Study Unit 6 Flashcards
Service culture
Behaviour of employees in an organisation will be influenced by the culture & values in that organisation
Corporate culture
The cultural framework of an organisation consists of 3 important elements
1. Structure
-relates to the formal reporting channels
2. Systems
-refer to the people management systems used for control, evaluation, promotion and recognition
3. People
Culture
The employees accumulated sense of what is important in an organisation
Developing a service culture
-can only be developed over time & there is no quick-fix solution if its absent
-there’s a strong link between service culture & the service process & a strong relationship between the service process & service quality
Requirements for the establishment of a service culture
- Strategic requirements (strategy)
- Organisational requirements (structure)
- Management requirements ( leadership )
- Knowledge & attitude requirements
- Developing a service strategy
-stipulates what should be done,to whom,how, & with what resources, & what benefits should be part of the service offering
-is important that service concepts must be aligned with the business mission
-an important part of a service strategy & culture is human resource management
- Developing the organisational structure
3 considerations should be bone in mind:
1. A marketing-centred attitude of mind throughout the organisation
2. The responsibility for marketing falls on line managers & the chief executive has to accept ultimate responsibility for its successful implementation
3. A formal marketing department may be required to take responsibility for centrally implemented marketing activities
3 distinct types of discretion with examples
- Routine discretion
-exercised when potential means for performing service tasks are available to service staff based on training,past experience, external search activities or from a list of discretionary options provided by the organisation
* service of fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s - Creative discretion
- exercised when service employee is given a task,but the means of accomplishing yhe task is developed by the employee
*dentist working is a large practice with several other dentists - Deviant discretion
- occurs when employees have exercised inappropriate decision criteria (according to the organisation) during routine or creative discretion instances
*when an employee reimburses a customer after unsatisfactory service selivery
- Developing leadership
-managers should nog only be managers, but also leaders
-communication is a critical ingrediant of leadership
-leaders should be able to create a dialogue with their staff & provide clear direction & guidance
- Knowledge and attitude requirements
Knowledge needs to relate to questions such as:
-how does a service organisation function?
-what is meant by customer relationships?
-what is the role of the individual in the service design & delivery process?
- what is expected of the individual employee?
Boundary- spanning roles
Perform 3 distinct roles
1. Operation specialist
2. Marketers
3. Also part of the service product
Employees in these positions have 2 functions:
1. Information transfer
2. Representation
Sources of conflict in boundary-spanning roles
- Personal-role conflicts
- employees are sometimes expected to smile & appear to be friend, even if they are feeling miserable - Organisation- customer conflicts
-organisation expects the employee to behave in a certain way, while the customer wants the service performed in a different way - Inter- customer conflicts
- when there’s conflicts between customers, the boundary-spanning staff are usually expected to resolve them
3 core prerequisites for successful internal marketing
- Internal marketing be recognised an an internal part of strategic management
- The organisational structure be supportive of internal marketing
- Top management must consistently demonstrate active support for the internal marketing process
2 types of management process that can be considered in the implementation of internal marketing:
- attitude management
-the attitudes of employees & their motivation for service-mindedness - Internal communication management
-all staff involved with customers, either directly/indirectly
When to implement an internal marketing campaign?
3 situations in witch an internal marketing campaign should be implemented
1. When creating a service culture & a service orientation in the organisation
2. When maintaining a service orientation among staff
3. When introducing new services
Strategies to deliver service quality by means of people
- Hire the right people
- Develop people through training to deliver service quality
- Empower people by providing the necessary support systems
- Retain the best people
- Hire the right people
- To produce the quality of service that an organisation’s customers expect, hiring & reqruiting the right service staff is a prerequisite
- In the recruitment environment, an organisation has to compete with similar organisations to get the best people
- This approach is referred to as ‘competing for talent market share’ & implies that organisations act as marketers in their search for the best employees
- Develop people through training to deliver service quality
3 typed of service training should be offered
1. Developing a holistic view of the organisation
2. Developing skills to execute the required tasks
3. Developing specific communication & service skills
3 empowerement by providing necessary support systems
Benefits of empowerment are the following:
1. Leads to quicker & more direct response to customer needs in the sercive delivery process
2. Results in a quicker & more direct response to dissatisfied customer complaints
3. Employees feel more satisfied with their jobs
4. Front-line employees treat customers more enthusiastically
5. Empowered employees become a valuable source of new ideas
6. Front-line staff increase customer retention
Enfranchisement
-goes beyond empowerment & requires that a system should be linked to the performance of the staff where they are rewarded for customer-oriented behaviour
Rewards should comply with the requirements
- Availability
- should be available (not unattainable) & substantial - Flexibility
- must be flexible enough so that they can be given to anyone - Reversibility
- if received for the wrong reasons , the consequences should not be enduring - Contingent
-should be dependent on or directly tied to the attainment of performance criteria - Visibility
- value of rewards should be understood by all employees & should be visible - Timeliness
- should be given immediately after objectives have been achieved and criteria met - Durability
-motivating effects of reward system should last for an extended period
Teamwork
-customer satisfaction will increase when employees work coherently in well-integrated teams
-by promoting teamwork the organisation can enhance the employees abilities to deliver excellent service while the camaraderie & support enhances their inclination to be excellent service providers
Providing support systems
-area where support is crucial is the provision of the right equipment & technology to frontline employees in particular
- support can be institutionalised in formal systems & procedures, or is can be informal, by recognition,reward & top management involvemeng
- Retaining the best people
3 ways to enhance employee retention
1. Include employees in the organisation’s vision
2. Treat employees as customers
3. Measure & reward strong performers
