Main

Presentations

June 17, 2008

How to Build Great WOM? It's All in the Language...

westjet.jpg

By Jennifer Kelly 

As part of the Word of Mouth conference I wrote about last week, I had the opportunity to hear Richard Bartrem, the VP of Culture and Communication for WestJet speak about driving WOM through Employee Empowerment and Engagement.   Richard kicked off his keynote presentation by telling us that if we heard something we liked to “rip us off” so I’m sure he won’t mind if I share some of WestJet’s unique insights and ideas.

 

Most people are familiar with WestJet and its “Why do WestJetters care so much?  Because we’re also WestJet owners.” marketing campaign.  The little airline that could has managed to do what many other airlines haven’t; success and thrive in a very competitive, highly regulated, turbulent industry.  To give you an idea of just how tough an industry it is, in Canada alone, 63+ airlines have gone out of business over the past few decades.  In the U.S., the number is even higher at 205+.  So what is it that WestJet is doing that enables it grow and continually post positive percentage earnings?  
Well, according to Richard Bartrem, in addition to WestJet’s creative and effective low lost business model, a lot of it has to do with WOM and a lot of that WOM has to do with the people who work at WestJet.  

 

WestJet believes that one of the best sources of internal as well as external word of mouth marketing is their people.  If you want to get people talking, you have to do the unexpected (ideally in a good way) for your customers as well as for your employees.  Here are some examples of the WestJet philosophy.   

 

 

People Want Leaders Not Supervisors

 

It’s a simple notation – nobody really likes to be supervised.  No one wants to feel that someone is looking over their back or watching their every move.  People look to leaders not supervisors for guidance, motivation, inspiration.  After all, have you ever heard of a spiritual supervisor or a ‘supervisor” who will take us into the next decade or century?  Regardless of whether you’re a Boomer, Gen X or Gen Y - the concept of leadership versus supervision seems to resonate and can result in a work environment that is more productive, creative and harmonious environment.

 

 

WestJetter’s NOT Employees

 

Call it the anti-widget movement.  WestJet feels that words like “employee” “widgetizes” them.  That’s why everyone who works for WestJet is a “WestJetter” not an employee and that’s why they have a People Department instead of a Human Resources Department.

 

Do What Makes Sense Based on the Situation

 

WestJet follows a “loose & tight” philosophy.   They are tight where they need to be (anything related to safety) and loose where they can be.  Because there aren’t a lot of hard and fast rules, WestJetter’s are empowered to make decisions.  The general guideline that WestJetters follow when making a decision – does it make sense based on the particular situation? 

 

WestJetters are encouraged to use their best judgment depending on the circumstances.  As an example, CSA’s (Customer Service Agents) have full and complete authority to decide whether or not to charge an excess baggage fee.

 

As owners (yes, they really are owners), WestJetter’s have a vested interest in doing what’s right for the company as well as their guests, so 93% of the time CSA’s do charge for excess luggage.  WestJet really believes you need to get out of the way and let people do their jobs. Sometimes they’ll get it wrong but most of time they’ll get it right.  Most importantly, they don’t follow a policy to tell how to do what’s right and what makes sense.

 

Customers Are Guests NOT Passengers

 

In a continuation of the “anti-widget” theme, WestJet does not have passengers – they have guests.  Passengers are like cargo, something that go from point A to point B.  By contrast, guests are people.  A guest is someone we invite and welcome into our homes.  There is a mindset that goes with thinking of someone as a guest rather then a passenger. 

 

The above examples illustrate how the simple use of language can have enormous impact on the way people think and talk about a company. 

 

Perhaps the best testament to this is the story of a WestJetter who was attending a function and was asked what is was really like to work at WestJet to which he replied, “Whatever you’re heard about working at WestJet – it’s 10 times better.”  Who could ask for better word of mouth then that?

 

Posted by Judy McLeish at 08:01 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

June 13, 2008

Joining the "New Fashioned" Conversation!

