Management & Poor CSAT

Service plays a tremendous role in customer satisfaction. Poor service often yields poor satisfaction results, provided you're in an industry that has one-on-one interactions with customers. That is why low level employees always need to be involved in customer satisfaction efforts, since they often play one of the biggest roles in promoting it.

But many companies make changes to satisfaction at the top. Companies that value satisfaction often have executives in charge of deciding which programs to implement. While the best companies utilize survey research to discover what customer satisfaction programs will work best, it's still management that is making the decisions on what to actually do and how to put it into action.

There's often a disconnect, however, in who is considered to blame when these programs don't achieve the desired outcome, and that is especially clear when the company tracks changes in customer satisfaction. Tracking the data over time is the best way to yield accurate results, since every company's baseline is different. When the company sees an improvement, they celebrate their achievement and the company profits, with management often taking a great deal of credit for the ideas. Yet when the company fails to see an improvement in satisfaction, it's often the employees that suffer, because many of them have bonuses or some type of reward system that is connected to an improvement in satisfaction.

It's important for employee satisfaction and morale that companies learn that management needs to take responsibility if a program doesn't see an improvement in customer satisfaction scores. Far too often it appears that companies become harder on the low level employees, assuming they are not working toward their goals.

But: a) It is management's job to motivate and train employees. b) It's the programs chosen by management that aren't working. Those in charge are responsible for the employees when they fail, and the employees deserve most or all of the credit when they do not. That is the role of a good manager and a good leader, and something that often seems forgotten.

Remember, you're not just worried about customer satisfaction – you're worried about employee satisfaction as well. Taking responsibility for a failed program is an important part of ensuring that your employees feel appreciated within the organization, and will go a long way toward improving the dynamic and culture within your company.