Frontline Leadership can be learned!
5-Steps to Build a “Cycle of Engagement” through Daily Operations
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The Cycle of Engagement -- five-steps group leaders can take to keep associates focused, learning, and committed through daily activities A number of studies indicate that one third of associates are "engaged" in daily operations. This is crucial for all group leaders because only these associates are high performers and will engage customers--critical for loyalty. But how do group leaders know at any point in time where their associates are on the engagement continuum? Even more important, how can group leaders keep them moving on the continuum toward full engagement?
Engagement on the frontlines of daily operations is "people involved with their hearts and minds." Involvement is the matching of challenges and skills to avoid a person being anxious, apathetic, or bored and can be managed to a large degree. Hearts and minds however, being more intangible, can only be managed with limited success and requires leadership actions to continue for any length of time. Characteristics from the heart would be passion, emotion, enjoyment, feelings, and intentions (at least as perceived by others). Those from the mind are thought, attention, reflection, informal learning and communication. No one is static on the engagement continuum so everyone can constantly move in either direction. By moving associates to "engaged" and even "full engagement" group leaders create tremendous opportunities for productivity and making collaborative tasks easier and more enjoyable.
So how can group leaders move everyone toward full engagement? This is the question I set out to answer from my mentored experiences with a best practice which had engaged operational groups numbering from one to almost two thousand over a period of a half-century. Discovering the answer was elusive because while the practice had withstood the two critical tests of time and growth it was based in human nature and never examined or written down.
The lifelong studies on involvement by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi outlined in his works "Flow" and "Good Business" provided the epiphany that group leaders need actions to move everyone towards full engagement. With the key being leading them to receive customer feedback from their own daily activities. Associates routinely receive feedback from colleagues and supervisors which can create engagement, at least for the short term. But, to remain engaged and keep people moving on the continuum towards full engagement, associates must learn to get "internal" feedback--or that from their own daily activities.
While some associates have learned this on their own, one in three according to some studies, they often do not even realize it as this "internal" feedback is not on any curriculum. Yet it is this "internal" feedback which inspires and selfmotivates. Internal feedback allows associates to furthermore develop the ability to provide oneself objective feedback a prerequisite to sustain peak performance and full engagement. Or as Dr. Csikszentmihalyi puts it "the mark of the expert."
Such engagements create a cycle based on the entrepreneurial ethic of at least a century ago which helps sustain customer loyalty. This cycle of engagement is when engaged associates on the frontlines of daily operations engage customers who in turn reengage those same associates as well as their partners. For example, if a service provider is fully engaged they will engage the customer and in turn be re-engaged through customer interaction. While getting feedback from ones own daily activities is self-motivating, it is this reengagement from customers that excites and enthuses associates just as it does with fan appreciation in sports, theater, or entertainment. These activities will bring about more customer and partner engagement through support. The cycle will build its own momentum as it repeats. Glimpses of this engagement can be observed even in the very simple, everyday emotions such as smiles and other energy exchanges. When the associate smiles the customer (as well as fellow associates and partners) will most likely respond with a smile and thus generate more smiles from the associate. But it doesn't stop with the small emotions. The cycle of engagement builds momentum in important and long-lasting soft, people areas such as enjoyment, sharing, appreciation, recognition, inspiration, awareness, participation, and accountability. Part of this momentum is sustaining a customer dialogue between associates and customers as well as fellow associates and partners. This is necessary in keeping the all-important voice of the customer (VOC) on the frontlines of daily operations. In fact, the cycle of engagement continues commitments, learning, and focus through everyone demonstrating intentions, reflection, and attention respectively. All entrepreneurs represent the engagement cycle. As they begin their venture, their engagement is contagious as they engage customers who reengage the entrepreneur and their supporters.
How did the best practice provide associates customer feedback from their own daily activities to engage them? A five-step process, set of actions, with which any group leader can lead associates in getting customer feedback from their own daily activities. Actions to do "with" associates rather then "to" them. Complement without changing existing managerial/administrative activities on the frontlines and works by leading the soft, intangible, people skills which involve the hearts and minds of everyone. These intangibles make the interaction a positive and motivating experience for everyone. By demonstrating intentions, recognition, appreciation, reflection, participation, and attention people become focused, committed, and learn. 1. Thank: Builds recognition and leads appreciation. 2. Invite: Demonstrates intentions, which leads to commitments. 3. Ask critical questions: Creates attention and leads to long-term focus. 4. Get feedback from activities: Keeps associates engaged at a high level. 5. Share assessments: Develops opinions that foster dialogue.
These five steps are seamless as part of a single process. After momentum builds there becomes really only one action in that of extending the invitation. The rest of the process happens as a part of human nature seemingly as natural as the physics of a siphon effect displayed by an old-fashioned hand water pump.
