Managing People for Service Advantage.pptVIP

Managing People for  Service Advantage Overview Service Employees Are Crucially Important Factors Contributing to the Difficulty of Frontline Work Cycles of Failure, Mediocrity, and Success Human Resources Management – How To Get It Right? Service Leadership and Culture Service Employees Are Crucially Important Customer’s perspective: encounter with service staff is most important aspect of a service Firm’s perspective: frontline is an important source of differentiation and competitive advantage Frontline is an important driver of customer loyalty anticipating customer needs customizing service delivery building personalized relationships Frontline in Low-Contact Services Many routine transactions are now conducted without involving frontline staff, e.g., ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems Websites for reservations/ordering, payment, etc. However, frontline employees remain crucially important “Moments of truths” drive customer’s perception of the service firm Factors Contributing to the Difficulty of Frontline Work Boundary spanners link the organization to the outside world Multiplicity of roles often results in service staff having to pursue both operational and marketing goals Consider management expectations of service staff: delight customers be fast and efficient in executing operational tasks do selling, cross selling, and up-selling enforce pricing schedules and rate integrity Role Stress in Frontline Employees Organization vs. Client: Dilemma whether to follow company rules or to satisfy customer demands This conflict is especially acute in organizations that are not customer- oriented Person vs. Role: Conflicts between what jobs require and employee’s own personality and beliefs Organizations must instil ‘professionalism’ in frontline staff Client vs. Client: Conflicts between customers that demand service staff intervention Emotional Labour “The act of expressing socially desired emotions during service