As we tackle the intractable challenges ahead, it is the job of leaders to remain focused – and ensure that in dealing with short-term decisions, they do not lose sight of their long-term purpose.
Coronavirus has taught all of us that commercial imperatives cannot be all that drives our decision making. Evidence shows that where the board takes responsibility for customer experience, employee engagement increases and levels of customer satisfaction rise. Ultimately in the longer-term higher levels of performance emerge.
Drawing on The Institute of Customer Service’s Academy ServiceManagement training and our research into leadership and employee engagement in a service context, we’ve put together recommended practices and tips to help you lead and engage your team.
To adapt successfully to the next Covid-19 phase, businesses need to take stock of what they have learnt over the past weeks - and provide a clear framework for what should be taken forward, and what should be discarded.
As the lockdown continues, tensions will inevitably rise - and a shift in the public mood does seem likely. Businesses should be prepared to navigate the challenges of the next few months in the face of increasing pressure from both customers and employees – and effective service will be vital to ensure they remain committed and loyal when we move past the pandemic.
How can you make the right decisions for your business in the face of uncertainty? What will that mean for your staff, customers and company reputation? In this insightful audio interview, Dr Liz Jackson MBE, Marketing Director at BCMS, talks to Jo Causon, CEO of the Institute of Customer Service, about the many challenges business leaders are facing in the current situation.
Organisations across all sectors will have huge sections of their workforce whose services - temporarily at least – they don’t require and can’t sustain. How they handle this dilemma will shape how they’re viewed by employees and customers long into the future.