your questions through ahead of time, be flexible if the conversation goes in a new direction!  That’s where you will learn the most!

·       Listen carefully and respectfully.  Follow up questions with probes like, “Tell me more…,”  “How so?”  Your goal is to learn as much as possible from the conversation. 

·       Be grateful for the time the person spent talking to you.  Of course, you would thank the person at the end of the conversation but the authors suggest you send a handwritten thank you note in which you mention something that was particularly interesting or in which you share a story of how something they said caused you to think or behave differently.  You can also send a thank you email but handwritten notes get a lot of attention because no one sends them anymore!  And, remember, a thank you note should not ask for anything—it is to say how much you appreciated their time and information!

We challenge you to use curious conversations to drive innovation in your organization and let us know how it works for you!