For a great customer experience, boost employee engagement

At some point, many of us have enjoyed customer service from an employee who goes the extra mile, whether that is a flight service attendant offering to take a photo of you and your family or a doctor who comes in on their day off to check on a patient.

At some point, many of us have enjoyed customer service from an employee who goes the extra mile, whether that is a flight service attendant offering to take a photo of you and your family or a doctor who comes in on their day off to check on a patient.

Unfortunately, everyone will have also experienced poor customer service, and when that happens, most people do not feel in a forgiving mood.  Data collected by The Institute for Customer Service shows just 11% of customers would repurchase from an organisation which has provided them with a bad customer experience.  Furthermore, 43% would actively warn their family and friends against using the organisation.

Effective training for frontline employees can improve the customer experience, but what some forget is the strong link between employee engagement and customer experience.  If an organisation treats its people well, they will treat the organisation's customers well.

However, the latest Institute of Customer Service ‘The Customer Knows’ report shows that engagement remains a challenge for UK companies.  According to the research - which was based on research with 2,000 consumers, 2,000 employees and 20 senior business executives in September 2016 - only one in four employees feels actively engaged.

Jo Causon, Chief Executive of ICS, said “The low level of employee engagement we’re witnessing in UK organisations should be setting alarm bells ringing in the boardroom. There is a clear correlation between employee engagement and customer satisfaction: disinterested staff often fail to make a lasting impression with customers, with the result that they take their custom elsewhere.  Where organisations focus on understanding their employees better, developing their skills, and recognising a job well done, we will see better engagement and with it, better business performance".

How can we help?

​Whether through one-to-one interviews, focus groups, surveys (or a combination of all three) our trusted consultants have a successful track record not just of identifying barriers to high employee engagement, but also of proposing actionable recommendations that create positive results.