2007 research by NIOSH reports that anywhere from 26% to 40% of American workers find their job extremely stressful. In addition, one-fourth of Americans feel that their job is the number one stressor in their lives.⁴

Defining Burnout

Burnout is an internal, defensive response to demanding occupational situations and pressures.  It contains three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy.  Emotional exhaustion is the feeling of being “used up” at the end of the work day, and the most personal aspect of burnout.  Cynicism is taking a distant attitude towards the people one works with—either coworkers or customers.  Finally, reduced professional efficacy is the feeling the individual has about the work. An individual may feel that he/she is not good at his/her work, or not “cut out” for the line of work that he/she is in.²

Preventing Burnout

According to NIOSH, there are several reasons employees can slip into a state of burnout. It can result from factors such as heavy workload, their supervisor’s management style, lack of coworker support, uncertainty about expectations, lack of job security, and working in dangerous environments.⁴ Preventing burnout means ensuring that all of these factors are working optimally.

Countless articles have been published regarding potential interventions for burnout. Because burned out employees could be costly for an organization (lost work time, health-related costs, customer loss due to poor service), the best approach is prevention.

For those that work in professions highly susceptible to burnout (e.g. human service fields), one approach may be to involve the employees in a focus group discussion about ways to potentially reduce burnout. In a particular study of this kind, employees who were in a social work setting came up with some suggestions on how they could reduce their burnout. Employees came up with the following solutions, and the combination of these interventions resulted in reduced emotional exhaustion in the employees: ¹

• Health Club Benefits: Health club membership was offered to employees if they agreed to use it twice a week. The goal was to promote a healthy lifestyle by improving fitness which in turn would improve wellbeing.
• Better Training: Employees were provided with incentives to attend training sessions outside of work (on paid time). To avoid the potential for these sessions “feeling like more work,” one lucky attendee would win a prize.
• Decision Making Involvement: Employees were asked to actively participate in goal-setting for the organization’s future priorities and offerings.  They also had a chance to meet and speak with the decision makers at the organization.
• Constructive Feedback Sessions: Employees felt that more information about their performance would be helpful in reducing the stress they felt at their jobs. They wanted to receive both positive and critical feedback and have a chance to express their concerns with their supervisors.
• Reorganized Work Schedules: Employees expressed a desire for different work schedules to optimize their personal time.  This point is relevant for employees who work part-time or short shifts:  their desire was to get their hours all at once rather than having to leave and return in order to get their needed hours.

The researchers did not test each of these interventions separately, so there is no data to determine if any of the particular interventions were more effective than others.  However, they did find that the intervention that contained all of the above was successful.

NIOSH offers similar suggestions for preventing or reducing burnout. Ensuring frequent rest periods/breaks, allowing employees to participate in decision making, recognizing employees for a job well done, and providing development opportunities were all cited as ways to promote a healthy workplace.⁴

According to research, employees can be either burned out, engaged, or somewhere in between³.  We use several strategies to improve engagement, which are similar to the above burnout interventions. Thus, many firms may consider adopting burnout prevention into their engagement strategy, if they haven’t done so already.

If it seems that burnout is already affecting some of your employees, we suggest using the services of licensed clinical psychologists. Burnout is a serious issue that can lead to very negative outcomes that could require counseling. If your organization has an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP), ensure that it includes information on how employees can find help through counseling or other services.

Burnout can be a costly problem for organizations and their people.  Careful attention and prevention should be considered by human resources initiatives in all organizations in order to ensure the continued health of employees and their workplaces.

Amanda Harms | Associate Consultant

References:

1. Innstrand S.T., Espnes G.A., & Mykletun R. (2004). Job stress, burnout and job satisfaction: an intervention study for staff working with people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 17, 119–26.
2. Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (1997). The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
3. Maslach, C.  Schaufeli, W.B., & Leiter, M.P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397-422.
4. Stress…At Work. NIOSH Publications and Products. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-101/

About six months after implementation, Chris Friend, a human resources representative, announced the engagement scores had increased from the previous year. Next, Sally Saleson, head of sales, announced sales increased during the quarter following the flex rollout. 

The CEO, Pat Sample, was pleased. He was happy to find that the program worked and encouraged all employees to take part in the program.

When rolling out an initiative – whether it be flexible work, casual Fridays, or free coffee – many organizations like to look for subsequent improvements in company performance metrics and then declare their initiative a success.