By: Jennifer Kelly

 

Yesterday I attended the Canadian Marketing Association’s 2nd annual Word of Mouth conference and had an opportunity to hear a number of  industry experts and companies discuss and debate various aspects of word of mouth marketing. 

 

The CMA defines word of mouth or WOM as “the authentic and enthusiastic sharing of opinions about a product, service, etc., between two or more people.”.  Word of mouth  may seem like the latest buzz phrase or trend but it isn’t a new concept.  WOM has been around for a very long time.  As Doug Rushkoff so aptly noted in the closing presentation at the WOM conference, word of mouth pre-dates the written word.  Before social media, before the internet, before television and radio and books, people learned about things by talking to each other.  Jump to the 21st century and people are still learning about things by talking to each other.

According to McKinsey, three-quarters of all industries are driven by word of mouth. Bain says there is no better force to drive sales growth than strong customer advocacy. Booz Allen says, “Make your consumer an advocate: Shift marketing objectives from sending a message to facilitating conversations with and between consumers.”

Research done by the Keller Fay Group found that 90% of WOM is done in person or via phone.  This number might be surprising considering the proliferation and popularity of online social media but here’s the interesting thing. 

 

While the majority of WOM happens offline, experts believe the biggest opportunity to effect/shape or even influence WOM is online and this is perhaps the reason for what seems to be, a heightened awareness or focus on WOM. 

 

Social media provides an organizations with an enormous opportunity to become a part of the consumer-driven, word of mouth conversation.  Companies that have a well planned, well researched social media strategy that includes listening, participating and measuring the daily conversations and chatter that takes place over the internet will have a distinct advantage in the area of WOM marketing.  It takes time, diligence and commitment to be an active participant in the social media phenomenon, but for companies that do choose to participate and do it well, the results and benefits of are well worth the effort. 

 

Next week, I’ll talk about some of the companies that presented at the conference and share some of their unique and very interesting insights in WOM.

Posted by Judy McLeish at 12:26 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

May 27, 2008

Umpqua Bank Creates Social Networking Site - But is it Effective?

Increasingly companies are trying to become part of the social networking scene. For those that need a refresher, social networking often involves grouping specific individuals or organizations together. That is what Umpqua Bank is trying to do. Umpqua has created LocalSpace™.

Umpqua LocalSpace™ is an easy-to-use virtual networking service that allows individuals to connect with the people, content and resources within their community. Potential new customers, vendors and partners from the area are all online and available to all Umpqua customers. According to the Bank, individuals can get beyond the boilerplate information most search sites provide, and really get to know and support the local businesses around you.

Frankly after a couple of minutes of browsing LocalSpace™, the concept sounds interesting, but the content is not presented in an eye-catching way. In fact, I would argue that it is quite basic. It looks to connect individuals and highlights conversation starters, more you should know about the individual or the business and provides photos, files or videos.

Given that this is the information age and I can find information on businesses and individuals in so many interesting and engaging ways – I am not sure this would hold my attention for very long. And I am classified as a baby boomer!

I would love to hear from anyone that is benefitting from LocalSpace™.

While it may seem that I am not very keen on what Umpqua is doing, I believe that every bank should think about how they are going to get involved in the social media space. While it is not too late to play – time is ticking.

So Umpqua deserves a “thumbs-up” for entering the space! I look forward to watching LocalSpace™ evolve. If anyone can innovate – Umpqua can!

Posted by Judy McLeish at 11:45 PM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

May 21, 2008

Asking Employees to Smile is Good for Them - Right?

lips.jpg

For years companies have been training their employees to smile. Why? A smile projects a positive image of our company and according to many – smiling had the added benefit of being good for our health.

 

 

But is smiling really good for us?

 

 

Apparently, smiling may not be good for us at all – it may actually hurt our health! According to German scientist of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University employees that are forced to smile and take on-the-job insults suffer more and longer-lasting stress that may harm their health.

Dieter Zapf studied 4,000 volunteers working in a fake call center. Half were allowed to respond in kind to abuse on the other end of the line while the other half had to “suck it up”.

