WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS ?
Organizations are changing from “Customer First ! All others Next” to “Employees first! They are our Asset”
Both Employees and Customers are first. They have a lot in common. Failure to realize this can result in failure of business for any organization
Pl see the ppt and you will find it extremely valuable.
Kindly give your feedbak.
K.Sambasivam
From India, Madras
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31Organizations are changing from “Customer First ! All others Next” to “Employees first! They are our Asset”
Both Employees and Customers are first. They have a lot in common. Failure to realize this can result in failure of business for any organization
Pl see the ppt and you will find it extremely valuable.
Kindly give your feedbak.
K.Sambasivam
From India, Madras
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Mr.Ksambasivam i totally agree with your concept..... and now a days i think employers are recognizing the fact regards vamsigyandev.s
From India, Hyderabad
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From India, Hyderabad
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Hi Buddy, I saw ur PPt and completely agree with you. It is something we all know but fail to take it seriously that employees are equally important.
From India, Delhi
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From India, Delhi
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Thank you for your feedback.
Last week, someone asked me the question, "Are the customers first and important or the employees?" I gave my views. Later, I made this PowerPoint presentation with some additional inputs and posted it for Cite.HR members. I hope it is useful.
I am certain that there are many more commonalities, and I request you to share your ideas here.
Thanks again.
K. Sambasivam
sambasi@hotmail.com
From India, Madras
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Last week, someone asked me the question, "Are the customers first and important or the employees?" I gave my views. Later, I made this PowerPoint presentation with some additional inputs and posted it for Cite.HR members. I hope it is useful.
I am certain that there are many more commonalities, and I request you to share your ideas here.
Thanks again.
K. Sambasivam
sambasi@hotmail.com
From India, Madras
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Excellent Post, Mr. Sambasivam,
"Employees First, Customers Second" by Vineet Nayar, the CEO of HCL, is a must-read book on this subject.
The people doing the work are the ones who create value for the customers.
From India, Hyderabad
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"Employees First, Customers Second" by Vineet Nayar, the CEO of HCL, is a must-read book on this subject.
The people doing the work are the ones who create value for the customers.
From India, Hyderabad
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Dear Sambasivam,
Your individual thought perception is right, and I appreciate this feeling if you believe that employees and customers should receive equal care or treatment from the organization. In that case, I hope that your team members may also be happy with you.
However, my thinking is tilted more towards employees. In my view, if your employee is satisfied and happy, the customer would definitely also be satisfied and happy with the goods and services of the organization. Conversely, if your employee is not satisfied, the productivity of the employee would be affected, impacting the quality of goods and services of the organization. In that case, both the employee and the customer would be unhappy.
Regarding the main point of the thread, "organizations are changing from 'customer first, all others next' to 'employees first,'" to be frank, I differ with your views. In fact, I have found very few organizations that prioritize "employees first" or even "customers and employees equal." Even in those rare organizations that may believe in "employees first," not only individual managers but also the top management mostly struggles to embrace this concept. They still believe in the policy of "must fire the employee to please the customers."
It cannot be denied that you can fire an employee, even if they are right; on the other hand, a customer can fire you or get you fired, even if they are wrong. Employees often feel helpless when it comes to pleasing customers. I witnessed a senior manager facing a difficult situation when, despite following the organization's rules, his subordinate had to terminate services to a consumer due to non-payment of dues. The CMD called him into his office, dismissed him, and directed him to not only restore the services but also personally apologize to the customer. Furthermore, he was instructed to invite the lady for tea with the CMD, putting the senior manager in an embarrassing position.
A similar incident occurred during my service period when, working in a different entity, the same CMD requested favors for another customer, even suggesting bending rules if necessary. I had to inform my boss that unethical actions were not acceptable and any specific requests should be in writing to be referred to the HQ for approval.
Due to the prevailing anti-employee mentality of most managers, the dream of treating employees and customers on equal footing remains far-fetched, let alone putting employees first.
Sambasivam, your question about the similarities between employees and customers is thought-provoking. Both employees and customers are crucial. Failure to recognize this can lead to the downfall of any organization.
Please review the presentation, as it contains valuable insights. Your feedback is appreciated.
K. Sambasivam
sambasi@hotmail.com
From India, Delhi
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Your individual thought perception is right, and I appreciate this feeling if you believe that employees and customers should receive equal care or treatment from the organization. In that case, I hope that your team members may also be happy with you.
However, my thinking is tilted more towards employees. In my view, if your employee is satisfied and happy, the customer would definitely also be satisfied and happy with the goods and services of the organization. Conversely, if your employee is not satisfied, the productivity of the employee would be affected, impacting the quality of goods and services of the organization. In that case, both the employee and the customer would be unhappy.