But truly understanding the effectiveness of any program requires careful measurement. While Wigisource did provide hard data showing that positive outcomes occurred after the program, they were not as diligent as they could have been.  A critical eye should have many questions:

- How could they be sure everyone took advantage of the program?

- If they did take advantage, how often did they use it?

-Did they take advantage of both working from home and the flexible schedule?

-Does it really affect these outcomes that quickly?

-How do we know it was flexible work that impacted engagement and not something else?

Conduct a Survey

While there are many ways to collect this information (observation, focus groups, looking at outcomes alone), the easiest is to conduct a survey.  A survey is a fairly inexpensive and a fairly fast way to find out this information.

If you are evaluating the success of a flexible work program, here are a couple of staple questions to include.  (All items can assume an agreement scale: strongly agree to strongly disagree.)

-I participated in the flexible working program offered at COMPANY this year.

-I worked from home at least one day every month.

-I adjusted my work schedule to better fit my needs.

Correlate to Engagement

As you evaluate the results, look for a connection between positive answers on these questions and positive answers on engagement questions.  In addition, see if there is a connection between these questions and your productivity measures.

In the Wigisource example, the productivity measure was increased sales.  The expectation would be that better salespeople have higher scores on the flexible working questions.

You may also wish to ask some other questions directly related to flex work that also relate to potential desired outcomes. Sample questions include:

-I would continue to work at Wigisource without the flexible working program.

-I feel the flex work program has helped me balance personal and work responsibilities.

Evaluate for Cause and Effect

While including these items certainly provides better information than looking at outcomes alone, it is possible to go a step further, using advanced statistical analysis.

While we know that flexible work had an impact on engagement and productivity, how important was it compared to other aspects in the workplace? What else might have been going on at Wigisource? Were people feeling more recognized by their bosses for hard work?  Were they having a lot of fun with their co-workers? Did they find that their work was more challenging?

This is where the importance of the engagement survey itself comes in.  A well-balanced engagement survey should include more than just general questions about engagement. It should ask about the work environment, the manager, the company image, the work itself, as well as any programs rolled out such as flex programs.  These are all things that can impact engagement.

In an ideal world, a company would take great lengths to make all of those things better for employees. However, understanding what impacts engagement most will yield the best engagement results.  This is done through a process called Key Driver Analysis. A Key Driver Analysis will examine all of the different questions on a survey expected to impact engagement, and provide insight as to which ones are the most important.

Should the items pertaining to use of the flexible work program come out near the top, you can finally rest easy knowing that your program has made significant impact.  If it hasn’t, you may wish to revisit your flexibility consultant to determine how you might add more value to the program.

How has your company measured the impact of flexibility? What types of questions would you ask?

Amanda Harms | Associate Consultant

Questar’s research partner, LifemeetsWork, is a consulting firm that helps organizations improve performance through flexible work. If you are interested in adopting flexibility initiatives in your organization, contact Teresa Hopke, Senior Vice President of Client Relations, at thopke@lifemeetswork.com.

It’s that time of year again! Retail businesses are busy competing over offering the best deals that will get customers in their stores while maintaining decent profit margins.  This year, stores opened earlier than ever on Black Friday, some beginning to offer deals starting late Thanksgiving night.  However, this did not come without pushback from the employees that would have to accommodate the earlier traffic. At a major retailer in the U.S., over 88,000 employees signed a petition to have the store open later, voicing their dislike of having to miss time with their families (NPR News, November 16, 2011).

Stories like this bring up a good question; what keeps retail employees engaged in their work? Based on Questar’s database of retail employee data collected between 2009 and 2011, the following aspects of work are most indicative of an engaged retail employee:

1. Pride in working for the company
2. Recognition for good work
3. Trust in senior management
4. Confidence in senior leadership
5. Believe in what the company does

In short, this Top 5 list includes both aspects of a strong company image and strong senior leadership, which need to be cultivated over time.  In order to build on these key drivers of engagement, senior leadership should work to enhancing their visibility to employees, as well as their openness in communication.

