Building Loyalty With Internal Customers

In this three-part series, Graham Williams of Centre-ing Services (centserv@iafrica.com) and Michael Cusack of On Line Customer Care (olccinc@worldnet.att.net) examine trends which have a major impact on how business leaders and HR practitioners will in future need to maximize their organization’s human assets. In this final article of the series they look more closely at the elements of technology, "ladders," and the economics of exchange.

In order for the loyalty progression to develop over time, a system must be built that is founded on a number of key principles. These principles, or components of our ‘holistic’ system, form the acronym CASTLE.

The elements of the model are:

• Culture.
• Alignment.
• Seaman’s credo.
• Technology that enables.
• Ladders.
• And exchange economics.

In last issue's article, we detailed the first three of those; now it's time to complete the model.

Technology That Enables

The Employee Relationship Management structure must consider all interactions between the employee and the organization. In terms of enabling technology and systems, this means capturing, storing and accessing sound backend data about employees, good communication and information-transfer technology, and easy to use front-ends on the employees’ office desk and home desk consoles. Some of the employee relationship aims of this technology are:

• Reducing paper. We are a long way from the paperless office, but a less-paper office is quite feasible. Forms (leave applications, loan requests, employee record changes), company news, performance information, events, policy and operating manuals, combined telephone/fax/cell-phone/email contact directories, business process execution information, business results, and a host of other applications, can be cheaply and efficiently accommodated using electronic means—in essence, providing an internal self-service facility on the web or intranet (and perhaps this facility is supported by a telephone/ email/ fax-based internal service desk).
• Democratisation—in the form of easier and freer communication across flatter organizations. Using open internal polls to garner employee opinions and as a facilitator of the consultative process. Managing aspects of virtual teamwork. Installing employee self-service software which is now starting to appear in the marketplace, which allows employees (for example) to maintain their own personal data, select their own benefit package options, research their own training and development options, access for themselves information in the medical, investment and other work and life decision-making and development areas. Conducting ongoing motivational climate surveys and the like. These applications all contribute to faster, more open information transfer and better, more complete communication.
• New training. Important actionable information requires the attention of people who are well-trained in sound decision making, problem solving and communication skills, lateral and creative thinking skills. To provide the technology without also providing these skills to employees is criminal. The sheer volume of information within a "digital nervous system" also demands the training of new time management skills, priority-setting and search refinement techniques, so that employees are not driven by external forces. Techno-enhanced training acknowledges that individuals have different memorizing and learning styles and preferences, and that computer programmed learning facilities can address these differences. A lot of this training can be self-directed.
• Stepped up face-to-face meetings. Greater use of technology to handle routine matters has the potential to free leaders for more important work, including communicating and interacting. Savvy CEOs increase their visibility and accessibility and step up face to face meetings as an integral element of any ERM system.
• Extra- and intranet applications enable people to cast a wide net in search of knowledge and insight which could be useful to an organizations "pulsing" of the marketplace and finding new opportunities for replication and innovation. Many employee complaints can also be responded to effectively via the electronic medium, and their grouping and analyses quickly point to areas of misalignment between vision and execution.
• Improved external customer point of contact processes and supporting technology help develop employee confidence and pride.

But, as Bill Gates says: "If you don’t believe that all workers have the potential to contribute to your company’s success, all the technology in the world won’t empower them." There is no doubt that the application of technology and software as described above can greatly assist with improved employee relationships. However, they should never be seen to be a replacement of any of the other aspects of our CASTLE framework. (It’s akin to driving a car by either automatic or manual means. Greater skill is needed to drive manually and competent manual driving will always outperform automatic driving.) Deep understanding of and competent application of the "people basics" remains the foundation to which suitable enabling technology may be added.

