The title of this article is a bit misleading. So is “How to get him to return calls quicker,” “How to get her to be friendlier to customers,” and “How to get them to upsell more.”

If we want to be accurate about how we lead people, and how we manage the experience, we have to admit that we can’t actually “get” anyone to do anything. But we still need our workforce to produce, to deliver, and ultimately to help us obtain and keep customers.

So if we can’t get them to do it, what can we do?

We can provide clear, strong leadership that sets our people (and our business) up for success, both internally—among employees, and externally—among customers.

The Leader’s Role

Here are three critical ways leaders can set their people up to do “it”—that is, to deliver on customer experience promises:

1. DEFINE AND SET EXPECTATIONS FOR WHAT “IT” IS

Start off by determining what you want your business to be known for. Define one or two basic beliefs to inspire each employee’s behaviors every day. For example, “We believe every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to offer a friendly, engaging experience that makes us the best place to shop.” If an employee doesn’t believe every customer truly deserves a friendly, engaging experience, that employee will have difficulty providing that experience.

Beliefs are critical because they drive behaviors. But beliefs are invisible. We can’t “see” or “do” a belief, so we can’t measure its effectiveness. Behaviors, on the other hand, are visible—and therefore, measurable. Behaviors drive the experiences that lead to a business result—more or less productivity, loyalty, and/or sales.

Determine specific behaviors that all employees can do consistently to provide the kind of “wow” experiences that not only satisfy customers, but instill the kind of loyalty that leads to referrals (the ultimate compliment).

Document these beliefs and behaviors. Make sure beliefs are simple, easy to understand, remember, and repeat. Make sure behaviors are actionable and visible.

Here’s an example of a basic, non-negotiable behavior every employee can and should do every day.

“Help customers find what they need.” (Good, but not great).

“Approach customers in the store and ask ‘Can I help you find something?’” (Much better! Why? Because it’s specific and visible).

2. COMMUNICATE

After you define and document the behaviors that make up the desired customer experience, COMMUNICATE them to all employees and set clear expectations.

In weekly staff meetings and informal huddles, on break room bulletin boards, and in staff newsletters, focus on one key behavior at a time, such as, “Acknowledge every customer with eye contact, a smile, and a sincere greeting.” Frequently mention “the experience” you want to deliver to customers, and remind employees of the specific behaviors that have been defined as “mission critical” to the company’s success.

Better yet, catch your people doing the right behaviors, and share those successes with the entire workforce. Recognizing people for doing the right things is the best way to educate employees on the company strategy, generate commitment, and stimulate positive actions that will be replicated by others.

3. HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE FOR DOING “IT”

Measure the consistency with which those behaviors are delivered on a day-to-day basis, and link those measurements to key financial results.

Make “the experience” part of every performance review. Have employees complete a non-confidential self-assessment once a year to rate themselves on how consistently they do the non-negotiable behaviors. This can be a great starting point for a conversation between you and your employee. Find out if they’re unclear about expectations – what to do, or how to do it. Identify areas where the employee might be struggling, resources or additional training they may need, and reinforce their crucial role in impacting the company’s financial results.

Good employees will try hard to meet performance objectives if they understand what good performance is. It’s your job as the leader to DEFINE good performance, clearly COMMUNICATE expectations, and courageously HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE for delivering “it.”

I’ve written before about what I called the “mass
exodus of A-players.” And it popped back in my head recently as I’ve been inundated
with Google alerts for articles about hiring and firing as we move into economic recovery.

A current survey by Monster.com said that 79% of the workforce will seek new employment
once the economy starts growing. That means that some of your employees may leave,
but at the same time the pool of potential applicants will be growing.

So what are you going to do to ensure you keep your A-players as well as hire right-fit
employees to replace those that leave?
The first part I’ve addressed a lot. To reiterate a few:

1. Investigate the reality of what employees are thinking/feeling
2. Ensure you set expectations and communicate with employees about how they should live
   the brand everyday
3. Recognize employees when they do it right

The latter piece, hiring right-fit employees, is not so difficult either if you ensure
that the company brand is infused from the get-go. Here are three simple things you
can do to better your chances of success:

1. Utilize a hiring template populated with questions tied to your company values and
   bullet points about what to look for in responses
2. Implement an employee referral program that rewards employees if the candidate gets
   the job
3. Tailor the job offer in a way that shows the candidate how the job will use his/her
   strengths to achieve (personal and professional) goals.

In our recent Red Folder eZine, we asked the following question: Do your employees understand, commit to, and know how to take action on your brand? (In other words, do employees buy-in to the company brand?)
Here are the results:

Nearly half of respondents mentioned that they would like to find out if employees
in their company are effectively living the brand.

The best way to find out if employees think, speak, and behave your company’s brand
is to evaluate/assess their performance of key behaviors that are directly tied to
the brand and company goals/objectives. So how do you do that?

First, set clear expectations for all employees on what beliefs are required to represent
your company’s brand/values. Then establish a set of basic, nonnegotiable behaviors
for all employees to demonstrate that are tied to those beliefs.

Integrate the brand into performance systems such as behavior-based interviewing to
select the best-fit employees; job-level behavioral expectations for onboarding, training,
and providing feedback; and a proprietary recognition system for proactively capturing
successes and acknowledging peers who demonstrate behaviors that enhance the work
culture and improve the customer experience.

Then conduct regular behavior-based assessments to track employee engagement, productivity,
and brand alignment across teams and departments in order to pinpoint strengths and
areas of weaknesses.

At Brand Integrity, we use our Achieving Brand Integrity Assessment to measure how
consistently a company’s employees perform across what are called the Five Dimensions
of Brand Integrity. Click
here to read a post about the assessment.

Click here to take a complimentary
Achieving Brand Integrity Assessment to uncover how well employees in your company
understand, commit to, and take action on your brand.

A study conducted
over a period of three years by SHL (a psychometric testing company) has concluded
that employee engagement is more important than job satisfaction. This indicates that
employees want more out of a career than to just like their job. Ilke Inceoglu, one
of the researchers involved in the study noted, “Job satisfaction has been superseded
by engagement because that shows links to performance.”

How are you managing the engagement of employees in your organization? I know of some
leaders who think that due to the economy, no one is leaving even if they are unhappy.
This simply is not true. Whereas times are tough and many companies have put a freeze
on or limited hiring, good employees

—

A-players

—

will be able to find a job elsewhere no matter what the economy (it may just take
a little longer).

Is your organization at risk of losing it’s A-players? Are your employees engaged?

You may be asking yourself: What does that mean? How can I tell the level of engagement?

Below are some features of an organization with high employee engagement. Read through
and ask yourself how well your company is performing.

• Employees understand the organization’s goals and objectives.
• Employees understand how their work impacts the organization’s ability to achieve
  results.
• Employees are committed to delivering consistently good experiences that drive a positive
  work culture and strong customer relationships.
• Employees take action to live the organization’s brand every day by demonstrating
  on-brand behaviors and experiences.
• Employees communicate effectively and are receptive to others.
• Employees recognize each other for a job well done.
• Employees hold themselves and each other accountable for delivering the behaviors
  and experiences necessary for driving a great work culture and profitable results.

How engaged are your employees? Where does your organization struggle? Knowing the
current reality regarding employee engagement in your organization is the first step
to rectifying areas of weakness and building an engaged workforce.