Employees Are Customers Too…How Is Your Customer Support

Often when you talk about customer service, you are referring to external customers that purchase your products or services. But you have another customer…your employees. What are they purchasing? You are selling a pay check in exchange for their time, skills, and experience. The problem: There are an infinite number of organizations that offer a paycheck. In order to retain and attract the best talent you will have to separate yourself and your organization from the competition. Below are some benefits that will enhance your customer support and keep your best customers spending their time, skills, and experience with you.

Company/Team Culture: Build a strong culture that is centered on having fun while working hard to fulfill the mission statement. Ensure that each team member understands their vital role in the success of the organization. Foster an environment of sharing ideas, coaching versus punishing performance issues, and celebrating individual and team success. Create opportunities for team members to socialize and team build. Developing team relationships will pay dividends during stressful work projects and create loyalty to each other and the team.

Career Development: A paycheck and health insurance is not enough to retain and attract the best talent. The top talent is searching for an organization that will invest in developing their skills while providing opportunities to enhance their career. It is very important to recognize the career ambitions of each team member. Support those ambitions through coaching, mentoring, and training opportunities. When employees see the team leader is vested in helping them succeed professionally it builds loyalty.

 
Personal Development: Team leaders should be working to understand the personal goals of each team member. Identify ways you personally or the organization can support their efforts. This support can be as small as allowing them time away from work to volunteer for their favorite charity. You may discover a way to have the entire team join. This will create a team building opportunity while supporting an employee’s personal goal.

Building a great company culture that allows team members to have fun, develop their careers, and reach their personal goals will provide the customer support you need to retain and attract the best talent.