Satisfied Employees Beget Satisfied Customers

Unhappy workers can actually cost your business money.

It’s not just a cliché but a hard fact: The customer’s always right. That’s because happy customers are more willing to spend more money on your business. But only a small portion of the workforce goes out of its way for customers.

Gallup Poll regularly takes a pulse of the workforce in its report “State of the American Workplace.” The management consulting company has polled more than 195,600 U.S. employees. A little more than a third say they’re “engaged in their job.”

In the customer service world that’s alarming. With more than 70 percent of workers just working for a paycheck, companies miss out on profits. According to the report, the economy suffers between “$483 billion to $605 billion every year due to lost productivity.”

As GEM Journal has tracked in the past: happy workers will make happy customers. Let’s break down how…

Productivity trickles down

GEM Journal Today has previously reported the headline, “Bad Bosses are Bad for Business.” Managers and other leaders who treat employees unfairly yield poorer profits.

When employees don’t feel engaged in their work, everyone loses: the customer, the employee, and the business.

Customers complain after a bad experience. That can lead to comps. Even worse, turnover and additional costs hiring and training new staff. Similar takeaways show in other research.

A benchmark study from the Temkin Group found that companies with positive customer experience have 1.5 times more engaged employees than disengaged ones. Strong leadership trickles down to employees.

When workers see their boss walk the talk, they’re inspired to do the same. It’s like parents who smoke – their kids are more likely to, as well.

“When employees see their leaders actually leading by example, they feel good about their work and are more motivated to satisfy their customers,” says Robrta Nedry, president of GEM Journal Today. “Customers feel good when they deal with companies who seem to treat their people well.”

A rising tide lifts all boats

Employees want to feel a sense of belonging.

Early in the new year, a report called “The 2022 Workplace Belonging Survey” came out. It’s most fascinating findings: “employees just want to feel respected and a sense of belonging.”

More than money and higher benefits, people want meaning from their jobs. Have you ever met someone who’s been with the same company for more than two decades? Through thick and thin, they stay loyal to the company.

Those kinds of employees found a sense of meaning in their jobs. Whether it was just a natural fit or they just loved their boss – they felt a sense of belonging. A good leader can grow a workforce of employees like that. Because those managers learn who each member of their team is and what they need to succeed.

Like most of the guest experience, it starts with communication.

“Employees respond to respect, caring and communication just as much as customers do,” Nedry says. “Satisfied employees are more likely to produce satisfied customers. Satisfied customers make the employees’ experience more satisfying.”

It works symbiotically in one guest experience ecosystem. Good guest experience leads to customer loyalty, and customer loyalty means – profits.

“Satisfied employees stay longer and give more,” Nedry says. “Satisfied customers stay longer and come back.”