Are Your Employees Stressed?
Are you are a business owner? If you employ people to work for you
, their attitude is key to building a successful business. But even the best employees can start to feel demoralised at work, and when that happens, it will be YOUR profits that suffer.
In August 2010, a fed up and stressed out air steward ranted at passengers for not doing as they were told, opened the door of the plane and used the emergency slide to get off the plane. He snapped and this was his way of handing in his notice.
Although the passengers were ignoring his instructions (trying to get luggage out from the overhead lockers) he would normally deal with a situation like this everyday in a professional manner. The employee in question probably dealt with this type of problem in the usual manner on a normal day, but on this particular day, he just snapped. Enough was enough for him, so he quit his job in the most dramatic way possible.
He may be the exception to the rule, but every day, employees everywhere are having a bad day and giving YOUR business a bad name.
Every time an employee chooses not to help a customer, it's your name that suffers. Every time they give the customer an unfriendly attitude, it is your bottom line that will feel the pinch.
Perhaps you can think of a few examples of this happening to you when you have been a customer. Have you ever been served by an unfriendly shop assistant and it has put you off that particular store? Have you ever had a customer service query that hasn't been dealt with effectively (or even worse, they have mysteriously hung up on you after you explain in great detail what your query is) and you have vowed NEVER to use that company again?
Everybody has an occasional bad day, but for employees that work with the general puble, there is an opportunity for them to make the customer suffer. So what steps can you take to ensure that this doesn't happen in your business?
Here are a few simple tips;
1) Make sure that your employees know that you will not tolerate a bad attitude towards the customers (by email, over the phone or in person). Encourage good customer relations and excellent customer service. Remember - no customers means no job!
2) Reward good customer service. Single out employees that go the extra mile for your customers. Make sure that you pass on good feedback from customers to your employees. You could offer a bonus scheme that shows your employees that you do value them.
3) Take care of your staff. No matter how many staff you have, they are more than just an employee. They may be suffering for a number of factors in their private life such as money issues, divorce, or even just trying to manage their family commitments as well as their work. The simplest way to find out what is causing employees to feel stressed is to LISTEN to them. Many business owners that ask for feedback from their employees don't actually listen to the responses.
4) Give your staff the opportunity to socialise. Encourage working lunches (just occasionally proving some nice sandwiches and drinks in your normal working environment would be appreciated by your staff). Take this opportunity to talk to colleagues in a social capacity, rather than being work focused. Alternatively, if your staff are young or do not have families, they may even appreciate an organised 'works night out' every once in a while. It's not neccessary for you to pay for the whole evening; this really doesn't have to mean great expense for you, just perhaps a round of drinks as a thank you to your staff.
But most importantly, having an opportunity to just socialise with your colleagues and staff, without talking about work problems, is a great way to build morale in a team.
If you would like further information about stress relief and some simple stress busting ideas for you and your employees, please visit the Healing That Feeling website.
If you are willing to keep your employees happy, they in turn will keep your clients happy.
by: Mel Trudgett
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