The findings – employees that had to take the abuse suffered more stress symptoms that lasted much longer than those that were able to answer back.

"Every time a person is forced to repress his true feelings there are negative consequences," Zapf said. "We are all able to rein in our emotions but it becomes difficult to do this over a protracted period."

In an interview with the German healthcare magazine Apotheken Umschau, Zapf suggested that people who must keep smiling on the job should get regular breaks to let it out.

 

Think about how many companies have customer service standards that require employees to smile at customers – not matter how difficult they are. Now think about the added stress that this type of standard may be having on the lives of these employees….

 

I am now asking myself, if companies are being unreasonable by asking employees to smile even in the most difficult of situations.

 

What do you think?

 

Click here to read the article.

Posted by Judy McLeish at 07:48 PM | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

April 06, 2008

Doesn't Zell Know That "Shock & Awe" Won't Build Engagement?

picturesamzell.bmpSam Zell is traveling the U.S using a series of “pep-talks” laced with profanity to shock the Tribune Co.’s 19,000 employees to be more creative or risk seeing their jobs disappear.

Will his strategy work? According to management consultant Karissa Thacker, an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware’s business school in Newark – “this free-wheeling, shake-things-up way of behaving isn’t for everyone, but it is effective for reaching those people who are willing to embrace new ways of doing their jobs.”

We aren’t so sure that profanity and fear is the best way to motivate people to embrace new ways of doing their jobs. As engagement specialists we know that highly engaged cultures are characterized by trust, direction, a clear sense of purpose and inspiration.

 

Profanity, fear and shocking employees won't build purpose and inspiration in employees over the long haul. Certainly Zell is under the gun, but be believe that there are better ways to help every employee embrace the new culture of creativity by helping them to think differently about their jobs and the risks they can take. Building transparency and trust starts at the top. Reminding employees that the failure of the Tribune deal will have no impact on his billion dollar lifestyle - certainly wouldn't motivate most to become more creative. In fact, it may just have the opposite effect of creating a "keep a low profile and keep your job"  attitude amongst employees. People take risks when they feel protected and safe - fear and shock just won't motivate or change the masses.

There is no doubt that this will be an interesting case study as to whether or not someone with no newspaper experience can turn around the 126 year-old bureaucratic culture in a depressed industry. I only hope that he doesn’t lose sight of the the fact that these are 19,000 employees (not real estate assets) whose livelihoods depend on the success of this “shock and awe” strategy.

Let us know what you think.

 

Posted by Judy McLeish at 10:11 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

February 26, 2008

What Are Your Employees or Ex-Employees Saying About You?

JobVent_logo.gif

Have you ever wondered whether or not you should join a company? You just completed the interview process and while everyone seemed positive – how do they really like working there? Do they love their job, or hate it?  What would they say about the company if they could review it anonymously?

Well, now you can review what it is like to work at a company. JobVent is a site that tracks who within a company “loves their job” or “hates it”. The website enables employees/or ex-employees to rank a company across a number of dimensions:
  • Pay
  • Respect
  • Benefits
  • Job Security
  • Work/Life balance
  • Career Potential/Growth
  • Location
  • Co-worker Competence
  • Work EnvironmentIt then provides a score and the number of reviews for that individual company.
What did we find most interesting about this site?

Well, for starters, it provides some insight into a variety companies. Of course, not every comment can be taken seriously – as it could be just the view of a couple of disgruntled employees.

But, could you discount a positive score of 346 from 111 reviews? That is for Verizon Wireless, who scores high on the “I love my job” list! Wouldn’t this information be attractive, if you were thinking of joining Verizon, I think so!

Other examples of companies on the “I love my job” side include; CareerBuilder.com, Boeing and Walgreens.

Now how about those that say they “hate their jobs”. Companies that fall into this list include; Progressive Insurance, Hewitt Associates, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Northwest Airlines, Wal-Mart, Sobeys and Cablevision. Some of these companies have a significant number of negative reviews. Would you discount 343 largely negative reviews? I don’t think so!  

