How To Start Right Building A Quality Service Culture

Quality usually starts with just a few people in any organization. The higher those people are in the organization, the higher the probability of success. Any single group can declare itself a quality group and thrive without the overall organization being on board. It is rare for entire organization to agree on any one agenda when effort and involvement on the part of everyone will be required. 

To ensure that a good beginning is in placed right from the onset, the following is recommended: 

• 1. Provide coaching for upper level managers
• 2. Have upper level managers and the board of directors go through a seminar on service quality
• 3. Do an upside-down review. Have subordinates rate the managers on quality readiness
• 4. Have upper level managers go through an executive retreat to assess this cultural readiness and work through a plan to change the culture. This is done by defining the desired culture and then doing a gap analysis by surveying employees to see how close the current culture is to the desired outcome. Outside facilitators can be most helpful. 

Leadership training comes in many forms. There are four basic types; feedback, personal growth, skills building, and conceptual. Each has its drawbacks and advantages. The latest trend, however, is to use a value-based approach. 

Value-based leadership maintains that if we share certain values, the bond between us will be stronger than if we follow the same commands. It requires leaders to articulate the company vision and then create an environment where employees can figure out the answers. 

The Japanese went through 20 years of changing a very authoritarian management philosophy into one that involves considerable direction from the top and input and decision making at the bottom. 

Total quality service is both top-down and bottom-up management. For it to succeed, leadership has to be responsive. Work on the leadership first if this is not the case. Unresponsive leadership will only make employees and customers resentful as heightened expectations are dashed against the rocks of arrogance and resistance. Most organizations have a bit of this in place, but ultimately leadership has to walk the talk. 

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Written by Robert Chew

Principal Consultant & Corporate Trainer 

Website: www.quartonmanagement.com

 

 

 

How To Bring About Change

Transforming an enterprise from an organization orientation to a process centric is a difficult culture change. It requires a major change in the way the organization is managed. 

Change is not easy. Everyone is for change. The problem is everyone should change except me. Why do I need to change? I have proved that this is the right way to do things. 

Change is not a simple process. It requires a lot of thought, a well developed plan, a sophisticated approach, discipline, emotional intelligence and unfaltering leadership. Different people react differently to change. Expectations would need to be managed realistically. Fear of the unknown, untried, untested way is natural but needs to be overcome. 

Here are 10 rules that should be used to guide your change process: 

• 1. The organization must believe that change is important and valuable to its future.
• 2. There has to be a vision that paints a picture of the desired future state that everyone sees and understands.
• 3. Existing and potential barriers must be identified and removed.
• 4. The total organization must be behind the strategy to achieve the vision.
• 5. The leaders of the organization need to model the process and set an example.
• 6. Training should be provided for the required new skills.
• 7. Measurement systems should be established so that results can be quantified.
• 8. Continuous feedback should be provided to everyone.
• 9. Coaching must be provided to correct undesired behaviour.
• 10. Recognition and reward systems must be established to effectively reinforce desired behaviour. 

Change is crucial for a company’s survival but many companies resist change until it is forced upon them. In a research done by McKinsey & Co., it noted that the leaders of companies in crisis are often in a better position to achieve a true transformation. Why? The survival of the firm is at stake. 

Change is an inevitable part of life and business. Don’t wait till it is too late. Help your people embrace rather than resist it. 

If you like this article, please subscribe to our blog and get our Free Report on “10 Secrets to Successful Employee Engagement”.  

Written by Robert Chew

Principal Consultant & Corporate Trainer 

Website: www.quartonmanagement.com

Beware The Silent Customer

Most of us are living lives in the fast lane. Just as technology is rapidly changing, so is our lifestyle. The way we do things are a whole lot different than we used to, we walk and talk a lot faster, always in a hurry, and even our tastes and preferences are changing. 

Our expectations are at an all-time high. We are more demanding than ever with growing affluence. We are spoilt for choice. Ask yourself as a customer, do you bother to take time to tell people exactly what you want? The answer is most probably “No”. You would expect the quality or service you want for whatever it is you’re buying and you expect the other party to know. 

I was with a close buddy recently who wanted steak for dinner. We went to this restaurant in mid town and ordered a rib-eye and sirloin steak complete with soup, salad, red wine, and dessert and coffee to end off. He preferred his steak done medium-well while I like mine well-done as usual. 

When our soup was served, it wasn’t hot. In fact, it tasted like it was mass produced and left on the kitchen stove for some time. The garlic bread that accompanied it was no better. It wasn’t freshly toasted and soaked of melted butter.  Twenty minutes later, our steaks arrived. Mine was almost burned (I could tell even with the brown mushroom sauce over it) while his was clearly rare when he cut it. Meanwhile, the waiters were busily serving other diners. I suggested we have his steak sent back to the kitchen but he said to forget about it. 

Thirty minutes later, we asked for the bill. The restaurant manager presented us the check and enquired if everything was to our satisfaction. My buddy simply replied, “Fine, thanks” and the manager happily moved on. 

“Fine! Why didn’t you tell him your steak was served practically raw fit for the lions? They messed up your steak and you said fine?” I protested. “Oh, I can’t be bothered. I’ll just make sure I don’t come back,” he replied with certainty. 

Here is the scary situation. The manager thinks everybody is happy while the customers are thinking, “We are not ever going to come back here again!” My friend did not even register his dissatisfaction on the customary customer satisfaction form located at each table. 

So how do you know what your customers are thinking about you? Just because they are silent does not necessarily mean they are happy. 

What can you do? 

• 1. Openly and habitually seek feedback from your customers – good or bad.
• 2. Even if your customer should reply that everything is fine, still ask “If there is one thing we can do better, what would it be?”
• 3. In the feedback card, use words like “Please give us your honest comment. We love feedback as it will help us serve you better.”
• 4. Then go to work on improvements based on the feedback received or your customers will know sooner or later that you are insincere about improving. 

And finally, if you do get customers who complain, remember to thank them. They are probably speaking on behalf of many dozen other customers who thought similarly but didn’t tell you. Learn from it and make sure you win them over and keep them coming back. 

If you like this article, please subscribe to our blog and get our Free Report on “10 Secrets to Successful Employee Engagement”.  

Written by Robert Chew

Principal Consultant & Corporate Trainer 

Website: www.quartonmanagement.com

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