Word Of Mouth & Why Treating Employees Like Customers Drives Success

Is your team working to their fullest potential? Do you invest in your employees as much as you do in your customers? In 2024 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 60% of job separations were voluntary, meaning 3.2 million people quit their jobs. Think about the one horrible boss you had vs. your favorite one, what were the reasons you didn’t like them? Were they micromanagers, did they understand the workload they were asking for, did they offer good benefits? However, research has shown that companies that prioritize employee satisfaction see higher retention, better performance, and stronger brand reputation. 

A great customer experience starts with a great employee experience. When employees feel good about their jobs, they provide better service, which in turn allows customers to have a better experience. Executive Coach and Organizational Consultant Diana Dosik discusses how important it is to invest in employees' interests in her TedTalk Why we need to treat our employees as thoughtfully as our customers. She explains how big companies often try to compensate teams with what they think will make them happy but then rarely ever invest in learning what drives and motivates the teams. And how often, the “bonuses” offered just served the opposite effect and made work more frustrating by highlighting how out of touch management was by their expectations of what could actually be achieved. 

There are three key factors that help keep both employees and customers engaged: 

Diosk mentions the example of how Google noticed the high turnover rate for female employees. When they took a closer look they discovered one of the largest factors in this rate was the company’s maternity leave policy. By extending the paid leave from 12 weeks to 18, they saw a 50% drop on female turnover rate. Changes like this one not only improve employee retention but also boost performance, and brand image.  

Keep in mind that the same way that brand ambassadors are a company’s face, their employees are the personality. A report from Business News Daily reveals that 64% of marketers consider word of mouth more effective than other marketing tactics. So, when you think about it, employees are a company’s largest marketing strategy, if used correctly.  

For example, Katie works at Snowcakes Bakery, her boss Lucy is always rushing her to get online orders completed faster. Lucy created a “little competition” between the employees and whoever has the best order metrics wins a $100 gift card. However, Lucy does not realize that due to the high volume of in-store purchases, it makes it difficult for the team to keep up with the orders. Now, instead of Katie working harder for the gift card, she’s just more upset due to Lucy’s unrealistic expectations. After a few weeks of communicating her complaints, and no changes being made and instead of seeing improvement, hearing Lucy say, “well Sarah got amazing numbers, so she received the gift card”, Katie quit on the spot. 

Now, let’s contrast this if Lucy where to put the team’s challenges into account:  

Katie has been struggling at work due to the record-breaking in-store sales but is worried about the backlog of online orders. While talking with Lucy she mentioned how backed up they have been lately. After talking to the rest of the team individually, and seeing the last quarter’s profits, Lucy decides to hire Sarah. Sarah has previous experience and is able to jump right in after a few days of training on Snowcake's process and policies. With the extra support, Katie is able to focus on in-person sales, while Sarah takes care of the online orders. Now employees have a manageable workload, and can give the customers full attention, enhancing their shopping experience that is now filled with delicious freshly baked goods scents. The following quarter Lucy was able to give everyone in the team a $100 gift card in recognition for their hard work. 

Finding the root causes of employees' dissatisfaction, addressing them, and improving the circumstances to improve their work environment doesn’t only benefit them, but also consumers, and the company’s profit and reputation. 

How will you improve your team’s work experience and environment?