Let’s look at an example. Hewitt Associates claims that “our business is people”. Yet, they received a score of minus 6118 from 343 reviews.  The sheer number of people claiming that they “hate their job” at Hewitt made me take notice. Not only would I probably think twice about working there, it would certainly make me question their ability to consult on HR issues or foster employee engagement in another environment. Have a look at what people said about working at Hewitt:
  1. Respect – respect started out great eight years ago, now there is none. Just work, work, work, work and work some more.
  2. Benefits – they aren’t bad, but I am fairly healthy and have never had to use them.
  3. Job security – job security is gone. They are continuing with Year 2 of layoffs.
  4. Work/Life balance – absolutely none, they will own your soul. They want at least 50 hours a week, a LEAST!
  5. Co-worker Competence – this used to be the best and the brightest, now everyone left and took all of their knowledge with them.
  6. Work Environment – overall morale is low – it feels like everyone is depressed.

    7. Personally, I like the concept of this site. It provides real examples of what it is like to work in a company across a number of meaningful dimensions. While, I am sure that we should discount some of the reviews, it would be hard to discount hundreds of reviews about a company.  Let us know your thoughts.

     


           

           

Posted by Judy McLeish at 10:11 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

September 25, 2007

If This Was Your Last Lecture, What Would You Say?

If this was your last lecture, what would you say? Watch this inspiring lecture by Randy Pausch, a 46-year-old Carnegie Mellon professor who is dying of pancreatic cancer, who has only weeks or months to live.  Thank you to the blog – 37 Days which clearly summarizes the key messages:

  • "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things."
  • "Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you." Sometimes, he said, "it might even take years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting."
  • After showing photos of his childhood bedroom, decorated with mathematical notations he'd drawn on the walls, he said: "If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it." Don't worry about resale values, he said.
  • This is for my kids, he said at the end of his lecture. His wife and children, he said  "mean everything to me. They give a purpose to life and a depth of joy that no job [and I've had some of the most awesome jobs in the world] can begin to provide. I hope my wife is able to remarry down the line. And I hope they will remember me as a man who loved them, and did everything he could for them."
Thank you to 37 Days for writing this!

Posted by Judy McLeish at 01:50 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

September 11, 2007

Are You Managing Your Most Important Asset?

stockxpertcom_id474686_size1.jpgWe understand the importance of engaging employees. It's our passion and it’s the first step to engaging customers. 
So how does a company become nurturing and fully engaging internally?

The short answer is through understanding and building. You make sincere efforts to understand your employees, their struggles, their frustrations and their needs. Then, you build an environment that every employee will be proud to call their own. Click here to view - Are You Effectively Managing Your Most Important Asset?

Once you watch the video, ask yourself whether or not your company is doing enough to understand and engage its employees...

‘The employee experience is a set of beliefs that your employees have about your company – and make no mistake, it’s those beliefs that make employees show up in the morning.’

Posted by Judy McLeish at 01:00 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

September 07, 2007

Are You Doing Something "Taboo" at Work?

stockxpertcom_id480134_size1.jpg 

We covered office e-mail and Internet policy and today we read an article in The Globe and Mail which caught our eye - Naughty, naughty: taboo behaviour on the job.

 

How does your company feel about sleeping at work? Or drinking on the job?

 

Here are some stats from a CareerBuilder.com survey called “Workplace Taboos”:

45% of workers surveyed admit to falling asleep at work

39% admit to kissing a co-worker

22% admit to stealing from the office

22% admit to spreading rumours about a co-worker

21% admit to drinking something alcoholic at work

18% admit to snooping around the office after hours

 

I just can’t figure out how you can get away with an office nap. Blinds that shut and doors that close I guess. But what about the cubicle?

 

Falling asleep at work is obviously symptomatic of just how busy we have all become. Job stress, longer hours and family responsibilities must be keeping us awake at night.

 

And on a creepy note – what is with the snooping? Lock up your drawers folks! Prying eyes are checking out your hidden shoe collection and your stockpile of plastic utensils.