Discover the missing-link in daily operations for leading associates' engagement to retain customers (beneficiaries)! A user-centered approach for keeping the voice of the customer in front of everyone with a customer dialogue. We define the five steps as a "secondary group asking process" meaning simply a set of actions that anyone can learn as a career skill to lead associates in re-asking (mostly non-verbally) the critical questions for "How are we doing?" Why is the process missing? Asking customers "How are we doing?", synonymous with reflection, question, inquiry and challenge, as a practice went to the top of enterprises after WWII when organizations became hierarchical to more efficiently manage capital. In the last two decades, as enterprises moved to be more horizontal, asking as a practice never fully returned to the frontlines. Only feedback from the asking which is more manageable through programs and systems.
Sustaining a "sense of purpose" in daily operations. Sustain a direction and engagement through a desire to focus our energy on particular activities or goals. We deeply care when our feelings tell us we are doing what matters. Purpose feeds our souls and stimulates our passionate energies. Through a "leadership pyramid" engaged group members can lead experiences to form the basis for beliefs. These beliefs support and complement the actions which are managed through daily operations and the results which are achieved.
In summary, existing managerial activities provide everyone feedback from supervisors (vertical) and colleagues (horizontal) but it is difficult to manage customer feedback one gets from their own daily activities (internal). Studies suggest that one out of three associates have learned this self-motivating experience although they often do not even realize it as it is not on any group's curriculum (family, school, church, or enterprise). Frontline leaders can, however, lead activities to provide this feedback and keep everyone moving towards full engagement. Persons who are engaged are involved with heart and mind and will demonstrate intentions, reflection, and attention to stay committed, learning, and focused respectively. The big reward of customer loyalty occurs as a cycle of engagement develops where an engaged associate engages the customer and in-turn is reengaged through customer interaction. In fact, the most magical moment for any group occurs when a customer becomes engaged because not only has a loyalty been established for the customer but also the reengaged associate experiences satisfaction and enthusiasm. Associates are energized by customers much in the same way an performer is energized by the audience. Group leaders are often engaged themselves--a key reason for their promotion. They may feel caught-in-the-middle between meeting the needs of supervisors and keeping everyone (associates, customers and partners) fully engaged in daily operations. For two big reasons: 1.
On the enterprise frontlines three critical areas merge together everyday of workplace relationships and experiences which must work with each other for results . Those three groups are Associates, Customers, and Partners who continuously interact among each other within their groups as well as between them. Partners are anyone who supports your group, both internal such as Marketing or external such as suppliers.
2. People's level of engagement can move on a continuum from fully engaged to actively disengaged. At any point in time it is difficult to know exactly where people are on the continuum or which way they are moving.
The cycle of engagement builds a momentum, much like a flywheel effect, based on human interaction. Focus, learning, and commitments flow from daily experiences and relationships as everyone develops the ability to provide themselves with objective feedback. This is human nature as the same effect is evident in any performing group be it in sports, arts or entertainment. Engaged performers engage fans and audiences who in turn reengage the performers as well as partners.
The practice supports continuous learning when group leaders do it with rather than to everyone. Even in classroom situations, if the instructor wants to take learners on a journey toward reaching a competency level rather than simply a rote memory exercise then the practice will keep everyone on the same page working towards the same goals.. The bonus for learners is they also develop a life skill they can apply in any group situation. From a customer's perspective, the cycle of engagement can be seen and felt quite easily. The next time you have an opportunity, observe and assess levels of engagement on the continuum in a setting of multiple interactions such as a restaurant. You will be able to readily identify associates who are getting customer feedback from their own activities (engaged) and are engaging customers. Their demonstration of intentios, reflection, and attention can be seen and felt. In turn, the enjoyment and self-motivation they receive back from their customer interactions is noticeable as well. Others may be following all policies and procedures and be performing their respective tasks but are not receiving the same customer feedback from their own activities. They, in turn, are visibly not, to the same level, engaging customers and being reengaged themselves from similar activities and customer interactions. Part of the curriculum of families, schools, and enterprises should be the "Engaging 5" steps. Everyone learning to receive customer/beneficiary feedback from their own daily activities. Feel the enthusiasm, enjoyment, pride and selfmotivation of the cycle of engagement.
Enterprise cases or examples of the cycle of engagement: Click here to view the case of Sam Walton Click here to view the case of Starbucks
"If you give a team member customer feedback, you focus them for a day. If you teach a team member how to 'ask' for customer feedback, you focus them for a lifetime!". Ask us a question or make a comment direct by clicking here or Send us an email? Belief in your right to Privacy - Click here to view our statement We do not gather any information through the internet that you do not provide voluntarily - Period. Š 2005 George Reavis - george@thankingcustomers.com