The second point on the list (recognition for good work) raises the question about initiatives retailers take to recognize their employees when they perform well. Questar asked retail employees just that, as well as what they would like their company to do to recognize their work and found the following were most often mentioned:

Examples of what company does:

• Gives out treats such as  cake, hot dogs, and ice cream
• Send out certificates and they recognize us in emails to the entire company
• Pat us on the back, flex time
• I earn a good paycheck for my efforts
• Thank me for doing a good job
• Fill out a piece of paper saying good job

Examples of what they would like:

•  A simple thank-you for my hard work is all I’m looking for
• Receiving positive  feedback
• A pat on the back is okay
• Steady raise increases when I do a good job
• Just have my manager tell me I’m doing a good job
• Increased money and responsibility
• A gift card for the store would be nice

Although content on this list is similar, what is noticeable is that verbal recognition, such as a simple “thank you,” was most often mentioned when we questioned the employees on what they would like for recognition. However, when asked what the company does, it seems that this type of recognition falls lower on the list, and companies tend to stick to indirect forms of recognition. For example several comments indicated that companies encourage employees to put words of praise for another employee on paper, something that is surely admirable compared to nothing at all. However, the qualitative analysis of comments in this sample indicates that employees would prefer more face-to-face recognition, i.e., hearing it straight from the boss or even a member of management.  So, next time you see employees doing great work do not be afraid to tell them directly! Chances are they will really appreciate the effort.

Amanda Harms |Associate Consultant

Good managers know that happy employees are loyal, hardworking, and effective employees. They stay faithful to the company and help drive its success. In browsing through some articles I found five different ways companies can improve employee engagement.

1.       Give Employees More Control

“Happiness is affected by [employees'] sense of control over their lives,” says Gretchen Rubin, author of the book The Happiness Project.

Employers should look for ways to give employees more control over their schedules, work environment, and work habits. For instance, employers could offer flexibility for their work schedules such as flextime or telecommuting. These days our demanding schedules continue long after we clock out from the workday, and many employees appreciate a boss who is considerate to a work-life balance. Because every person’s obligations outside of work are different, customized schedules are a great way to improve worker satisfaction.

Employers should also encourage employees to customize their workstations. This could include things like pictures and other items that make them feel more comfortable in their workspace. This not only gives employees some control over their work environments, but it can ease individual hardships like back pain or eyestrain. In addition, studies show that certain colors or décor can improve happiness. Employees will therefore be able to create a place they enjoy working in rather than being stuck in a bland office cubicle.

2.       Encourage Social Connections

Socialization is a key component of happiness. “Interacting with others gives people a boost in mood – surprisingly, this is true even for introverts,” writes Rubin.

Employers should find ways to encourage social relationships and design an office arrangement that raises communication. Arrange workstations so employees can see each other and talk. Employers can also encourage office celebrations for holidays and birthdays. These celebrations do not need to be expensive. It can be as simple as asking everyone to bring in a covered dish. Even when there is no reason to celebrate, encourage employees to eat lunch together. Provide a comfortable eating area.

Socialization doesn’t have to be limited to traditional office hours. Encourage out of office gatherings like volunteer programs. This gives employees a chance to develop relationships outside of the office while promoting the company in a positive way. Community service is a great way to build a positive reputation, and it is a happiness booster for all the employees that participate.

3.       Promote Good Health

Poor health is not only damaging to employees’ bodies, it can also have a negative impact on your business. “Up to 90% of all doctor visits in the United States are for stress-related illnesses,” according to Dr. Mehet Oz of the Dr. Oz Show. Chronic stress has a wide variety of negative side effects including weight gain, lower immune system, increased risk of disease, and fatigue. Employers should encourage employees to reduce stress levels and improve their overall health.

Employers need to first educate employees on these and other health topics. They can provide reading materials or offer seminars. It’s hard for people to make positive health changes if they don’t know what to change or how to change it.

Once employees know more about health topics such as stress, exercising, and healthy eating, start a health related competition within your company. This offers employees motivation and a support system. (This will simultaneously foster more socialization, killing two birds with one stone!) If the entire office is involved, employees will be more likely to accomplish their goals.

To help employees make positive lifestyle changes, have a kitchen equipped with a refrigerator and microwave to prepare healthy meals. Research shows that preparing food is a much healthier option than eating out. Also, encourage breaks throughout the day. Even small amounts of exercise, like walking, throughout the day are beneficial. If possible, offering a discount on gym memberships is a great way to help motivate your employees to make healthy lifestyle changes.

