Leadership as service

WeekSixServiceCulture.pptx

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LDRS 300: Leadership as service

Lecture #10

Unless otherwise noted material and ideas for this lecture are based on the book, The service culture handbook (2017) by Jeff Toister

Toister, Jeff. (2017). The Service Culture Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Employees Obsessed with Customer Service. Toister Performance Solutions.

How do we understand an organization’s culture?

Edgar Schein, Researcher and Business Management Professor specializing in organizational culture says this:

“In analyzing the culture of a particular group or organization it is desirable to distinguish three fundamental levels at which culture manifests itself:

(a) observable artifacts,

(b) values, and

Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/Lszlrvai/so-how-are-things-really-done-around-here-culture

So what is a service culture?

“So service culture is an organizational culture where there is a collective way employees think about providing outstanding service, act to provide it, and understand how and why they do it.

My shorthand definition is a service culture is one where employees are obsessed with customer service.”

Jeff Toister, 2017, p. xi

Learning lab #1 culture models

In your groups Brainstorm ideas and fill in the template model in each of the three areas for the following:

1. China

2. Canada

3. The Organization Your Group is Researching

Building a customer focused culture

So what kind of culture will you create when it comes to serving others?

Defining your culture

How does an organization define its culture? More specifically, it’s service culture?

Customer service vision

”A statement that clearly defines the quality of customer service employees are expected to provide”

(Toister, 2017, p.35)

Sample customer service visions

We inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.

REI Outdoor Store

Sample customer service visions

To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.

Chick-Fil-A

Sample customer service visions

To be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat and drink.

McDonald’s Restaurants

3 steps to creating a customer service vision

1. Gather Input.

2. Writing the Vision.

3. Validating the Vision.

1. gather input

1. Who needs to be around the table?

2. What voices are important and why?

3. How, when and in what space will we gather their input?

Surveys

Online

Face to face

Teams or individuals

Onsite or off-site

3. Ask one key question, “What would you like customers to think of when they think about the service we provide?” (Toister, 2017,p.40)

2. Writing the vision

1. 7-10 people is optimal.

2. No more than 2 hours in length.

3. 4 steps:

Clarify objectives

Review data

Draft Vision

Capture examples

A good customer service vision has the following criteria:

1. It is simple and easily understood.

2 It is focused on customers.

3. It reflects both who you are now and who you aspire to be in the future.

(Toister, 2017, p. 43)

#3 validating the vision

Getting all the stakeholders on board with the vision is a key step to having the vision embedded throughout the organization and become part of the culture.

It needs to resonate and make sense to everyone in the organization, not just those who created it.

There are several ways you can engage stakeholders:

One on one meetings, phone calls, zoom with senior executives

Focus groups, town hall meetings, department meetings

Use a survey to get input about their response, concerns or feedback to the vision.

Engaging employees with your culture

Employees need to be able to easily answer three questions as it relates to a customer service vision

1. What is it?

2. What does it mean?

3. How do I personally contribute?

Develop a plan

1. Roll out the Vision.

2. Create tools and training to get everyone on the same page.

3. Reinforce the new culture with encouragement, memos, evaluations, quarterly check-ups, coaching and mentoring.

4. Assess employee engagement (ongoing) through a variety of tools, both formal and informal.

At the end of the day, every employee should be able to answer these three questions:

1. What is our customer service vision?

2. What does the customer service vision mean?

3. How do I personally contribute to the customer service vision?

Fanatacial support…rackspace

Changing your company’s service dna

The key is alignment

How are business & culture misaligned?

1. Hired the wrong people – not a good fit, not interested in service culture.

2. Not everyone knows or understands the service vision.

3. Staff are unclear about how to carry out the service vision.

3. Different departments have different goals and are not seeing the overall picture of what the organization is trying to accomplish.

Customer service alignment survey

Jeff Toister (2017) has developed this simple Customer Service Alignment Assessment to help organizations test their alignment to make sure they are ready and willing to have a great customer service vision.

Align your business around a customer-focused culture

5 Key Areas:

1. Goals

2. Hiring

3. Training

4. Empowerment

5. Leadership

#1. goals

Goals: set goals that drive your culture

1. Create good goals (SEE SMART GOALS).

2. Know what motivates people (and it’s not necessarily money).

3. Make sure the goals align with the outcomes you desire.

What makes a good goal?

Try evaluating your team's customer service goals against the good goal criteria:

Do they focus attention on customer service?

Do they reward teamwork?

Do they rely on intrinsic motivation?

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Customer service alignment survey

Jeff Toister (2017) has developed this simple SMART goals worksheet to help organizations, teams and individuals develop smart goals to help them achieve their great customer service vision.

#2. hiring

Hire employees who embrace your culture

There are many ways to do that…here is one way

1. Create an Ideal Candidate Profile.

2. Design test to find an Ideal Candidate.

3. Commit to the process.

Getting the right hire

#3. training

Employees should know what the service vision is and be able to explain how it applies to them and the work they undertake.

Many companies however fail to provide employees with specific training on how to embody the culture.

Training needs to be ongoing, evolving and relevant to the service vision of the organization.

#3. training

Jeff Toister (2017) in Chapter 8 has a step by step framework any organization can use to create their own customer service training plan.

Keep in mind however that any training undertaken needs to have these three components:

clear objectives

an instructional plan

reinforcement

#4. empowerment

What is employee empowerment?

“Achieve extraordinary results by looking at our business through the eyes of our customers and making it easy for hem to do business with us and ensuring their experience if memorable.” Safelite

Fruit of the loom connects and empowers employees across the globe

How do we empower people?

1. Give employees the right authority.

2. Everyone knows what the vision is and how it applies to them.

3. Create a culture of share authority and empowerment (see C. G. Wilkes…E.Q.U.I.P).

4. Coaching and mentoring of all staff at all levels builds trust and collaboration which are key ingredients to being empowered.

#5. leadership

Leadership is an essential element of creating a customer-focused culture. It provides staff with direction, guidance and inspiration (Toister, 2017, p. 143).

Leaders…

Model, communicate and embody the culture.

Set the pace of the organization, teams and strategies.

Embody the priorities and values of the organization.

Service vision leaders who set the standard…

REI Co-Op

https://www.rei.com/opt-outside

REI, a passionate advocate for the outdoors, is committed to creating access to inspiring outdoor places across the country. With 12,000 employees – who are knowledgeable and experienced outdoor enthusiasts – REI has been recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” for 19 consecutive years.

Anthony Caselana – Squarespace https://www.squarespace.com/about/company/

Squarespace empowers people with creative ideas to succeed.

For next week

Final Presentations are due

Reflection Paper is due July July 24th

Check the moodle for this week’s readings and other important information.