Lean Tip #2671 – Outline
a Clear Team Vision for Your Frontline Employees.
Your frontline employees are your direct
connection to your customers and potential customers – they’re the ones who are
in direct contact with those customers, and need to be able to understand your
organization’s ambitions and goals in order to provide superb customer service
experiences for everyone they interact with. However, many times, frontline
employees feel as though they’re disconnected from corporate – they don’t
always feel as though corporate understands them, or that they’re really linked
in with what’s happening at corporate headquarters.
Investing in training and helping your
frontline employees to really understand what your corporate vision is, what
your brand means, and how they can assist with achieving company goals is a
great way to motivate your frontline employees.
Lean Tip #2672 – Create a Sense of Purpose Around
the Customer.
To build a genuine sense of purpose and meaning,
the employees in the experiment stores were taught how to connect every
product, process, and policy to the benefit and impact they had on customers.
If they couldn’t connect an action to a customer outcome, they were taught that
it was safe to ask questions until they understood.
Lean Tip #2673 – Value Employee Opinions
Don’t stop at collecting feedback regularly.
Many frontline workers have great suggestions to improve the experience they
offer their end-users and colleagues. If someone has a good idea, implement it.
Even if management decides an idea is not
feasible, it’s important to communicate the reasons behind the decision to the
frontline worker. This lets them know that, while you will not be going forward
with their idea, it was at least heard and considered. The worst thing you can
do is ask for feedback and go completely silent as to its progress. When this
happens, workers feel as if they’re sending their ideas into the ether, never
to be heard of again.
Lean Tip #2674 – Listen and Empower
Coaching requires both encouragement and
empowerment. As a manager and a leader, your job is to build one-on-one
relationships with employees that result in improved performance.
Your employees are likely to have a lot of
input, questions, and feedback. It’s important for them to know you care enough
to listen to what they have to say, so encourage them to share their opinions.
Some employees will have no problem speaking
their mind, while others will need a LOT of encouragement before they share an
opinion with you openly. Once they do open up, be sure to respect those
opinions by discussing them, rather than dismissing them.
Lean Tip #2675 – Make Employees Part of
Customer Experience.
Frontline employees have some truly impactful
insights about customer wants and needs, and whether a company is meeting them.
Make it known to employees that they are welcomed to share these insights and
give them a path to follow in order to do so, whether that’s directly through
their manager or another channel. Also, share regular updates related to the
customer experience such as progress made towards organizational goals or new
initiatives being launched. That way, everyone is invested and on the same
page.
Lean Tip #2676 – Make Employee Satisfaction a
Priority To Improve Customer Satisfaction
Simply put, when your employees are happy, they
can provide better customer service. Studies have proven that employees often
perform better at the jobs when they feel appreciated. Give each employee a
personalized ‘thank you’ every now and then, and introduce an employee of the
month program, if you don’t have one already. If you can help your employees
take pride in their jobs, their work performance will also improve.
Lean Tip #2677 – Empower Employees to Solve Problems
on Their Own
Hiring problem-solvers does you no good if you
don’t empower them to actually solve the problems that come their way.
Every company has rules, but beware of creating
such a rigid structure that your employees can’t deliver good service. Whenever
possible, give your team the leeway to solve a customer’s problem within
guidelines you’ve created. Empower them with the authority and flexibility to
find creative or alternative solutions to issues when they arise, without
having to get your sign-off on every little thing.
Lean Tip #2678 – Be an Optimistic Problem
Solver.
Frankly, one of the great tests of someone’s
positive attitude is whether they focus on problems or solutions. As Henry Ford once said,
If you think that you can do a thing or think
you can’t do a thing, you’re right!
In the context of solving problems this is a
very important issue as a pessimistic attitude will hold you back from finding
solutions and will probably make you cynical about other people’s efforts as
well.
The next time a problem comes your way, don’t
sigh and wait for the world to come to an end, immediately understand that
there is a solution out there and it’s your exciting job to find it.
Lean Tip #2679 – When Solving Problems Put Aside
Time to Think.
One of the restrictions to effective problem
solving is time. In our busy days, it is
easier and quicker to rant about a problem and come up with a knee-jerk
reaction rather than consider a well thought out plan that may stop more
problems from occurring in the future.
Steven Covey calls this the
“Important/Non-urgent” time that we really should be scheduling into our
diaries so that we can spend time coming up with creative solutions.
Brainstorming with others can be a helpful
component of this, but don’t fall into the trap of just organizing another
meeting if you don’t have a clear outcome that you are after.
Lean Tip #2680 – Celebrate When a Solution Has Been
Found.
We don’t do this just to pat ourselves on the
back. Celebrating can be a great way of
consolidating a culture of focusing on solutions rather than problems. It doesn’t have to be an extravagant
celebration, but doing something positive to reinforce behavior and feelings
that you want to experience again assist in creating new habits that are much
more resourceful and solutions focused.
Lean Tip #2681 - Create Coaching and Mentoring
Opportunities
One of the best ways to develop future leaders
is by having them learn directly from other successful leaders. Once you’ve
identified candidates that could potentially be great leaders, match them up
with a great leader to mentor them, coach them, and consistently provide
feedback. A mentor can provide customized guidance that helps prepare junior
employees to become more effective leaders in the future. Building these strong
relationships early creates opportunities for open, honest lines of
communication throughout the leadership development process.
Lean Tip #2682 – Use Job Rotation to Broaden
Experience
Give your workers a chance to broaden their
expertise by working in different parts of the company. This will allow you and
them to discover both their strengths and the areas where they need additional
training. It will also give them an appreciation of other roles that will be
beneficial in managing others in those areas.
Lean Tip #2683 - Provide “Stretch” Assignments
for Employees
Offer a chance for your employees to prove
themselves while also cultivating new talents. Providing assignments that
stretch them outside of their comfort zone will force them to learn to better
manage stress and tap into their creativity and problem solving abilities. Even
failure can provide valuable lessons that can better your team.
Lean Tip #2684 - Invest in Your Team’s
Education
Top leaders are typically people who have a
commitment to learning and development, and who are continually looking for
ways to expand their skills and knowledge. As such, if you want your current
workers to become the best leaders possible, it’s wise to invest time and money
into their education. While you can leave learning up to them, you’ll find that
they develop much more quickly if you aid them in this area, and show you’re
willing to invest in them.
Lean Tip #2685 - Offer Opportunities for
Leadership Development
Incorporate developing future leaders as part
of your firm’s business strategy. Come up with a leadership plan that details
all the steps that an employee needs to go through from one level to the other.
Let every employee benefit from the experience he or she receives while keeping
in mind that formal training can be of great help too. When offering chances
for your workers to express what they have in various roles, ensure that they
have access to guidance and support that they require to give better
performance.
