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Focus Groups Ruin Movies
Oct. 6th, 2005 11:51 pmYou know, you can't stop the excitement that is Customer Service Week. While you would think it would be a time for companies to re-focus their efforts on pleasing customers, it's really a version of Administrative Professional's Day, where company bosses try to keep their customer service workers, usually the lowest paid people in any corporate structure, somewhat happy by giving them cheap trinkets, maybe a free meal, and for my group, the ability to slouch around in jeans all week.
Now, it's not a bad thing, keeping your employees happy means a better chance of keeping you customers happy. It's not a given, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
Now I guess it came to no surprise that on a week that our employer was trying to keep us happy would also be the week they decided to run focus groups on why our last associate satisfaction survey came out so bad. If you don't want to hear bad news, you do your best to keep the mood good, and keep the focus group narrowly focused on specific questions to only discuss targeted areas.
Personally, I felt it was my duty to blow open the discussion, and make sure that everything was up on the board, and luckily, my fellow supervisors in the same group felt the same, and we dragged it out. It was good to know that they had similar feelings and felt that there were lots of problems that needed solving. I wasn't an island sitting in frustration. We don't normally have meetings of the supervisors together, and I stated that it seemed that it was high time we did, since we were coming up with a lot of good ideas and information.
There are several other focus groups running this week, with different levels of associates attending. Apparently upper management needs these groups to understand what is going on in their own backyard. To me it shows that they are afraid to make a decision right now, due to the low scores.
So what do we need? We need to care from top down when we see people leave for greener pastures and wonder why our company isn't the place they want to be. We need to be a place where people feel valued and understood. they need to feel like they have the opportunity to grow, develop and work without feeling pressured, but still be productive and accurate - that's difficult. We need to be allowed to do our job, and be staffed appropriately so people can do theirs without feeling pressured to have to pick up for the gaps in staffing, training and just plain enthusiasm.
I guess I'm just not one to respond to small gestures at times, at least not when it comes to employment. When I got a plastic cup with the company's logo emblazoned on it, I knew just how much I felt valued at that moment. Personally, our upper management coming over to tell us what their plans are, with our without information from these focus groups. I just want to see that there is a direction, rather than a series of small trials hoping to find a solution. It all feels like we're wandering, and with that wandering, we're losing people along the way.
Oh well, I do get to munch on their free pizza tomorrow, but only two slices per person, please.
Now, it's not a bad thing, keeping your employees happy means a better chance of keeping you customers happy. It's not a given, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
Now I guess it came to no surprise that on a week that our employer was trying to keep us happy would also be the week they decided to run focus groups on why our last associate satisfaction survey came out so bad. If you don't want to hear bad news, you do your best to keep the mood good, and keep the focus group narrowly focused on specific questions to only discuss targeted areas.
Personally, I felt it was my duty to blow open the discussion, and make sure that everything was up on the board, and luckily, my fellow supervisors in the same group felt the same, and we dragged it out. It was good to know that they had similar feelings and felt that there were lots of problems that needed solving. I wasn't an island sitting in frustration. We don't normally have meetings of the supervisors together, and I stated that it seemed that it was high time we did, since we were coming up with a lot of good ideas and information.
There are several other focus groups running this week, with different levels of associates attending. Apparently upper management needs these groups to understand what is going on in their own backyard. To me it shows that they are afraid to make a decision right now, due to the low scores.
So what do we need? We need to care from top down when we see people leave for greener pastures and wonder why our company isn't the place they want to be. We need to be a place where people feel valued and understood. they need to feel like they have the opportunity to grow, develop and work without feeling pressured, but still be productive and accurate - that's difficult. We need to be allowed to do our job, and be staffed appropriately so people can do theirs without feeling pressured to have to pick up for the gaps in staffing, training and just plain enthusiasm.
I guess I'm just not one to respond to small gestures at times, at least not when it comes to employment. When I got a plastic cup with the company's logo emblazoned on it, I knew just how much I felt valued at that moment. Personally, our upper management coming over to tell us what their plans are, with our without information from these focus groups. I just want to see that there is a direction, rather than a series of small trials hoping to find a solution. It all feels like we're wandering, and with that wandering, we're losing people along the way.
Oh well, I do get to munch on their free pizza tomorrow, but only two slices per person, please.
