| LYUDMILA SHUSTEROVA, Director, Strategic Development At BDO, Lyudmila oversees issues related to strategic business development, the forming and promotion of outsourcing services and the development of new solutions. She authored a number of works related to personnel management, project management and the key issues of outsourcing and had them published in large business publications. |
In our early years, we learned that what goes around comes around. This, among other things, is probably applicable to everything in our lives.
For instance, we well understand how it works in marketing and sales. Yet looking around, we notice that managers far from always see the logical connection between the system of motivation and the company's profits.
For some reasons, I had to spend several weekends at construction supermarkets. My impression was that, mostly, customers had to chase salesmen begging for them to take the money. "I have already found out everything myself, – the desperate customer would say, – chosen what I want. I just need to find out if you have enough of that merchandise. Here is the money, take it!" The client yells this only to hear the salesman say something like "I am not from this department". Or "My computer is stuck". Or "We are having stock verified". That is what they all say while thinking, "Get lost and take your money with you! I'd rather stay behind the counter and do nothing".
At one store, while waiting for a consultant, I was amazed to see a salesman trying to hide from customers behind the counter, while customers were standing in line waiting on him. The peripheral vision of such salesmen is amazing. They, looking very busy, immediately rush, in zigzags, away from a customer who comes into view within a distance of 20 yards.
After several failed attempts to give my money away to a salesman, I found myself in a hypermarket where prices were a bit higher than the average for the city. Yet the markup of 1% to 5% assures that when you call on the hotline at midnight, a polite operator will answer. At 9 in the morning they will call you back to let you know how many rolls of the wallpaper you want they have left and what store was holding it for you. By the time you arrive, the merchandise will be secured for you so you do not have to chase it around. If your order is small for the store, you will still get the same treatment. If you look around for a consultant, they will come running prepared to do anything you may want them to. Consultants, at this wonderful place, will not try and sell you something you do not need. They will precisely answer your questions, help you with calculations or with deciding on the right color, explain that what you have unused you may bring back within a month, even if the packaging is torn open. They are polite and friendly and really try to understand what you want so as to give you the best service possible. Even the security man standing at the door will help you with placing your bulky purchases on a cart! Having visited that store several times, I so wanted to meet with the management of the network and tell them how great I felt about their service.
They made me think. It is not our national mentality that one is expected to talk badly about when discussing service available in our country, nor the new generation of sales persons, nor the quality of their education and not the way they are brought up. The difference between the described organizations is their correct or incorrect systems of motivation and training and their personnel management as a whole. It is not enough if you just hire the required number of people and read the basic statements to them. You must select and hire right people which is only possible if you know how to attract them. Just paying their wages is not enough. You cannot expect good work from someone who has not been explained criteria of efficiency and who knows that whether or not they work well will not ultimately affect their wages or bonuses or the number of added days off. Without that the employees will just pursue their own ends, which may be very different from yours. They will just kill some hours at work while browsing Internet with corporate computers and waiting on their vacations. I will leave alone such a vast topic as corporate culture and winning employees' loyalties and their willingness to do their jobs well – because they work in a team.
To correctly use all the mentioned tools you will need a comprehensive approach and will have to spend some money. As the very minimum, you will need experienced managers, spend some of your own and their time to work out a system of motivation, training courses, etc. Moreover, you will have to continuously maintain and keep developing this system. Of course, it is easier to pay minimum wages, lower your hiring requirements and try and win customers' loyalty with discounts. Yet you are bound to lose far more money than you may possibly invest in personnel management – when customers who prefer quality service leave you for good.
