Innovation of an organization is not completed until employees and customers are respected equally. All organizations preach the mantra of employee engagement combined with improving customer service. They proliferate the traditional assumptions of command and control with smiles. As though senior management aproned, flipping burgers at the company picnic will assuage their concerns. They will feel as though management cares about them.

Alas, story time of management everywhere.

What if one day and every day the people secured in the protective silos of HR, customer service and the talking heads of management really understood people? Do you think they realize their jobs too are on the line?

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Managers and leaders frequently lament, “What will make me and my organization successful?” Two commonalities among some of our clients are:

1. They satisfy a customer need.
2. They are convinced they know how to engage with customers and prospects in a way that maximizes the likelihood of success.

Culled from years of consulting we have arrived at a few ideas. Let's focus on how we engage and market to customers in a way that produces the maximum return on investment. We could then:

• Build trust between management and employees. Understand their experience and meet it at their level.
• Understanding the customer's experience and constantly striving to improve it.
• See customers and employees are major determinants of an organization’s success.
•  Reduce management since no one but the people you do not want, enjoys being managed. Employees really aren’t sheep.
• You want all the m to view themselves as leaders not followers.
• Use the Dual System Approach with customers: Attract and retain. But just imagine if you took the same care with your employees. What if you were equally concerned with making them evangelists, building trust, reducing costly attrition so that they can’t wait for Mondays to begin. Psst, yes there are such people. They want to make a difference not just a paycheck.
• Setting up our passionate customers, ahem …. Passionate employees too ….. who know and love our products or service -- to drive word-of-mouth marketing about our business.

If you do not have a stellar product your employees and customers will lead you to them. One does not have to be big to do the little things in a big way that garner trust among employees and customers alike. If we collect an e-mail address from customers during their transactions, send them a quick online survey asking them about their recent transaction or interaction with your business. But, let’s be honest, everybody does that. Have you dared ask your employees what they think?

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• They will give you ideas they have longed wanted someone to hear.   
• We used the following suggestions to a Fortune 500 company that led to lower attrition and improved the bottom-line by 20%:
• Have a strong desire to be recognized as a service-oriented organization within the group.A deep intention to provide WOW experiences to their clients and employees.
• Lead not manage.
• The expectation to be more service-oriented, has been explicitly stated by the other divisions of the company as well. They needed a more supportive financial organization.
• Reduce management teams.
• Remove protective silos and bureaucracy.
• Make HR accountable for hiring people who are not like them.

You can do this. Please let me know how we can help you. Click here to see our business coaching webinar. Thank you very much. Jim 

Jim Woods is a successful leadership trainer and speaker and executive coach. He speaks on employee engagement, leadership and change management, leading instead of managing and customer service. He is an author, a former fifth grade and university teacher with an impressive resume. He is beloved by audiences. To schedule a speaking engagement with Jim please schedule an engagement here. Go>. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.