Why treating employees like customers should be a corporate norm?

I remember, when I first started my career over a decade ago, it was very common to hear the phrase “The Customer is always right” or “The Customer is the King” especially while speaking to someone from marketing and sales. The customer was the pot of treasure at the end of the magical rainbow and it was only by almost acceding to his every wish and command could the treasure of his business be attained. What to-date is probably being taught in management schools across most countries are customer centric marketing concepts such as the four P’s of marketing - Product, Price, Place and Promotion or the four C’s of marketing – Consumer, Costs, Convenience and Communication. The understanding and application of these concepts was (and remains) essential to formulate a robust plan to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Less customers is equivalent to less sales i.e. lower profits thereby defeating the very purpose of a company’s’ existence.

Do you see a pattern here? It all seems to be always about the target i.e. the customer, after all at the end of the day, they are the one paying for a product, service or experience.

But what about the employees’ aka talent – the very energy on which companies run?

I am a millennial, a term generally used to describe the generation born between early 1980’s to early 2000’s. Millennial's do differ a little basis their geographical location but social media, proliferation of western lifestyles and an increasingly connected world has meant that compared to previous generations, millennials across the globe are more alike. While many call us “open-minded, liberal, self-expressive, upbeat, and overtly passionate about equality”, a few others have labelled us “lazy, entitled, self-obsessed narcissists”. Irrespective of the labels bestowed, there is no denying the fact that we are a far more aware and connected category as compared to previous generations.

US Bureau of statistics estimates millennials to comprise 50% of the workforce by 2020 and 75% by 2025. As more and more millennials, enter the work stream, many companies are taking means and measures to extract the best value from them by understanding what they want. One such exercise which has furnished interesting insights has been Deloittes’ 6th Annual Millennial Survey, conducted in September, 2016 which covered 8,000 millennials from across 30 countries. Some of the key findings of the survey include the following:

a.      45% of those surveyed, expect to change jobs within the next two years compare to 31% who plan to stay beyond five years.

b.      It is primarily in and via the workplace that millenials feel most able to make an impact.

c.      Those businesses that do engage in issues of concern to millennials are more likely to gain their trust and loyalty. Businesses might argue that addressing wider social issues is not their primary reason for being, but millennials do expect businesses to do more than simply seek financial success.

d.      They are more comfortable with plain, straight-talking language from both business and political leaders; respond to passionate opinions; and identify with leaders who appeal to anyone who might feel “left out” or isolated.

e.      They appreciate working in a collaborative and consensual environment rather than one that directly links accountability and responsibility to seniority (or pay).

To further put this in perspective let’s take the following example. Imagine yourself in the market for a car. Though you know what you want, you spend a lot of time and money and effort in visiting various dealerships, taking test drives, seeing where can you get the best deal etc. etc. Once you decide on which car, you pay a large sum and the car is yours. And you are off! Getting to and from work, holidays, shopping, everything is easy because now you have a car. You can travel as per your convenience and probably at a lower cost compared to cabs. But do you forget about the maintenance of the car just because life is easier now? No, you don’t. Irrespective of how much it cost us, we all ensure that the cleaning, maintenance and servicing of the car is performed per the prescribed schedule to make sure that the car performs its best for as long as it is servicing us.

While I am certainly not stating that employees are like inanimate cars, in my perspective it is critical for organizations to be as engaged with their employees as they are with their assets (furniture, fixtures, real estate, machinery etc.) Considering the amount of money organizations spend on identifying and recruiting the right people for the right roles, it just makes plain economic sense to keep their employees interested and engaged. But how? How do businesses ensure that their employees are engaged not only with the work they are responsible for but also with what the organization represents and offers to its clients?

In my humble opinion the relationship between organizations and their employees is like any relationship between two people. It takes practice, trust, love and a lot of give and take to make the people remain engaged and make the relationship work. The absence of even one of these attributes or ingredients is sure to result in a failed relationship. Companies try to develop such relationships with their past, current and future customers and must do so with their employees as well.

