Employee engagement

The best metrics for getting started with employee engagement {Guest Post}

During the last decade or so, human resource management has been essentially flipped on its head. What was once a decidedly employer-centered market has become one driven by the needs and concerns of the employee. Despite still relatively high competition for jobs in a recovering global economy, more and more companies that require a skilled…

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The Cost of Serving Well

It was such a thought-provoking question.  In an interview this week, I was asked, “how much does it cost a business owner to deliver memorable service?”  Earlier in the day, I had read about a police officer in Connecticut, Michael Castillo, who was on a call to break-up a fight at a Target store.  After…

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“It’s not what you know but…”

According to the old adage that sentence stem ends with “who you know.” On stage and in writing lately I have concluded that the old adage doesn’t tell the whole story.  As such I have modified it to say: “It’s not what you know OR who you know.  It’s what you know ABOUT who you know.”…

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Holiday Relationships – Focusing on More than the Sale

We are in the throes of the frenzied shopping season, so it seems timely that we remind ourselves of several truths about why we should focus more on customer relationships and less on sales: People want to be viewed as important and unique. (Jumping into a sales process without taking the time to understand the…

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Experience Delivery = Quality Products + Service Excellence + Empathy

I am blessed to be attending the gala Singapore Experience Awards as a guest of the Singapore Tourism Board.  I was asked earlier in the year to serve as a judge to help determine the best experience providers in Singapore.  As you likely know, I am a fan of this uniquely special city/state and truly…

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More Freedom Considered for Virgins: Empower Through Trust

Okay, the title may be somewhat misleading, but Richard Branson has announced a policy for a small number of employees at the Virgin Group. Essentially he is copying something that is occurring quite frequently among tech companies in the Silicon Valley and just so happens to be practiced in my company as well. Okay, get…

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To Tattoo or Not to Tattoo? – Starbucks, Ink, & Customer Experience

“Cover your tattoos!” That’s the current policy at Starbucks (and for that matter many other businesses). Partners (the Starbucks term for employees – more on that in my recent book Leading the Starbucks Way) are hired without prejudice for tattoos; they just can’t be visible to customers. Now the company is reconsidering its policy and…

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A Lesson Your Business Could Learn from the Ray Rice Video

I will leave it for others to opine about Ray Rice, his wife, and the NFL. But as a customer experience consultant there are two important business lessons to take from this horrific situation. Assume every customer interaction is being videotaped and appreciate the power of viral video. When I was a kid my dad…

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The Starbucks Experience: Leadership Tips eBook
Elevating Care in Healthcare: Lessons from the UCLA Health System eBook
How to Win Every Customer, Every Time, No Excuses! Article