Regarding the main point of the thread, "organizations are changing from 'customer first, all others next' to 'employees first,'" to be frank, I differ with your views. In fact, I have found very few organizations that prioritize "employees first" or even "customers and employees equal." Even in those rare organizations that may believe in "employees first," not only individual managers but also the top management mostly struggles to embrace this concept. They still believe in the policy of "must fire the employee to please the customers."
It cannot be denied that you can fire an employee, even if they are right; on the other hand, a customer can fire you or get you fired, even if they are wrong. Employees often feel helpless when it comes to pleasing customers. I witnessed a senior manager facing a difficult situation when, despite following the organization's rules, his subordinate had to terminate services to a consumer due to non-payment of dues. The CMD called him into his office, dismissed him, and directed him to not only restore the services but also personally apologize to the customer. Furthermore, he was instructed to invite the lady for tea with the CMD, putting the senior manager in an embarrassing position.
A similar incident occurred during my service period when, working in a different entity, the same CMD requested favors for another customer, even suggesting bending rules if necessary. I had to inform my boss that unethical actions were not acceptable and any specific requests should be in writing to be referred to the HQ for approval.
Due to the prevailing anti-employee mentality of most managers, the dream of treating employees and customers on equal footing remains far-fetched, let alone putting employees first.
Sambasivam, your question about the similarities between employees and customers is thought-provoking. Both employees and customers are crucial. Failure to recognize this can lead to the downfall of any organization.
Please review the presentation, as it contains valuable insights. Your feedback is appreciated.
K. Sambasivam
sambasi@hotmail.com
From India, Delhi
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Dear Mr. Sambasivam,
Very nice presentation. Also, very valid comments by Mr. Dhingra. There is one thing I once heard at a seminar which went as follows: "When an employee is busy showing his face to his boss, he shows his behind to the customers, and when an HR resource is busy showing his face to his boss, he shows his behind to the employees."
Your comments on this? Which one do you agree with?
Thanks and regards,
UG
From India, Bangalore
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Very nice presentation. Also, very valid comments by Mr. Dhingra. There is one thing I once heard at a seminar which went as follows: "When an employee is busy showing his face to his boss, he shows his behind to the customers, and when an HR resource is busy showing his face to his boss, he shows his behind to the employees."
Your comments on this? Which one do you agree with?
Thanks and regards,
UG
From India, Bangalore
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Thank you all for your response.
Thank you, Mr. Dhingra. I truly appreciate your leadership, courage, and conviction you had shown and stood firmly on the incidence you had mentioned (and many such instances which I can imagine). On seeing your comments, I had some thoughts that I wanted to share here.
The business owners believe that the customers are the sole contributors to the bottom line of their business.
The "happy employees" not only make the customers happy but also improve the bottom line considerably by optimizing the process, improving efficiency, and above all reducing waste, scrap, repair, and rework. This is being recognized but not openly admitted by some big bosses. ("You are doing your duty and get paid for that" attitude.)
It is ultimately a "One Man Show" whether it is a family-owned concern or even a professional organization. In the case of a professional organization, the "One Man" is that each person who occupies the slots at every level of the hierarchy. If he is a true leader, he runs the show fearlessly and fairly. If he is a boss, his actions and decisions are driven by ego and fear (of being knocked down). The organization and the employees suffer. Depending on which functional area he is heading:
- A bad customer can manipulate this boss to fire a good marketing person.
- Or a black-listed supplier can make an honest QC person suffer for rejecting the supplies for quality reasons.
- Or a misbehaved worker can make a supervisor pay heavily for initiating disciplinary action against that worker and so on.
A "customer-contact employee" in the hospitality industry is worst affected by a bad customer followed by a service industry employee due to their visibility to customers; unfortunately, in many of these industries, "the customer is always right" attitude prevails.
I am seeing that the "customer-centric" mindset of top management of the clients with whom I am associated is changing to "customer and employee-centric," especially in the last 5-6 years.
Thanks,
K. Sambasivam
From India, Madras
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Thank you, Mr. Dhingra. I truly appreciate your leadership, courage, and conviction you had shown and stood firmly on the incidence you had mentioned (and many such instances which I can imagine). On seeing your comments, I had some thoughts that I wanted to share here.
The business owners believe that the customers are the sole contributors to the bottom line of their business.
The "happy employees" not only make the customers happy but also improve the bottom line considerably by optimizing the process, improving efficiency, and above all reducing waste, scrap, repair, and rework. This is being recognized but not openly admitted by some big bosses. ("You are doing your duty and get paid for that" attitude.)
It is ultimately a "One Man Show" whether it is a family-owned concern or even a professional organization. In the case of a professional organization, the "One Man" is that each person who occupies the slots at every level of the hierarchy. If he is a true leader, he runs the show fearlessly and fairly. If he is a boss, his actions and decisions are driven by ego and fear (of being knocked down). The organization and the employees suffer. Depending on which functional area he is heading:
- A bad customer can manipulate this boss to fire a good marketing person.