1.      Employee Trust

Everyone knows that a customer begins forming impressions (conscious or subconscious) about a brand or a company based on what they see/hear/read in the media, from friends and family’s perceptions and experiences and even employees they come across. Which is why organizations spend millions/billions of dollars on public image right from marketing and sales campaigns to CSR initiatives. When a prospective customer first walks into the store/office, everything from the lighting, carpet to the attitude of the receptionist or salesman makes an impact and could influence their decision to go ahead with becoming a customer or not. People TRUST their own perceptions and only when they can TRUST the brand, do they go ahead and become a customer. Based on how the brand services the customer, the TRUST factor is maintained or fails and the organization may or may not have a repeat customer. Once the customer loses TRUST in a brand (for whatever reason) there is almost no chance that they will ever come back.

It is the very same between the employer and the employee. Employee experience and engagement begins far before a candidate shows up for an interview.  How and when your HR representative calls the prospective employee, the tone and nature of discussions, how fast is the turnaround time for the organization to confirm or not accept (if they do take the effort to convey their regrets to the prospective candidate that is!) leave deep impressions and actually go a long way in convincing the employee if the organization and the role is appropriate for them. Assuming the candidate is made and offer and he accepts, they walk into their first day of the new role. Usually what happens on the first few days/weeks of their joining, how smooth the processes are (or how long and complicated they are) for setting them up with the required technology and tools, sets the tone for their expectations from the organisation. Now here is where some people may say that these issues are always there and you cannot do away with them. I beg to differ.

How fruitful do you think any relationship would be if its off for a rocky start with doubts and concerns on at least one party’s end? Most employees take between a couple of months to a year or so to fully integrate with the organisation and the required systems and procedures. And all this costs money to the organisation as they are not able to receive a 100% of the value the employee has to offer during this period. Any discomfort / lack of trust simply prolongs their time taken for aligning with the organisation which simply delays them reaching their full productivity. And honestly, how many organizations would want that?

Instead, treat your employees at par or better than you would your customers. Do not make false sales by promising them the moon and delivering them a dusty patch of desert. Trust implies that while the organisation relies on them to be ethical, honest and brilliant at their roles, the employees need to feel that the organisation will fulfill their promised role. This goes beyond just the monetary compensation but includes the critical aspects of career path, recognition and redressal of any toxicity at work, learning and training opportunities for them to grow beyond their current role etc. Just like you would with an existing customer, make an effort to enable your employees to have fair opportunities to express their concerns and then do something about it.

2.      Employee Love

Love for most of us implies the kind of love that exists between a parent and a child or between two persons. The kind of love I am talking about is the positive feeling that an employee gets when they get up every day to go to work. It is the fuel on which a part of their internal motivation mechanism runs on. We all have our favorite brands, not just because they have great products but their customer service is so good. And by good, I mean understanding, co-operative and transparent. I personally (just like a lot of us) am loyal and love brands which deliver this feeling to me. These are brands which make an effort to understand what truly are my pain points. A good example of this is Elon Musk of Tesla. I read an anecdote about how an existing customer tweeted a software upgradation requirement to Must. And you know what he did, he did not divert the issue to his customer service but instead tweeted back a clear plan for addressing the customers query. Now what do you think the customer feels for Tesla? Loyalty certainly but also a love that they were heard and a practical solution provided to them.

The above example may have been about customers and brands but learnings from this can also be extended to the love between employees and organizations. In fact, this love is a natural extension of the trust that organizations and employees build with each other. While trust is being maintained, many of us do our best work when we have a spring in our step as we get ready for work. Love for their work and thereby by extension for their organisation is the reason that someone may show initiative to do something beyond what their role requires as they know that their efforts will be acknowledged. It is the feeling which reassures the employee that should the make a genuine mistake, they can own up and the organisation will still have their back.

I acknowledge that this kind of love is integral to the culture of an organisation. Organizations need to be sensitive that while star performers and leaders are essential to achieve the topline, the managers and leadership they have should have an inclusive approach to work. The people at top as well as the bottom must be trained (if required) to encourage the everyone to go an extra mile without the fear of losing their jobs. Ensuring an appropriate distribution of power, periodic training, expectation management for the employees etc. are some of the ways that eliminate the evils of vindictiveness, bullying, nepotism and encourage love between employees and the companies they work for.  

What it all boils down to is that employees are more than just a resource that organizations need to add to the mix to achieve profits and grow. They are people, each a complex compound of emotions and unlimited potential to do great work provided the right environment is made available. Currently if good sources of employment are becoming a little scant, finding the right people to address these requirements are becoming more difficult. Every organisation spends a lot of time and money on getting the right people in. It just takes a little more considerate effort to ensure they want to continue to be there and give their best to their work.