Ensuring satisfaction and positive experience of its customers is the most basic requirement for any business seeking consistent growth and success. This is because satisfied customers form a strong and loyal base on which any business can build its success story. However, building such a strong customer base is not something that can be done overnight by organizations. Hence, organizations need to have in place a well thought through customer satisfaction strategy to secure the loyalty and the satisfaction of their customers. One of the key components of such as strategy is to ensure the satisfaction of their employees, not just those who are directly interacting with customers such as the frontline sales, customer service and support but across the entire organization. Studies have clearly shown that the higher the satisfaction of the employees, the more they are motivated to enhance their effort to improve customer satisfaction. Hence, organizations need to consider driving customer experience through enhanced employee experience.
Impact of Employee Satisfaction on Customer Satisfaction
The satisfaction levels of employees in an organization directly reflect on the manner in which they deal with their customers. It has been observed that when the members of the workforce are happy and satisfied, they tend to work dedicatedly towards providing an excellent customer experience. Such employees show a greater willingness to invest their time and effort to provide a truly exceptional experience to the customers in every aspect of their interaction with the organization. They are likely to be more attentive to customer problems and find the best ways to resolve the same in an effective and timely manner. Thus higher employee satisfaction is critical to ensure that the customers keep coming back for more business and also refer it to their contacts.
Over the past several years, organizations are becoming increasingly employee-centric. This has ensured that organizations give greater priority to employee needs and seek ways to keep them happy and safe at the workplace. However, despite these drastic changes even in traditional work environments, organizations still need to do more to ensure higher satisfaction of the members of their workforce. Discussed are a few effective tips that can prove helpful for organizations in this context:
1. Build strong line managers, team leaders and supervisors
A majority of employees today prefer working with managers and supervisors with whom they can communicate in a free, frank and open manner and who can guide and support them as and when required. The least preference is for supervisors who have an autocratic style of management, tend to micro-manage the work and might be perceived as fair and unbiased. Hence, it is important for organizations to work towards developing a positive employee-supervisor relationship by training and coaching their managers, team leaders and supervisors to adopt a more friendly and empathetic approach while dealing with the employees. This can have a long term impact in enhancing the happiness and satisfaction levels of employees, which in turn can drive customer satisfaction.
2, Enhance employee engagement levels
Highly engaged employees are likely to be more satisfied and happy at work, which is why organizations need to focus on improving the overall engagement of the workforce. This means ensuring greater participation of the employees in various organizational activities and processes. Assuring employees that they are valued members of the business family strengthens their bonds with the organization. This can, in turn, help in improving employee motivation levels significantly leading to high commitment towards their customers.
3. Work towards developing a positive work culture
A positive work culture can impact the overall satisfaction levels of the employees to a great extent. Working in such an environment helps in reducing the stress level of the employees and ensures their happiness. The positive vibes that surround the employee throughout the day reflected in the manner in which they interact with their customers. When the employees are filled with positive energy, they tend to be more productive and willing to take on even the most challenging tasks with great enthusiasm. They put in their best efforts and go the extra mile for solving customers problems and issues, resulting in higher customer satisfaction.
4. Motivate employees through timely recognition
One of the important factors to maximize the satisfaction levels of the employees is to recognize their efforts and achievements in a timely and appropriate manner. Lack of recognition is one of the biggest reasons why employees feel dissatisfied. When organizations show appreciation for the contribution being made by the employees towards customer experience and business growth, they feel truly valued that their efforts seem fully justified. Appropriate recognition and appreciation are considered by many experts as the key towards building a truly motivated and satisfied workforce that can continually push towards creating a positive customer experience and building a loyal base of customers.
Using the right strategies to enhance the satisfaction levels of its employees can ensure big benefits for an organization towards developing a loyal customer base that in turn paves the way for exceptional business growth and success. Driving customer experience through enhanced employee experience should be an integral part of all organizations’ business strategy.
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