Here are some tips to encourage pride of ownership:
1. Give Employees the Tools and Power to Make it Right
Make sure your customer service people have the knowledge to fix any problem that may arise; which means that they are trained on the products that you sell and want to make your guests or customers happy. Make sure that they have the right tools and authority to do so. There is nothing worse than telling a customer you will take care of their problem and having your boss not back you up. Every customer service person at PRIER knows they have the authority to make it right if an issue arises.
2. The Buck Stops with You, Me, Us
At PRIER safety is always our number one priority. Number two is “A” quality in everything we do. So that means the buck stops with all of us. No one is exempt from treating people with kindness and dignity, respect and professionalism. If someone sees a quality issue on the line, they are responsible for blowing the horn and stopping that line – it is their responsibility to take ownership. This type of accountability should be rewarded when it happens. Applaud employees for doing the right thing and caring enough to step up. Internal customer service is important too.
3. Employee Input in Employee Life
What do you think might happen if you gave your employees more input into how their own work is carried out or what their office space looked like? Do you think they would decide to install a margarita machine and take two hour lunches? Most likely, not! (Unless of course you work at Google, Yahoo or Facebook) You really cannot expect people to take ownership in their work if they cannot see themselves in it or if they don’t feel like they what they say matters. At PRIER we have monthly employee lunches where the state of our company business is discussed, birthday and anniversaries are celebrated and employees are encouraged to discuss topics that are on their mind.
As a lifelong customer service professional, I have always taken an ownership point of view. I started out at age ten with my own paper route and wouldn’t let my Mom or Dad help me fold the papers; I wanted to do it myself. I still have that same pride in my work and every business owner should encourage all their employees to treat the business like they own it!
