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Circle of Satisfaction
- By keeping employees satisfied, restaurants can ensure happy
customers.
By David Lipton
If you're having trouble with customer satisfaction, take a good
look at your employee satisfaction level. You may find the two are
more closely linked than you thought. Take the example of two employees
working in the same position for different companies - let's call
them employee A and employee B. Employee A loves his job, looks
forward to going to work everyday and performs his duties to the
best of his ability. Employee B, on the other hand, goes to work
everyday because he has to and can't get through one day without
the thought, "when is it going to end?" running through
his head. When it comes to dealing with customers, employee A takes
great care to make sure the customers have all they need, while
employee B does only the minimum requirements and as a result, the
customers suffer. Dissatisfied customers tend to tell twice as many
friends about a bad experience than a good one, and undoubtedly
will never return to your establishment.But as employee A and employee
B illustrate, if you want to satisfy customers, you need to satisfy
employees first. Satisfied employees take pride in their jobs, and
in turn, serve customers with skill and enthusiasm.It's a circle
of satisfaction. In a restaurant situation, for instance, it's likely
that employee A would receive a substantially larger tip than employee
B. This would reinforce employee A's enthusiasm for the job, causing
him to continue satisfying customers, while a stingy tip to the
less enthusiastic employee B reinforces his loathing for his job
and the customers he serves. So how can a restaurant ensure employee
satisfaction? While there are no guarantees, the right attitude
from the top down goes a long way when it comes to keeping staff
happy. Here are several factors that are sure to influence employee
satisfaction levels:
The job itself must be interesting and well suited to the individual
employee.This depends on job tasks, the level of employee training,
and whether or not the employee has any decision making authority.
The employee's relationship with his/her supervisor must be one
of mutual respect.Offering recognition, feedback and fair evaluations
are important ways for managers to gain that respect.
Management's beliefs on how employees should be treated reflect
on the happiness of the staff. Information sharing must exist from
the top down, and managers need to express how valuable the employees
are to the company.
Opportunity for career advancement or job security increases employee
satisfaction.
An attractive salary package, benefits and rewards are important
determinants of employee satisfaction, since no one wants to be
paid less than they feel they're worth.
In terms of physical layout, the work environment must be comfortable
and easy to work in.Essential supplies must be accessible, since
getting a job done without the necessary tools can be frustrating.
Relationships with co-workers are also important.Co-operation,
communication and teamwork contribute to employee satisfaction levels,
and businesses need to foster a good team environment. Satisfied
workers will show enthusiasm and go out of their way to satisfy
the customer. The happy customer will likely let their satisfaction
become known (in the form of a large tip, positive comment card,
or verbal conversation or compliment), which will then further fuel
the worker's enthusiasm for the job, and the circle of satisfaction
will continue.
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