 

Is this happening in your environment? And if so, what are you doing about it?

Posted by Judy McLeish at 01:02 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

April 05, 2007

Energize, Excite, Engage Employees!

energizeWe love David Maister’s videocast on The Profit Formula. Why? It supports our belief that companies succeed, if they have highly engaged and committed employees. According to David:

You don’t make money by occasional excellence. You make money by consistency. It doesn’t matter what the best people do – it matters what everybody on the team does. We can’t agree more – it is essential that a company is relentless in its desire for consistency. He then asks the next question – which we can’t agree with more… Under what circumstances does excellence occur? It occurs, if and only if, you can energize, excite and engage your people. If your people come to work energized about what they do – if they come to work thinking this is “fun” then they go the extra mile.

So how do you energize your people? According to David – your Managers, of course. It is the Managers that are responsible for both profit and for people’s lives. They need to give the people they work with meaning and make them energized about what they do. It is the character of the individual Manager that creates excitement. If you put someone in charge that actually believes that what you do has meaning – then they have a higher probability of convincing everybody else.

Managers with the Right Ideology = Energized Employees = Profit Thank you David for your invaluable insights. How many companies are selecting Managers based on their character? Based on their ability to energize and excite employees – probably not as many as there should be!

 

 

Posted by Judy McLeish at 08:37 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

April 04, 2007

Employee Experience? A Resounding Yes!

erika.jpgWe recently had the fortune of conducting an "email" interview with Erika Andersen the author of the bestseller "Growing Great Employees". What did we want to find out? We were very interested in Erika's viewpoint on the value of creating employee experiences.

We asked Erika seven questions.

What is your definition of an employee experience? And how important do you think it is to growing great employees?

  • I’d define employee experience both as the feeling someone has, day-to-day, as an employee of an organization, and his or her feeling about that organization.          I think a good employee experience is critical to growing great employees – and research backs me up!  Employees who feel positive about and loyal to their employers tend to be more productive and stay longer.  From my point of view, listening is central to a great employee experience.  I’ve devoted the first chapter of Growing great Employees to the skill of listening, as you know, because I feel it’s so foundational to creating an environment that supports trust, engagement, and growth.  In other words – I believe listening provides the basis for creating a great employee experience. 
Do you think that employee engagement is enhanced if a company mirrors its customer experience on the inside – in other words builds the customer experience from the inside-out? If so, which companies do you think are leading the way?
  • Yes – I think the smartest companies recognize that employees who are having a great experience can provide a great customer experience. One company that does a wonderful job in this regard is Union Square Hospitality Group, a restaurant company based in New York.  When they first became clients of ours in the early 90s, they were in the process of expanding from one very successful restaurant in New York City, Union Square Café, to two. We encouraged the CEO, Danny Meyer – a lovely, visionary leader – to make explicit his core values, so that people could know what those values were and work toward embodying them even when he wasn’t around.  He formalized the experience he wanted to create as “Enlightened Hospitality”; its five tenets are “take care of each other,” “take care of the guest,” “take care of the vendor,” “take care of the community,” and “take care of the bottom line.”  You notice the very first one is “take care of each other”!  And they actually do this – so that the basic experience employees have is of being in a supportive and caring “work family.”  USHG has a turnover less than half that of the average restaurant company, and they now have 11 restaurant and related business in New York – and they’ve just partnered with a Japanese company to open Union Square Tokyo!

What are employees looking for in terms of psychological, emotional, as well as economic benefits?

  • In my experience, almost everyone wants a few essential things at work: to feel respected and trusted, to feel they have some influence over decisions that affect them, to feel successful and competent.
  • Then there are the more person-specific experiences: some employees want security, while others want the chance to take risks.  Some employees like a very expressive, loose environment, while others like a workplace that’s more quiet and structured.
  • If an organization can create an environment that offers the basic human experience that all employees are looking for (in the first paragraph, above), they’ll be able to attract great candidates, and then they can sort for those who will be a “fit” for the more specific nuances of their particular culture. 

