Empowering employees. (Customer Satisfaction)

About the author ..

Dr. Gail Cook Johnson is President of REACON Management Inc., a consulting firm located in Toronto, offering expertise in the areas of organizational assessment and diagnosis througb the use of employee surveys.

Companies that provide superior service gain their competitive advantage by empowering employees.

Service Definitions

Service Leaders., On average, 92 per cent of employees and customers rate the service in these organizations as being consistently very good. They represent the top 25 per cent of organizations included in the sample.

Service Average.- On average, 79 per cent of employees and customers rate service as consistently very good in these firms. Service in these businesses is neither the best nor the worst.- they provide better service than the bottom 25 per cent of firms and worse service than the top 25 per cent of organizations.

Service Problems. In these organizations, only 62 per cent rate service as consistently good. Fully 75 per cent of the organizations in the sample provide better service.

In today's marketplace, businesses are struggling to establish service leadership, a battle made all the more urgent by increased competition, rising consumer expectations, and recessionary set-backs. Studies of several organizations highlight the fact that top-rated companies meet the customer-service challenge because their employees feel qualified and comfortable making service decisions on their own.

In contrast with firms that have yet to achieve high recognition in the marketplace for, their customer service, these …