- Or a black-listed supplier can make an honest QC person suffer for rejecting the supplies for quality reasons.
- Or a misbehaved worker can make a supervisor pay heavily for initiating disciplinary action against that worker and so on.
A "customer-contact employee" in the hospitality industry is worst affected by a bad customer followed by a service industry employee due to their visibility to customers; unfortunately, in many of these industries, "the customer is always right" attitude prevails.
I am seeing that the "customer-centric" mindset of top management of the clients with whom I am associated is changing to "customer and employee-centric," especially in the last 5-6 years.
Thanks,
K. Sambasivam
From India, Madras
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dear Mr. UG,
Your statement "When an employee is busy showing his face to his boss he shows his behind to the customers and when an HR resource is busy showing his face to his boss he shows his behind to the employees." is intriguing. I interpret that the "employee himself is showing his behind to the customer" or "the HR resource himself is showing his behind to the employee" when they approach their bosses. If this is correct, both of them are not seeing beyond (deliberately or unknowingly); but the boss must see beyond.
Kindly shed more light on those statements.
Thanks, K. Sambasivam
From India, Madras
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Your statement "When an employee is busy showing his face to his boss he shows his behind to the customers and when an HR resource is busy showing his face to his boss he shows his behind to the employees." is intriguing. I interpret that the "employee himself is showing his behind to the customer" or "the HR resource himself is showing his behind to the employee" when they approach their bosses. If this is correct, both of them are not seeing beyond (deliberately or unknowingly); but the boss must see beyond.
Kindly shed more light on those statements.
Thanks, K. Sambasivam
From India, Madras
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Lack of employee development will eventually bring a company down. Employees are the support and backbone of any successful company. Unfortunately, many employees forget the hard work that they did once they move into corporate or management positions. This is why employee training and development are essential to a successful company. When employees become more successful, the company becomes successful.
From India, Ahmadabad
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From India, Ahmadabad
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Dear UG,
Thanks for your compliments. About the quote on the "employee & boss" and the "HR resource & boss" relations, you have correctly attacked the nerve center of the believers of flattery and sycophancy. The quote is very true. There cannot be two opinions about that. Every employee, whether a worker or a manager, must understand the value of sincerely discharging his duties rather than pleasing his boss at the cost of the customers or his workers.
Bravo!
PS Dhingra
From India, Delhi
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Thanks for your compliments. About the quote on the "employee & boss" and the "HR resource & boss" relations, you have correctly attacked the nerve center of the believers of flattery and sycophancy. The quote is very true. There cannot be two opinions about that. Every employee, whether a worker or a manager, must understand the value of sincerely discharging his duties rather than pleasing his boss at the cost of the customers or his workers.
Bravo!
PS Dhingra
From India, Delhi
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Dear Sambasivam,
Thanks for your compliments.
My belief is that the pivotal point for the acquisition and retention of our customers lies only in our employees base and not even in our products. If our employees are not sincere, we cannot make our customers happy. But the sincerity of our employees solely depend only upon our own sincerity towards them. If we are not sincere towards our employees they can neither be sincere to us, nor towards our customers, nor even we can expect any innovation for the betterment of our products on their part. They would prove just like a dead stock for the organization, or mules to be driven by use of whips only and that too hankering after the targets. In that case your own talent gets wasted if you waste maximum of your own precious time merely in pushing and driving those mules forward, with no real constructive work on your part.
On the other hand, if your employee is happy with you, the targets are left much behind and you find yourself to be much ahead of set targets for you. This is not a theory, but a part of my own practical experience, even where I had to face a complete mess of work on my joining any new office during my service period. MY 39+ YEARS OF SERVICE PERIOD EXPERIENCE SAYS, IF YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES, THE EMPLOYEES PERSONALLY & COLLECTIVELY TAKE CARE OF YOU AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES.
PS Dhingra
From India, Delhi
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Thanks for your compliments.
My belief is that the pivotal point for the acquisition and retention of our customers lies only in our employees base and not even in our products. If our employees are not sincere, we cannot make our customers happy. But the sincerity of our employees solely depend only upon our own sincerity towards them. If we are not sincere towards our employees they can neither be sincere to us, nor towards our customers, nor even we can expect any innovation for the betterment of our products on their part. They would prove just like a dead stock for the organization, or mules to be driven by use of whips only and that too hankering after the targets. In that case your own talent gets wasted if you waste maximum of your own precious time merely in pushing and driving those mules forward, with no real constructive work on your part.
