Women Who Empower

Brooke Mitchke-Downs Guest Columnist

Supporting Your During the Great Employees Resignation.

Employees need more than money and benefits, they need real support.

As 2021 drew to a close a few things became crystal clear. The most important is people are done working in the same toxic environments they did in 2019. Hundreds of jobs are posted on sites like Indeed daily as people leave and strike out on their own. So what does all this mean for the women who own small businesses? How do stand out in the right way in a sea of new businesses? And how do we keep our current employees or hire new ones? Two words, Customer Service. I know. I know. Please don’t roll your eyes and stop reading. I promise what I have to say can help you keep and gain employees in 2022.

Customer Service is way more than just giving customers what they want and handling issues. Customer service starts with how you treat your employees. Even if you can’t currently afford to give them six-figure salaries right how you can give them a framework that helps them do the job. Employees need more than money and benefits, they need real support. I hear you saying “ That sounds great in theory but how do I do that in real life?"

Brooke is a Customer Service Strategist running her own firm Mitchke-Downs Strategies

Start by making sure every employee knows what they can and can’t do to solve a customer’s issue. If you have clear ideas of how you want employees to greet your customer or things this is the time to get that in order too. Then put it in writing to create your Customer Service Policy. Bonus points if you have a staff meeting to include everyone’s input. It is amazing the power a short flow chart or document posted in the break room or in an employee’s handbook can have on morale. It also causes other positive chain reactions. A firm policy allows your employees to solve issues without running to you or other management every single time and builds their confidence. Which frees up your time to do other things. Honestly think of how much more time you would have if everyone was out there solving basic issues? When an employee knows the policy will be upheld it gives everyone a sense of safety in their place in the business. This usually leads to pride in the work they are doing. Finally, it gives them firm ground to stand on when a Karen or Richard start to push for their way and they tend to take the insults less personally. Will this end all the issue escalations in your business… sadly no. But If you do this you will see a marked decrease. It is amazing the power a short flow chart or document posted in the break room or in an employee’s handbook can have on morale.

Before you run off and start building there are a few things you should do so this works. Treat your Customer Service Policy as a living document and update it every quarter for the first 2 years and then every year after. Keeping a log of issues and how they were handled and anything that came up but was not covered will help make that easier. Make sure you can follow through on anything you put in your policy. Having to backpedal with a customer can shake your employees' confidence in the policy. So be honest and tell them if you are going to try an option before making it permanent and have a place for employees to anonymously give you feedback on what is and isn’t working with the Customer Service Policy.

The time and effort you put into building a Customer Service Policy will pay off by setting your business apart not only with customers but with future employees. Are you going to create a Customer Service Policy for your business?