The push for better service

By Jochen Wirtz, Published TODAY, 4 Aug 2014

In recent months, media reports have focused the spotlight of good service on customers in Singapore, with labour chief Lim Swee Say calling for greater respect for service staff and the Singapore Kindness Movement launching a pop-up cafe that rewards kindness with discounts.

While customers are encouraged to be kind to front-line staff, it takes two hands to clap. There is one other factor that needs to be addressed — service organisations themselves, some of which may be setting up their front-line staff for the fall.

The front line is, perhaps, one of the most critical groups of staff that either makes or breaks service organisations. However, these functions are often regarded as the “lowest” rung of an organisational hierarchy.

Employers run the risk of sabotaging their own businesses when they hire staff with minimum qualifications and rock-bottom wages. Coupled with narrow functional definitions and rigid rules, front-liners can suffer from low self-esteem, which is an instant motivation and initiative killer.

Worse, some front-liners may have to enforce rules that they themselves do not agree with, such as charging for plain water in restaurants.

Perhaps the current labour crunch in the service industry will provide the “systemic” shock that is much needed to remedy the situation, for organisations to realise that the start point of great service is not a set of rules that dictates forced smiles and scripted greetings.

In an employees’ market, jobseekers call the shots. If they feel that the scope of work and the flexibility with which they can delight their customers is curtailed, employees would soon move on.

As employers struggle to retain front-line staff, companies will have to re-examine how they view these roles and get behind front-line staff to empower them, as opposed to just managing staff. Firms will have to work hard at rewarding employee performance that strengthens the reputation of the company and not only enforce the rules.

RE-EVALUATING ROLE OF FRONT-LINE STAFF

From a customer’s perspective, the encounter with service staff is probably the most definitive and visible aspect of a company.

Service staff deliver the service and affect the service encounter greatly. Front-line employees also represent the firm and are a core part of the brand. As organisations regard their customers highly, they should also highly regard employees who are responsible for this most critical interaction.

Yet, a recent Channel NewsAsia report showed there is a rising trend of employers offering short-term contracts to plug urgent manpower gaps. In an attempt to resolve the manpower crunch in organisations quickly, some may resort to hiring employees who can take up the positions at the shortest notice or are willing to accept the lowest offer.

Then, in an attempt to ensure that these staff can perform and to enhance productivity, these businesses simplify work processes and narrowly define job scopes.

Without sight of a bigger picture and not seeing the context of their work and its value to the organisation, the employees simply clock in, follow the rules, then clock out, potentially leaving a stream of dissatisfied customers in their wake. What can organisations do about this?

KEY STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL INTERACTIONS

Start by devoting great care and time to attracting the right people. Counter-intuitive, perhaps, when there is a dearth of candidates, but an effective strategy in the long run.

Thailand, the “land of smiles” has long earned praise for excellent service. This is in part due to the welcome that the warmth and friendliness of the people naturally exude. It is this same warmth that the Ritz-Carlton Hotels Group identifies through personal profiling tools for recruitment. This is an indication that the applicant is the one with the right attitude towards service.

If organisations manage to identify the right people, they are likely to stay for longer periods with the company, given the right rewards, and more importantly, recognition and motivators. This brings me to my next point.

After selecting the right candidates, we need to empower them. Training is especially important in empowering front-line staff. The subject area should not be limited to product knowledge, but also to emphasise the company culture.

Empowered staff can provide the information that customers need more effectively. And in unique situations or when faced with a customer who makes unusual demands contrary to policy, the employee can effectively share the organisation’s perspective, and even decide how best to continue to meet that customer’s needs in a way that is consistent with the company’s culture.

Such training can be enhanced with conflict management skills. For instance, if restaurants choose to charge customers for water, they should have equipped front-line staff with the skills to manage the very obvious situations that should follow.

Good customer-facing policymaking should always start with front-line staff. As these staff are the primary contact for customers, they would be in the best position to identify gaps in policies, service chains or products. For instance, none of us would want a burger with a thumbprint. At McDonald’s, this would never happen, thanks to the staff at an outlet that developed a way to wrap burgers without unsightly thumbprint marks.

Employees will feel more involved in the organisation, and share the successes of the company when issues are resolved as a result of their input. Even when the company chooses to be top down in policy-setting, the responsibility lies with management to ensure that these policies do not automatically doom the service encounter.

Again, an understanding of what the front-line is faced with will have to come into play. At the very least, management should walk the ground and put themselves in the shoes of the customer when faced with these decisions. Disney World’s management spends two weeks every year in front-line staff jobs. They can be seen sweeping streets, selling ice cream or working as ride attendants.

So, perhaps before making a group discount that deals with multiple disclaimers or upsells a product or service, heads of companies could run trial promotions and man the front line before rolling it out.

As Mr Lim shared: “Good services beget good customers and good customers beget good services.” Excellent service is not some impossible quest. Like every relationship, kindness in service is a self-sustaining cycle.

When organisations value their service staff, make careful hiring decisions, train, empower and motivate their front-line employees, they in turn will value their customers, and customers in turn will value what the service organisation has to offer.

Jochen Wirtz is Professor of Marketing at NUS Business School, National University of Singapore.