For More Loyalty Align Your Actions and Values

Earlier,  I wrote about a hotel where the staff routinely lied to

their customers.  They misled them by booking their reservations for a

building that was not available. They let their customers believe they

were getting a certain "product" even though they knew that product was

not available. I consider that a lie.

In cases like these it would be easy to blame the employees for the

bad behavior. But I don’t. At least not entirely. They were just acting

on orders from management. And, who knows, their jobs might be at risk

if they chose to not follow those orders.

On the other hand, no matter who and where we are, no matter what

our jobs are, we always have a choice in what we do and how we do it.

Misleading your customers is a lousy thing to do. It’s dishonest. If as

an employee, I’m asked to do something I think is wrong, I always have

a choice to not do it. I also have to face the consequences of my

actions.

If I’m an employee and I value honesty and openness in how I deal

with others, I’m going to prefer a job where I can live those values

without conflict or repercussions. If I am constantly asked to act in

ways that conflict with those values, I’ll eventually experience stress

or other issues that could make me less effective in my job.

This is critical in creating a workplace that works well.

When I ask employees what keeps them from giving their customers the

best customer service, the number one answer is: management (or some

variation such as "my boss", "not enough time", etc.). They say they

get mixed messages about what is most important. That makes it hard for

them to know what their priorities should be.

This is a double-edged sword.

As I mentioned above, every employee has the option to provide great

customer service every time. It’s up to them. But they also have to

accept the consequences of doing so. That might mean not getting other

work done. It might mean contradicting what their boss told them to do.

It could mean (in the employees mind) they put their job at risk.

As a manager, leader or owner, you need to understand this. If you

tell employees to deliver amazing service but limit their ability to do

so, you’re making it hard for them to be effective and successful. You

might say your company has certain values. But if your actions do not

support them, employees and customers will know. They’ll see it.

Remember, actions still speak louder than words.

In the hotel example above, I doubt the management team tells

employees "we value dishonesty" and "we want you to lie to our

customers". But their actions (through policies or procedures)

compelled their employees to mislead their customers.  The result is a

conflict of values and actions. And a values-behavior conflict will

eventually lead to other conflicts and problems.

If you want your employees to stay motivated to serve customers

well, you need to tell them and show them that you value great customer

service. Your actions, policies, procedures and words all need to

demonstrate this in an ongoing way. They need to be consistent. When

you affirm your values (with your employees and customers) you create

an environment where everyone cane be focused on the same goal: helping

the customer get what they want in a way that is sustainable for your

organization.

How about your company? Are there unintentional conflicts? Are there

ways is which your company values clash with what actually happens in

the company?