Firms missing out on employee/customer link

Manners & Murphy, employee engagement specialists have launched their 2013 Employee Engagement Report that illustrates the strong link between employee advocacy and the customer experience.

Conducted independently by OnePoll research and capturing over 2,000 responses from across the UK the report has delivered key insights across employee advocacy and the customer experience. With 2014 rapidly approaching, the insight offered in the report will help direct businesses to redirect resource, focus in different areas or reaffirm plans they already have in place.

Customer intuition knows when employees are unhappy 

56% of people surveyed said that they could tell when an employee was unhappy in their job. Coupled with the fact that 20% will switch because of a rude employee and 32% due to a poor customer experience, it’s a pretty stark signal to ensure employees are engaged and happy if customer facing.

No matter what you tell them, employees are going to listen to a trusted a source

With 88% of respondents stating that a recommendation was extremely important or at least one of the factors when choosing a place to work, it is imperative that businesses create workforces that are predisposed to positively recommend them. The businesses that do this will beat the competition to the best talent whilst reducing recruitment costs dramatically.

Headline results outlined in the report

Some of the results found within the report include:

• Do you think brands care if you are happy with them or not?

  • Yes – 56%

  • No – 17%

  • Don’t know – 27%

• Which of the following would make you switch brands?

• Poor customer experience – 30%

• Rude employees – 20%

• Cheaper alternative – 24%

• Just want a change – 2%

• Poor service/faulty product – 21%

• Yes – 72%

• No – 11%

• Don’t know – 17%

• Yes – would influence but not the deciding the factor – 72%

• Yes – one of the most important reasons for joining a company – 16%

• No – 12%

• Do you think you can tell if an employee is unhappy in their work by the customer experience they deliver you?

• Would a positive recommendation influence a decision to join a certain company?

James Murphy, chief executive officer of Manners & Murphy commented, “Whilst the findings might not come as a surprise to some, the shock is that the majority of businesses choose to continue to venture down a path where they don’t connect the engagement of employees to the customer experience. We always hear about customers being ‘brand ambassadors’ but internal customers, the employees, are these ambassadors first and foremost and businesses forget that fact at their peril.”