Ladders

The ERM system should encourage each and every employee to honestly ask of themselves the following choice - question:

• An employee can choose to attempt to climb the "promotion ladder" and select alternative career paths in the clear knowledge of his/her level of leadership competence and other managerial, role and technical competence.
• Or, avoid getting stuck at their "level of incompetence" by taking on jobs that do not match their competence-set. Instead, they can climb the "specialist ladder" and become the very best at what they can be; pursuing their primary motivational drivers and "deeply hidden" competencies, gifts and talents. (Some firms and institutions encourage this endeavour by means of broad-banding salary scales. In this way it becomes possible for the person to be duly rewarded, and to advance by continuing to do essentially the same job.
• Or, either separately or in combination with one of the other ladders, to derive satisfaction by climbing the "personal growth ladder" to increase their employability, self worth and generic competence.

This becomes a way of streamlining and making career-pathing exercises more appropriate, and for customising employee mentoring, coaching and development programs.

Economics of Exchange

Paul Malherbe has postulated that earned EXCHANGE entitlement and opportunity is the basic principle of economic well-being. He proposes that value and wealth (both material and intangible) are created through perceived fair, win-win exchanges between two parties (but which carry benefit for all involved along the "production of value" line), and that various exchange types satisfy the whole person: physical, intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual.

Clearly the exchange between employee and employer consists of much more than simply payment for work performed. In the new world of work, we need to think far beyond such a narrow boundary. The employer/employee exchange is also about adult/adult relating, sharing, creating value together, providing opportunities to learn and grow together, and voluntary interdependence.

Employees resent management-imposed solutions and systems, will always ask "How will this threaten who I am and what I do?" and "What’s in it for me?" And in exchange for transparency and opportunity, will always freely give of their knowledge and skill, and show accountability.

The act of giving in the context of providing a comprehensive ERM system increases employability but paradoxically raises loyalty. "Loyalty" is no longer falsely locked in by pensions to come, loans to be repaid, the use of a company vehicle, and other fringe benefits. Nor is an employee decision to stay with the organization a function of the cost of leaving. Rather, it is a function of real, earned loyalty. A very different exchange value.

Businesses only grow if competent, supported employees are motivated to make the organization grow. Employees value belonging to something worthwhile, being respected, supported, trusted, appreciated, recognized, being a part of achieving something worthwhile, and developing our own potential. It follows that organizations that earnestly seek to meet these "internal customer" needs give themselves much better odds at:

• retaining valued employees, and thus reducing recruiting and training costs resulting from unwanted turnover wastage;
• developing an employee-base that is more employable, but which paradoxically increases loyalty to the organization;
• building a culture of learning, service and leadership;
• logic-driven reward and placement policies;
• creative resource-ing for project teams;
• benefiting from the experience, knowledge and commitment of loyal employees during moments of truth with external customers. If it holds true that sound "moments of truth" with customers—regardless of the channel of communication—only occur when competent and motivated employees display the necessary pride, perseverance and creativity, then investing in the capabilities and satisfaction of employees becomes an absolute imperative for forward-looking business;
• avoiding a "galley slave" approach;
• freeing HR departments from routine work, allowing them to concentrate on value-adding and strategic HR services;
• and improving shareholder value (by saving on routine employee-transaction costs, reducing "wastage," raising motivation, competence, productivity and innovation levels, reducing turnover, retaining key talent, and improving external customer interactions).

Organizations would do well to follow the progression and principles which govern our ERM "system". The CASTLE model for managing the nature, content and direction of relationships with employees is founded on:

• steering the organization and it’s people to a position of leadership and service (Culture)
• ensuring that desired results are achieved by combining competence, capacity and motivation (Alignment, Seaman’s credo)
• on a customized, adult-to-adult basis, using self service where appropriate (Ladders, Technology, Exchange economics)
• and for the purpose of establishing meaningful employee relationships that generate meaningful customer relationships.

All of which, in turn, helps to drive profitability.

References:

Malherbe, Paul. N.: A Pragmatic Approach to THE CREATION OF VALUE, ENRICHMENT AND PROSPERITY (author published, Cape Town, 2000)

Gates, Bill , with Hemingway, Collins: BUSINESS @ THE SPEED OF THOUGHT (Penguin Books, 2000)

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