A recent article from Hotel News Now by Michele Sarkisian stresses the positive impact of employee engagement programs in the hospitality industry. While specific to hotel chains and the like, the piece illustrates the shortcomings of mere program implementation.
Sarkisian notes that customer and employee needs are symbiotic in nature. She writes, “employees appreciate the same things customers appreciate.” In order to drive revenue, customer needs must be met or exceeded. Meeting employee needs provide the tools necessary to do so.
Employees working to achieve a goal in an environment backed by values translates to the customer experience.
Leaders of an organization can make verbal promises and promote glamorous reward programs, but effective engagement stems from the behaviors and actions bolstered by such spoken assurances.
The article also attributes corporate culture and values as the essence of employee performance. Incentive programs designed with only the bottom line in mind can sidestep company values, creating skeptical employees less likely to participate. It is only when an engagement program is built on the foundation of an organization’s core beliefs that employees believe in perfecting performance to better not only customers, but the company itself.
