Why Customer and Employee Engagement Matters

In 1994 the Harvard Business review published a seminal paper entitled “Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work”. For this first time this paper brought together two facts managers had known intuitively for years: (1) satisfied, loyal customers drive business growth and profitability, and (2) satisfied, loyal employees are more productive and deliver better customer service.

Not surprisingly the concept of the Service-Profit Chain first caught the attention of service sector organisations in the USA and was championed by the likes of Sears and Southwest Airlines. Today the concept has been embraced by public and private sector organisations across the globe.

At Tesco, the corporate mission statement is “to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty” . CEO Sir Terry Leahy says that “everything we have done – and will do – has to create value for them. How do we do that? By making sure that no one else tries harder for our customers. And by looking after our staff we make sure they can look after customers.” Indeed, David Richardson, Head of Tesco’s Employee Insight Unit has measured the effects of customer and employee engagement and finds that “those stores with employees who are highly committed also have the highest turnover per foot”. Furthermore, the investor community are beginning to make the connection too. As Kevin Beeston, Executive Chairman at support services group Serco observes, “we are beginning to see the link in investor mindsets between people strategy, delivery and business performance” .

At Green Lion we couldn’t agree more – successful customer and employee engagement is emerging as the key differentiator of a successful business.

To find out more about an Employee Engagement manifesto which will deliver outstanding organisational performence click here .