Showing posts with label respectful. Show all posts
Showing posts with label respectful. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Little Things Mean a Lot

How do you care for your customers and employees?

"Just as the accumulation of small improvements can make a dramatic, lasting change in the organization’s products or services, the repeated, numerous small occasions of taking note of the contributions of individuals and teams of individuals can create a different company." (The Quality Process: Little Things Mean a Lot)

Showing appreciation to both clients and team members (formerly employees) is an integral part of a successful business. Too often we overlook it. It’s easy to take existing clients for granted while making special efforts to attract new ones. Many of us are guilty of assuming we take care of our team by simply giving them a pay cheque.

Respect Your Team Members (Employees)

"In environments in which human needs are acknowledged and talent and creativity are allowed to flourish, employees give their all." (Creating Successful Partnerships with Employees)
The most valuable asset in an organization is the people. Mark Twain once said, "I can go two months on one compliment!" When was the last time you said "well done" to anyone in your business? Appreciation is the number one thing people want from their jobs, even before money and promotions, according to a Robert Half survey.

If you think you don’t have the time or the budget to start an appreciation program in your workplace, think again. There are dozens of easy, inexpensive ways to generate spirit and appreciation.

· Companies often focus on single goals (such as annual sales quotas) and forget to celebrate the little successes that add up to the main goal. Recognize the little victories along the way and keep everyone motivated for the ultimate goal. How about treating everyone to an ice cream break or a hot dog lunch?
· Foster an environment that encourages creativity and mutual respect. Be generous in small ways. Keep a large candy jar in your reception area filled with fun, kid-style candies, suckers, or bubble gum. Or, fill it with slips of paper with jokes or motivational sayings on them. Put a small treat in employees’ mail/message boxes. On a hot day, bring in Popsicles. Encourage everyone in your organization to take their work seriously but themselves lightly.
· Treat your team members as individuals, not just part of your organization. Recognize special times in their lives such as marriages and births.
· Keep a well-stocked refreshment area for both team members and clients. Fill it with coffee, teas, bottled water, juices, and maybe a big cookie or candy jar!
· Let your people know you care about their work environment. Do you think those walls that need painting or the torn and dirty carpet doesn’t affect them, or that dirty washrooms and lunchrooms are acceptable? These all say a lot about your attitude towards them. Show pride and respect for yourself, your business, your team, and your clients by keeping a well-maintained place of business.
· Celebrate together and show you care about morale. Hold Christmas parties, summer picnics, or golf tournaments. Ask your suppliers to donate prizes.

Appreciate Your Customers

Most people like to do business with people they like and who appreciate them.
How much money do you spend trying to attract new customers, and how much do you spend showing your existing customers that you care about them? It costs much less to keep a customer than to find a new one. Make customer appreciation a part of your everyday activities.
· Keep a stack of thank-you cards at your desk. Get in the habit at the end of each day to think about those who gave you their time or their business. In this age of electronic communications, we all appreciate an old-fashioned handwritten note. Don’t just pick up the phone to say thanks - put it in writing. The cost is small, but the impact is large. You’ll be noticed for your thoughtfulness.
· Recognize your client’s special events and milestones such as business anniversaries, promotions, and moves. Work with a gift basket company or florist to create a signature gift that you can send whenever the need arises.
· Hold an annual customer appreciation day.
· Insist that everyone in your organization show respect and appreciation to every customer - big or small. After all, if we didn’t have customers, we wouldn’t be in business. Starting right now, find ways to show your team and clients that you care! Customers don’t deal with companies - they deal with people. So, if you want first-class customers you must have first-class team members to attract them.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Servant - Book Summary

"A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership" In order to lead, you must serve. This is the solid premise of the book “The Servant” by James C. Hunter. It is discussed through the tale of John Daily, a business executive who starts to lose his grip as boss, husband, father, and coach. He was talked into going on a week-long retreat at a Benedictine Monastery to re-center and find his balance. During the retreat, a former Wall Street legend turned monk shows him a different perspective on leadership - servant leadership.

The Ten Attributes of Love and LeadershipThe book enumerated the following as the qualities of a servant leader. Incidentally, these are also the attributes of love, which was defined earlier as one’s behavior towards others.

Patient - showing self-control.
• Kind - giving attention, appreciation, and encouragement.
Humble - being authentic without pretense or arrogance.
• Respectful - treating others as important people.
• Selfless - meeting the needs of others.
• Forgiving - giving up resentment when wronged.
Honest - being free from deception.
• Committed - sticking to your choices.

All these behaviors will entail you to serve and sacrifice for others. This would mean setting aside your own wants and needs to focus on the legitimate needs of others.You need to realize that success does not only come from hard work and appropriately playing the part. To be successful in business and in your career, you must be able to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack - you need to develop, build and defend your reputation.

The Law of the Harvest Remember: you reap what you sow. For authority or influence to flourish, the right environment must be provided and a nurturing behavior must be present. In a garden, the soil, the sun, the water, the fertilizer, and the care given by the gardener all make up the environment under which the plant will grow and mature. The one thing that you are not sure of, however, is when the flowers will actually bloom. Bear in mind that influence is not a magical beanstalk that will sprout overnight; rather, it is something that grows in time.

The Rewards of Leading with AuthorityLeading with authority enables you to have a personal mission statement: to serve the people you lead, to listen to their needs, to give praise and recognition, to show kindness, and to be honest, among other things. When servant leadership becomes your ethos in life, people would be lining up to join your cause.By serving others and loving your neighbors, you are keeping in line with the doctrines of the Church as well as other religions. You mature psychologically and spiritually, which is essentially the end goal of the individual’s journey through life.While the above payoffs are well and good, the most important reward of all is the joy you will experience when you put others first and free yourself from the chains of self-centeredness. As a certain Dr. Albert Schweitzer wisely puts it, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know. The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”