On the other hand, if your employee is happy with you, the targets are left much behind and you find yourself to be much ahead of set targets for you. This is not a theory, but a part of my own practical experience, even where I had to face a complete mess of work on my joining any new office during my service period. MY 39+ YEARS OF SERVICE PERIOD EXPERIENCE SAYS, IF YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES, THE EMPLOYEES PERSONALLY & COLLECTIVELY TAKE CARE OF YOU AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES.
PS Dhingra
From India, Delhi
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Dear Mr. Sambasivam,
Thank you for your comments. What is being conveyed is that very often the employee is busy sucking up to the boss and forgetting what is correct for the customer. Similarly, for an HR resource to be a "yes" man to his boss very often forgets what is in the interest of the employees. What is required is that employees must speak up for the customer even at the risk of displeasing the boss. Similarly, the HR resource must speak up for the employees even at the risk of displeasing the boss. Otherwise, the customer will go elsewhere, and the employee will go to an external power center to get himself heard. I hope I have been able to clarify what I was trying to convey. Again, this is my opinion, and others are welcome to have their own even if contrary to what I am saying. I respect all points of view.
Regards,
UG
From India, Bangalore
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Thank you for your comments. What is being conveyed is that very often the employee is busy sucking up to the boss and forgetting what is correct for the customer. Similarly, for an HR resource to be a "yes" man to his boss very often forgets what is in the interest of the employees. What is required is that employees must speak up for the customer even at the risk of displeasing the boss. Similarly, the HR resource must speak up for the employees even at the risk of displeasing the boss. Otherwise, the customer will go elsewhere, and the employee will go to an external power center to get himself heard. I hope I have been able to clarify what I was trying to convey. Again, this is my opinion, and others are welcome to have their own even if contrary to what I am saying. I respect all points of view.
Regards,
UG
From India, Bangalore
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Dear Sirs,
Thank you for your response and valuable comments.
During the mid-70s, two organizations, let me call them 'A' and 'B', started with identical set-ups, the same collaborator, identical equipment and technology, the same product, and the same limited customers. I had friends in both, so I can tell the following story.
"A" was a quasi-government organization, and this set-up was part of their diversification. 'A' approached the customers as a typical government-run organization. The employees were well taken care of and were happy. The product was good, but customers had issues with "A" from time to time. Initially, the customers were forced to deal with this supplier due to non-availability, but later, at some point, the customers started importing the product. The customers were very limited in number, and they formed a mindset that "A" was a difficult supplier. It was the start of a real setback for "A," which triggered a few internal problems for them.
"B" was totally customer-oriented but lacked employee focus. Customers were happy, but not the employees. Over time, employee turnover was high, product quality dropped, and customers stopped buying from "B." The business owners conducted a thorough root cause analysis and initiated suitable corrective action. They started focusing on employees in a big way, besides maintaining their customer focus.
By the mid-90s, "B" was a blue-eyed organization for both employees and customers, and 'A' was struggling to remain in business as there were not many takers for their product.
Today, "A" has wound up this division while "B" has not only expanded many-folds but also being recognized as a benchmark in human resources.
We should be genuine and give due respect to both employees and customers. I am with employees in all places where I work for my clients and tell the clients to give as much importance to the employees as they give to their customers.
Thank you once again for the interesting and beneficial discussions.
K. Sambasivam
From India, Madras
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Thank you for your response and valuable comments.
During the mid-70s, two organizations, let me call them 'A' and 'B', started with identical set-ups, the same collaborator, identical equipment and technology, the same product, and the same limited customers. I had friends in both, so I can tell the following story.
"A" was a quasi-government organization, and this set-up was part of their diversification. 'A' approached the customers as a typical government-run organization. The employees were well taken care of and were happy. The product was good, but customers had issues with "A" from time to time. Initially, the customers were forced to deal with this supplier due to non-availability, but later, at some point, the customers started importing the product. The customers were very limited in number, and they formed a mindset that "A" was a difficult supplier. It was the start of a real setback for "A," which triggered a few internal problems for them.
"B" was totally customer-oriented but lacked employee focus. Customers were happy, but not the employees. Over time, employee turnover was high, product quality dropped, and customers stopped buying from "B." The business owners conducted a thorough root cause analysis and initiated suitable corrective action. They started focusing on employees in a big way, besides maintaining their customer focus.
By the mid-90s, "B" was a blue-eyed organization for both employees and customers, and 'A' was struggling to remain in business as there were not many takers for their product.
Today, "A" has wound up this division while "B" has not only expanded many-folds but also being recognized as a benchmark in human resources.
We should be genuine and give due respect to both employees and customers. I am with employees in all places where I work for my clients and tell the clients to give as much importance to the employees as they give to their customers.
Thank you once again for the interesting and beneficial discussions.
K. Sambasivam
From India, Madras
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