4.       Create an Atmosphere of Growth

Jobs are more than a source of income for most people. Jobs are a venue for employees to grow and learn. In a survey based on the works of Susan Herrington, North Tennessee Private Industry Council about employee motivation, employees ranked job characteristics that motivated them. Surprisingly, high wages and promotions were not even in the top three. Instead, the number one desire for employees was “Full Appreciation of Work Being Done.”

Employers can create an atmosphere of growth by providing training, acknowledging benchmarks, and celebrating accomplishments. Employers should also encourage employees to learn new skills by going to conferences and workshops. Employees will become bored and lose motivation if they are never given an opportunity to expand their skills and responsibilities.

5.       Break Up Routines

Surprises add a little spark to life, including the workplace. Even a small treat can boost people’s happiness as well as give us a kick from an unexpected gift. These don’t need to be huge by any means but employers should look for small ways to surprise employees. Occasionally bringing in a special treat such as coffee or baked goods are small gestures that show employees that you appreciate the time they’re putting in.

Another idea is to host an office party for a quirky holiday. Employers could even allow employees to make up their own holiday for your company. For example, March 4^th could be ‘We’re four months from the 4^th of July’ party where employees can bring in their favorite 4^th of July dish. Remember, you can celebrate anything.  Again, this does not need to be expensive. The keys are breaking up the routine of the workweek, promoting socialization, and demonstrating your appreciation.

I’m not suggesting your company do all of the things I mentioned in this post, but try implementing one or two at your own office and watch as the engagement of your employee increases, as well as your profit line.

Stephanie Peterson  |  Strategic Communications and Marketing Coordinator

Perhaps we should turn to the research for a little guidance?

Employees in the fast food business work in a broader industry called “dirty work.”  The concept of “dirty work” was first introduced by a social psychologist in the late 1950’s, referring to work that is either disapproved or stigmatized by members of society who do not work in such jobs.   I’m not saying that people disapprove of fast food.  However, few people aspire to become a worker at such restaurants.  According to the research, we tend to wonder how they can do it. 

Finding people both willing and excited about doing work involving “flipping burgers” can be difficult.  If you currently have such employees, consider yourself lucky: do what you can to keep these individuals. For other individuals in dirty work, it is likely that wages are the best driver in determining their willingness to stay. Unfortunately for employees, many dirty occupations do not pay well. National pay data shows that the average wage for a fast food worker is between $7.12 and $8.93 per hour.

Therefore, while some may not be able to obtain higher paying jobs and will stay for the sheer need to make a living, it might make sense to practice a few exercises that researchers say help these employees feel better about what they do.  Some of these strategies may even instill pride, making employees not just okay with doing the work, but excited:

Reframe:  If a job is seen as dirty, it can be reframed by simply remembering the purpose for which it exists.  A fast food employee is working to provide quick, low-cost food to the consumer.  Not everyone can afford the time to go shopping or sit in a more upscale restaurant.  Some might even argue that some value menu items are cheaper than buying groceries- which means fast food can help feed the poor.  Reminding employees of the organization’s mission can help the employee feel better about their work—and it is important that this idea trickles down through the organization’s culture.

Recalibrate: Similar to reframing, this technique focuses on placing more value on the aspects of the job that are in fact good for society.   A typical day might involve taking orders, refilling the ice cream machine, changing the grease traps, or scooping fries.  These tasks seem to be fairly menial, but thinking about the purpose for why they exist, and placing value on the ones that are most noble can help the employee feel better about the work.  For example, while taking orders, an employee might be able to recommend a product that will be a greater value to the customer. If a customer orders a cheeseburger, small fries, and a strawberry shake, the employee may be able to suggest a value meal that will save the customer some money.  The employee can then think about their job in terms of saving people money.

Refocus:  This technique is similar to recalibration, but involves actually overlooking the stigmatized aspects of the job.  Sometimes fast food is stigmatized as unhealthy.  A way to refocus this aspect of the work would be to focus on the fact that the food is affordable, and that there are healthy options on the menu.  In fact, a tasty treat like a hamburger is not of harm to people once and a while, so the fast food worker is not promoting anything unhealthy.

While I am not promising that any of these techniques are going to significantly reduce turnover rates in the fast food industry, I would say that they can be nothing but helpful to the worker.  It doesn’t cost a dime to use a little positive reinforcement on the meaning of one’s work, but if it does work, that’s a lot of time and money saved for very little effort!

