Each year as a thank you to the Beyond Philosophy team we normally arrange a “fun day” in the summer. This year we decided to travel on the Eurostar to Disneyland Paris! