“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou)
The overall experience is always more powerful than the specific detail which inevitably fades over time. While at SRS we are extremely detail orientated, we also prioritise customer service which in our view is directly and inextricably linked to employee satisfaction. Put simply, happy employees create happy customers.
So at the heart of every positive customer experience is an engaged and motivated employee and in order to provide excellent service to our clients we need to ensure our team feels encouraged and supported.
At SRS we recognise the importance of incentivising employees as well as providing training and development opportunities which allow employees to find enjoyment and satisfaction and a sense of pride in their work.
We understand that regular and meaningful engagement between staff and managers is a crucial piece in creating motivated employees. As an ISO9001 approved security company we are required to set clear goals and measure ourselves against such goals monthly and annually. However we have taken this a step further and review our performance against the targets we set on a weekly basis and we are forensic and thorough in our evaluation.
We know that communication is key to achieving staff and client satisfaction and we measure in tangible terms the nature of our interactions. We chart how frequently we have communicated with staff and clients across every site, and whether this was face to face, by email or over the phone. Every manager must complete a weekly management chart setting out these details and attend at Management Review Meeting where we assess our performance against our targets. This allows us to ensure that we connect in a regular and meaningful way with the two most important parts of the equation – our clients and our staff.
We send inspirational messages internally, mark birthdays, provide opportunities for social gatherings to create company cohesion and a sense of team spirit and celebrate exceptional performances with a financial reward through our Employee of the Month scheme.
Through this approach we endeavour to create a positive and collaborative working environment where staff are supported and encouraged by their managers. These elements are fundamental to motivation as set out in the chart below which demonstrates key factors for employee motivation:
We are proud of our values which underpin our company culture and we ensure that new staff connect to these values and we remind our team regularly of their importance.
- Clarity of communication – keeping communication concise and prompt
- Diligence & Integrity – strive for excellence through honesty and hard work.
- Collaboration & respect – work well individually and as a team to achieve the best results.
- Accountability– taking ownership of our work.
- Presentability & Punctuality – look the part and act the part.
We have our managers, our team and our clients to thank for the outstanding reviews we have received and our outstanding ranking on Google which keeps us motivated to continue to provide an unparalleled service.
Companies that focus on finding ways to recognise their employees’ intrinsic motivations can reap several rewards and translate behaviour change in the employees. Motivated people often exert more discretionary effort, meaning that they go above and beyond in their duties and perform well. This is two-fold in its results by helping fellow employees and customer satisfaction.
The chart above shows only 7% of employees considers customer satisfaction as a motivational factor in this particular study. That said, it could be argued the figure largely depends on the size of the business and the direct interaction those employees have with the customer. It is clear that in many cases employees have fantastic relationships with the customer even if those employees hold relatively junior positions within the organisation. However, the remainder of the chart is perhaps a more accurate representation.
Whilst benefits and money are important, they are not the only motivating factors. In fact, a recent study found that the most motivational factors for employees are a good work-life balance (21%), peer motivation (20%) and an encouraging boss (15%).More than 70% of U.K. workers want their employers to put more effort into motivating them. This can be achieved by investing in their training, keeping them up to date with changes and allowing them to grow and develop skills.
“An employee’s motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager” (Bob Nelson)
Yair Daren (Bsc) is the Founding Director of Security Risk Specialists, he is an Ex IDF Lieutenant and a University of London Graduate in Economics & Social Policy.