Amanda Harms, M.A. | Associate Consultant

But creating a successful, flexible work environment is not without challenges.  Organizations that do it well set up the appropriate framework and provide ongoing support to make flex an integral part of company culture, not a standalone program.  Here’s how:

1. Structure.  Make a conscious decision on how flexibility will be deployed in the organization.  Structure may include formal policies OR a purposeful decision to address requests on a case-by-case basis.
2. Technology.  Provide employees with the software and hardware they need to work remotely and/or access information when a coworker is out of the office.
3. Hiring for Success.  In a flexible work environment, employees must be self-directed and motivated to perform.  Look for new hires who have experience collaborating with remote team members.
4. Trust and Control.  Managers need to strike a successful balance between employee autonomy and accountability.  It’s about trusting employees to perform, without abandoning them.
5. Performance Tools.  Managers should monitor results through defined expectations, measurements, and key performance indicators.  They need a performance tracking solution (e.g. flash reports, project management software, weekly conference calls) that meets their need for information, without veering into micromanagement.
6. Management Process.  Flex works best when managers adapt to changing conditions and figure out what works best for each person and each job at any given time.  Managers can help create connections and provide tools that enable all employees to collaborate and excel.
7. Teambuilding.  Create opportunities for coworkers to connect with remote team members.  Build teambuilding time into meetings, hold virtual coffee breaks, and/or use an enterprise social media platform like Yammer.
8. Communication.  Deliberate communication is critical.  Leverage both technology and interpersonal best practices to share information, build a sense of inclusion for flexible workers, and minimize misunderstandings.
9. Celebration.  Celebrate individual, team, and company successes with the whole team, despite variations in work hours or office locations.  Think about your current celebrations and rewards and look for ways to include remote team members.
10. Culture.  Flexible workers should have equal opportunity to receive challenging assignments and move up through the organization.  Respect flexible workers for their contributions and avoid judgments or criticism regarding a person’s decision to work flexibly.  This is a good reminder for managers and coworkers alike.

Whether an employee feels supported at work or not really comes down to manager attitudes.  If an employee’s direct supervisor isn’t supportive of flex, then it isn’t available—regardless of company policy.

Steps one, two and three above are about building the organizational framework for flex.  Steps four through nine are about helping managers execute that framework.  Culture, item #10, is the positive result when all other elements are working in concert.

Whether flexibility in your organization means flexing hours, location, or the nature of employment, the whole organization needs to rally around the idea that “this is the way we work here.”  

Submitted by Teresa Hopke.  Hopke is senior vice president of client relations for Life Meets Work, a consulting firm that helps organizations improve performance through flexible work.  She can be contacted at 612-210-3803 or thopke@lifemeetswork.com.  

Last week we presented a summary of Questar’s research on talent retention at the Linkage Best of OD Summit in Chicago.  Our research explores the real reasons why employees leave – from multiple data sources.  Here are the slides from that presentation:  Overdrawn at the Talent Bank

We’d love to hear from you about your experiences and/or research around employee retention.

Enjoy!

Anna Erickson, Ph.D. | Director Consulting Services

Our objective was simply to meet as many people as possible.  We needed them to stop at our booth to do that.  The idea (which really was a game) had individuals select a bright, yellow, Questar button from a bowl.  They were to keep the button visible throughout the conference on their clothing, bag or lanyard.  Each button had the name of a unique city from somewhere around the world—because Questar is a global survey research company.  Included in the batch of buttons were two sets of matching city names.  If a person happened to have one of the cities with a match and they found the other individual with that same city, both people would win either an iPad2 or Kindle.  We weren’t sure how this would go over…

And then word got out..

As more and more buttons got out there, more and more people asked about them and we ended up having a fairly constant stream of people at our booth.  The students really made it fun.  They would hunt down all of their classmates and bring them to our booth to make sure they got their buttons in hopes of an instant match.  The energy around this idea was phenomenal and we had many people tell us that the “button game” was the best marketing idea they have seen at SIOP!  Between Thursday and Friday we gave out all 400 buttons, so we knew the matches were out there somewhere…they just needed to find each other.

It was fun to see people craning their necks for a quick look as another button-wearer passed them by.  It was almost comical when one motivated player made a large sign with her city name, and several others, and proceeded to hold the sign up for hours on Friday hoping the increased visibility would lead to a match.  And it was really cool when one student stopped me on the other side of the exhibition hall and said “Can you help me find the Questar booth?”  My answer was “Of course I can…I work for Questar.  Follow me!”

