What culture do you develop?
What culture do you develop?
At the other checkout, two members of staff were discussing the returns from the previous day. So here were six people in a queue waiting to be served by one lady while two other ladies did the paperwork!!!
When I finally got to be served (8 minutes later) the cashier said “Are you wanting to pay for these or are they returns?” !!!!!!
My reply was, “I have been wanting to pay for them for over five minutes”.
She replied with, “I am sorry but we are so busy.”
I said, “yes, but that is not my problem when I am in a hurry”.
What happened next amazed me. The cashier (a lady of between fifty and sixty years old), said, “May I suggest that you complain to head office”.
I said, “That isn’t going to do me any good is it?”
Her reply? “If people can’t be bothered to complain, then head office will never give us the staff we need to give the service”.
At this moment I was speechless and grateful that she was handing me the receipt for my purchase so I did not have to continue this conversation.
What is going on here? Many of you will have heard me speak of ‘prevailing attitudes’ in an organization. What are the prevailing attitudes in this major retail chain?
Well the first one we hear is that ‘management don’t listen’. In fact, if they want management to listen, the only way to achieve this is through the customers! This perception comes from continuing to ask management for…… and not getting a satisfactory reply or support or simply feeling like they are not heard. I have written and spoken many times on how ‘listening’ is one of the main abilities of being a successful leader.
If people don’t feel they are listened to, they will first do something very significant and powerful.
They will stop listening as well!
Think about it. If someone isn’t listening to us, then what do we generally do? We start thinking about how to be heard, how to gain attention, how to ………. and non of these things are listening. They are all actions that are aimed at being heard.
People will even stop hearing the information that can solve their problems.
Children behave the same. When parents don’t listen they start to ignore what is being said to them and then most resort to doing things that gain them attention.
There are some who withdraw into themselves and stop putting in the effort. This leads me on to the next thing that people do when they perceive that they are not listened to. The next thing they do is:
shift their focus away from the purpose of the business and instead they focus on their problem.
In this retail store, the focus of the staff was no longer on serving the customer. Remember what I said at the beginning, there were two members of staff busy completing returns from the previous day. Not in a back office but out there so we could all see how many returns the company gets in a day and feel frustrated while we stood in line!!!!
What is the purpose of this company? I would have thought ‘to serve the customer’ must be high on the list somewhere. Everyone in that store should have a single aim above all other tasks they have to complete (including returns) and that is to serve us so that they can get some money for the things they have bought and put on show for us. It is not complicated.
However, these people were not listening any more. Now they were focused on their problem and on their tasks. Filling in forms. Looking for information. Anything that gets the processes done!
Paul Bridle
Leadership Methodologist
What culture do you develop - To learn more about this author, visit Paul Bridle's Website.
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I had a wonderful insight into a major retail company today when I called in for a tub of paint and a packet of light bulbs. I got to the checkout and there were five people in line waiting to pay with one checkout open.
At the other checkout, two members of staff were discussing the returns from the previous day. So here were six people in a queue waiting to be served by one lady while two other ladies did the paperwork!!!
When I finally got to be served (8 minutes later) the cashier said “Are you wanting to pay for these or are they returns?” !!!!!!
My reply was, “I have been wanting to pay for them for over five minutes”.
She replied with, “I am sorry but we are so busy.”
I said, “yes, but that is not my problem when I am in a hurry”.
What happened next amazed me. The cashier (a lady of between fifty and sixty years old), said, “May I suggest that you complain to head office”.
I said, “That isn’t going to do me any good is it?”
Her reply? “If people can’t be bothered to complain, then head office will never give us the staff we need to give the service”.
At this moment I was speechless and grateful that she was handing me the receipt for my purchase so I did not have to continue this conversation.
What is going on here? Many of you will have heard me speak of ‘prevailing attitudes’ in an organization. What are the prevailing attitudes in this major retail chain?
Well the first one we hear is that ‘management don’t listen’. In fact, if they want management to listen, the only way to achieve this is through the customers! This perception comes from continuing to ask management for…… and not getting a satisfactory reply or support or simply feeling like they are not heard. I have written and spoken many times on how ‘listening’ is one of the main abilities of being a successful leader.
If people don’t feel they are listened to, they will first do something very significant and powerful.
They will stop listening as well!
Think about it. If someone isn’t listening to us, then what do we generally do? We start thinking about how to be heard, how to gain attention, how to ………. and non of these things are listening. They are all actions that are aimed at being heard.
People will even stop hearing the information that can solve their problems.
Children behave the same. When parents don’t listen they start to ignore what is being said to them and then most resort to doing things that gain them attention.
There are some who withdraw into themselves and stop putting in the effort. This leads me on to the next thing that people do when they perceive that they are not listened to. The next thing they do is:
shift their focus away from the purpose of the business and instead they focus on their problem.
In this retail store, the focus of the staff was no longer on serving the customer. Remember what I said at the beginning, there were two members of staff busy completing returns from the previous day. Not in a back office but out there so we could all see how many returns the company gets in a day and feel frustrated while we stood in line!!!!
What is the purpose of this company? I would have thought ‘to serve the customer’ must be high on the list somewhere. Everyone in that store should have a single aim above all other tasks they have to complete (including returns) and that is to serve us so that they can get some money for the things they have bought and put on show for us. It is not complicated.
However, these people were not listening any more. Now they were focused on their problem and on their tasks. Filling in forms. Looking for information. Anything that gets the processes done!
Paul Bridle
Leadership Methodologist
What culture do you develop - To learn more about this author, visit Paul Bridle's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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