Stories

“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”    Richard Branson

Richard Branson is not a new name in the streets. For those of us who have been living under a stone, Richard Branson is the founder and CEO of Virgin Group. He is a well-known and successful entrepreneur. In one of his interviews, he was asked what he viewed as the biggest issue in the work place that needed addressing.

He was keen to answer: “Firstly, many companies  fail to embrace their staff as individuals. Have you ever received bad news while at work? Have you had a family commitment that has clashed with your job? Whether it’s coming in later each morning so that you can drop the children off at school, or taking time out to visit a sick relative, or even take leave to concentrate on other things and recharge.  Secondly, employers must embrace the different needs of each member of staff and not try to impose a one size fits all solution to problems.”

Employees First

Employees are a company’s best asset. Most companies however , fail to recognize how important it is to ensure that an employee is happy. Happiness goes hand in hand customer care.  Care is emotion. Emotion is contagious, if employees are happy, customers will feel the warmth and get infected by it.

Employees are in positions that directly affect the service of customers. Hence, their performance could be a big boost to the company. Something in common with every successful business is the ‘employee as a value preposition aspect’. This simply means that, employers know that their employees are talented and are in no way obligated to work for the company.  They can move to a company that treats them better.

The same effort that is heavily invested in responding to a client’s complaints, is the same effort that should be mirrored with employee problems and needs. Therefore, hire the best talent and treat them like your best customer.

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”   Stephen R. Covey