Although the individuals with the matching buttons (Delhi and Cape Town) never did come back to the booth together we still drew names on Saturday to give away the iPad2 and Kindle prizes.  There was a group of about 20 people anxiously waiting, hoping to hear their name pulled out of the bag.

When I had the chance to reflect on SIOP it made me think about how people really rally around something they are engaged in.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a fun game at a conference, an innovative idea at work, or an inviting atmosphere at their favorite restaurant.  When people are motivated, excited, and smiling, good things happen.

Over the course of the week several people came up to our booth and paid us some very nice compliments.  We were told that we were approachable, easy to talk to, and fun.  I guess it’s that “Minnesota Nice”.  Our goal at a conference is really to just be ourselves and approach it as an opportunity to make contacts, learn about current issues and solutions, and maybe even make some new friends.  Hopefully the impressions we made will last.  I am looking forward to staying in contact with the new people I met this year and I am already very excited to do it all again next year in San Diego.  To everyone that participated in our game…thanks!  To everyone…stop by our booth next year and make sure you get your button before their gone!

Steven Mars | Vice President

To learn more about the SIOP conference please visit http://www.siop.org/conferences/

It turns out the online promotion was not being honored at the kiosks.  Before I could even finish the sentence, “No problem, I’ll just…” the likely “on-commission” salesperson told me he could pull some strings and get me the same deal there.  I took it home, plugged it in, and it worked great.  I was a happy customer.  That is until the bill came.  I noticed I was being charged to lease my free device and that there was no credit for my free month of service.  What happened next was what got me thinking about growing pains companies – and their customers – experience when they aren’t prepared for rapid expansion.  I called customer service.

The support specialist was nice enough, but after explaining the situation several times she could find only one solution.  I needed to take the device back to the kiosk, return it, and cancel my contract.  I would then need to go online, sign up for the deal and wait for exactly the same device to be mailed to me.  No way.  What a colossal waste of time and money for everyone involved.

I wanted to figure out how things were set up on the other end of the line, so I asked.  She expressed frustration with the sales guy – I pried and it turns out he was not the first to try to go around the system.  She was frustrated with the software she had – it physically wouldn’t let her apply the promotion to my account.  She was frustrated that she had never heard of the online deal offered in my area.  I sympathized with her and explained how I see, in the work that I do, how poor planning and communication, and not having the tools and autonomy needed can be stressful.

There are a few things I see here that are symptomatic of a company that has a widening gap between infrastructure and growth:

»     Poor communication.  When companies grow quickly they undergo many changes in a short period of time.  Information becomes siloed and lines of communication between groups break down.

»     Poor planning.  Strategic planning is a must in any change initiative and especially when dealing with plans for expansion.  It’s important to take a systematic approach and consider all of the aspect of the change (including customer experience) not just technical and financial considerations.

»     Lack of clear job roles.  As roles expand or are created, the situation turns to one in which people do what they want to do and say that the remaining tasks are “not my job.”  This was very evident in my encounter.  The support person said a number of times that “this is a sales person issue” or “I can’t help with online problems.”  To me, the customer, the company has one face.  Internally that didn’t appear to be the case.

»     Lack of resources.  Employees need to have the tools that will be required to support growth.  In this case the support person felt her “hands were tied.”

I wonder if senior leadership of this company are aware of the issues their employees and customers are facing.  In a press release, they describe their growth last year as “phenomenal,” reporting subscriptions doubled in Q3.  They anticipated by the end of 2010 they would see double what they expected in terms of a customer base.  Surely, they have a lot on their plates.  How much better would the situation be if they were armed with feedback from their employees?

If I had to make one recommendation to this company, it would be to pay attention to what is happening on the front lines.  It’s so important to give employees a voice and support them in supporting your customers.  Employees have an understanding what is and is not working in day-to-day activities.  They want to know their opinions count and can shed light on things leaders can’t see.  In order to truly leverage employees’ experiences, leaders must listen, let employees know what they are hearing, and show employees how their feedback has created real and meaningful change.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, I did get the support person to find a work-around to remove the lease fee and she simply reversed the charges for the month instead of billing me for a promotional rate.

Michael Durando | Associate Consultant