I read a lot and it is almost exclusively nonfiction. When I start a book of fiction I have to continue to read it until I've completed it. That means I stay up very, very late and don't get enough sleep. I can't put a good book down. I started to read up on management ideas, styles etc. because there are a ton of bad managers and some of them ended up being mine. It piqued my interest and then it lead to organizational behavior etc. Anyway, a heck of a lot of it is just plain common sense.
I was in a conversation about organizations with someone today so it's been on my mind. We were talking about negative public images, how they occur, why they occur etc. An organization (corporation, non-profit, etc.) can slip into a negative public image quickly and unnoticed. If you have rude, incompetent, or arrogant people that deal with your clients/customers/patrons/members you are asking for trouble. A customer's first impression of the organization is often created by one of these people. The person may already have an opinion about you before they've had any contact with you. But one way or another you want people's first contact with the organization to be pleasant.
What a person perceives the organization to be may or may not be true but that is irrelevant because perception is reality. If the person encounters a rude arrogant employee they will perceive you to be rude/nasty/unfriendly/unapproachable/unhelpful --- the list is endless. The powers that be (board, management, officers whatever) set the tone for the entire organization. If the board reacts or responds to problems by trying to cover things up, attempting to keep people quiet so word doesn't get out, or worse censure/punish/fine someone (employee,member/client) word will get out and immediately you've gotten another negative impression by the public/other members/clients etc. So they think you're nasty because the person(s) they had experience with or heard about, and now on top of that they think you are spiteful and vindictive. You can keep digging yourself into an unending spiral of bad to worse perceptions. The more you hit back, become defensive, retaliate the worse you look.
So what should you do? First and foremost you need to set your ego aside. You already know what is wrong with your organization, you have just been unwilling to accept the information. The complaints about your employees, the lack of service, the rudeness are actually gifts. The complaints or other things you've been trying and failing to keep quiet tell you exactly what is wrong and all you need to do is decide how you are going to fix them. Stop the knee jerk response of censuring people and listen to them instead. Decide to be an organization that provides quality, friendly service and then do it. Easier said then done of course but it is doable.
I think Bill Gates said it best - "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." It's your choice. Do you continue down the negative path or can you turn it all around and completely change the image you have created?
A super condensed version I guess. Whew, now maybe I can move on and think about something more 'on topic'. LOL
No comments:
Post a Comment