Iconic Leadership Leads To Employee Engagement
According to Gallup’s most recent State of the Global Workplace report, 85% of employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work. Eighteen percent are actively disengaged in their work and workplace, while 67% are “not engaged.” The economic impact of this global “norm” is approximately $7 trillion in lost productivity.
These employee disengagement statistics are scary, particularly for any company relying on differentiating itself on customer experience. Why? It’s impossible to establish an iconic brand without a team of engaged employees who care about the customer. One of the four P’s of Iconicity is People – your employees – the ones who create the experience and engage with your customers on a day-to-day basis.
As an iconic leader, what can you do to ensure that your employees are fully engaged and passionate about taking care of the customer? Well, first and foremost, for this to happen it’s imperative that you lead the charge. It’s your responsibility to demonstrate the importance of customer service and experience across the company. A company culture built on customer centricity can’t take shape without your involvement and leadership.
Brands are defined by the words and actions customers experience across the various touchpoints within your company. As an iconic leader, being intentional about sharing the importance of delivering a positive customer experience will help ensure that your employees stay engaged and your brand continues to make meaningful connections with customers and build lifetime loyalty.
Some ICONIC Leadership tips –
Keep it Real. Authenticity and transparency is the new iconic leadership model. Employees want to work for leaders who speak their language – not all the corporate jargon and verbiage that means little or nothing to employees. Research shows companies with highly engaged workforces outperform their peers by 147% in earnings per share. Get your team truly connected to the company’s higher purpose, the value your company delivers and your brand’s promise to your customers. Connect the dots for them.
Walk the Talk. People emulate what they see not what they hear. Being an iconic leader, you must demonstrate unwavering commitment to customer service excellence and infuse passion for the customer among your employees. Customer loyalty is based on every day experiences your customers have with every member of your team. It’s important that your employees are reminded by your daily actions and behaviors how important the customer is to the company’s longevity.
Put Up or Shut Up. Make sure that you are continually investing in enhancing the customer experience and the people who deliver it. You want to develop programs to reward and incentivize the right behaviors. Invest in employee development and training programs to ensure that team members have the proper tools and resources to consistently deliver on your brand’s promises. Lastly, ensure adequate funding is provided to support ongoing customer research and knowledge-sharing systems.