How important is it for companies to create meaning for employees? And if it is important, what is required?

  • I don’t think companies can create meaning for employees.  I think company leaders can get very clear about what’s meaningful in the work they do, express that clearly – and then look for employees who resonate with that meaning.  For example, the mission of my company, Proteus International, is “to help our clients clarify and move toward their hoped-for future.”  We’re passionate about this – and we work to offer this support to all our clients.  Because we’re explicit that this is the core meaning of our work, it’s easy for people thinking about joining our organization to know “what we’re about” and to decide whether or not it has meaning for them.

What are the most important factors that shape an employee experience?

  • It seems to me that consistency is key: consistency in a company’s policies, consistency in the execution of those policies, and consistency in the behavior of those in senior positions in the company – perhaps most especially of the employee’s manager – in regards to those policies.  For example, if a company purports to have a zero tolerance policy on harassment, but they also have in place policies that allow men to be paid more than women for doing the same work, or if the policy is enforced in some instances but not others, or if the person’s manager doesn’t adhere to the policy…it creates a bad employee experience.  In other words, I don’t believe a company can create good employee experience if employees don’t feel the company can be trusted to keep its promises.
With the new focus on “war for talent” do you think companies have swung the pendulum too far in their efforts to attract new talent versus nurturing and growing their existing employee base?
  • Actually, most of the companies we work with are pretty focused on trying their best to recruit and promote from within.  They’ve realized that it saves tremendous amounts of money and time, and yields employees who are more committed and enthusiastic…not only those who are promoted, but others who see them being promoted.

How can companies better ensure that their most precious assets, which take the elevator down every night, come back the next day with a positive attitude?

  • Listen to them, give them choices whenever possible, assume they want to do great work.  Tell them honestly when they need to do something differently, and support them to change.  Be clear and realistic in your expectations, and give them the resources, authority, skills and knowledge they need to fulfill those expectations.  Believe in their potential, and want to help them succeed.   When they do succeed, celebrate and give credit for those successes.

We want to thank Erika for taking the time to answer our questions. Anyone wondering if they should bother building an employee experience should read this interview! The answer is a resounding YES!

Posted by Judy McLeish at 12:41 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

November 03, 2006

Does Your Company Favor the New Guy?

newguy.jpg Do feel like companies favor the “new guy” over their existing customers? Do you feel like the “new guy” is getting all of the attention, special deals, special rates, and benefiting from fancy promotions? We feel that far too often companies spend inordinate amounts of money focused on “getting new” versus growing and nurturing their existing customer base.

Have a look at our latest thinking on this dilemma. We believe that this type of thinking can’t last forever….have a read!

Posted by Judy McLeish at 02:16 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 01, 2006

Competitive Advantage = Multi-Sensorial Experience

our_com_logo.gif As Martin Lindstrom (author of Brand Sense) would say - the senses are portals to our emotions. Companies that focus on appealing to all five senses create more powerful, richer and more satisfying customer experiences. Have a look at our presentation that shows how the Mandarin Oriental has created a differentiated multi-sensorial experience.

The result = the creation of a unique sense of place.

Posted by Judy McLeish at 02:50 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

October 31, 2006

Cutting Through the Clutter

http://www.slideshare.net/uriba/getting-through-communication-network-communities-marketing/1

The presentation was developed by Uri Baruchin for Tinylove's distributor event in Koln (Cologne) Germany, in September 2006. Tinylove is a client who designs developmental toys for babies. Their main target audience is parents, specifically “Generation-X parents. The question was how to help them reach this audience through the web in a world characterized by information overload.

Have a look, this presentation nicely captures the challenge that all companies face as they try to differentiate themselves in a "sea of sameness".

Posted by Judy McLeish at 02:45 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

October 28, 2006

Engaged Frontline = Differentiated Experience

stockxpertcom_id426691_size1.jpgIf you want to deliver differentiated experiences, you must engage your frontline in the process. Have a look at our approach to creating a customer experience through creating an engaged and committed frontline.

Posted by Judy McLeish at 02:00 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)