How many engaged employees does it take to satisfy a customer?
The weather took a Recess from being nice yesterday so I took a Recess from playing on the lake and headed out for a cup of coffee and to finish planning Play with Your Pasta.
I had to wait an unacceptable amount of time yesterday to be served at my local Starbucks – about one minute. C’mon we live in a you-have-to-be-able-to-say-it-in-140-characters world; who has time to wait for one minute?
The woman in front of me had “some” questions. I’m assuming she was either a coffee virgin or a Starbucks virgin. So I stood there eavesdropping while making believe I was counting floor tiles. Starbucks Virgin.
What I found interesting was that all four people behind the counter were trying to help her; while three of us waited.
But here’s what I noticed:
- All four were contributing
- No one was interrupting, correcting or disagreeing with the other
- All four seemed genuine in their quest to help
- And when the lady walked out of the store not one made a negative remark about her
Now that’s an engaged happy workforce. That’s a group of people who communicate well, respect one another and appear to be having a good time. Can you say that about your organization?
Although I still think a 4:1 employee:customer ratio is over the top.
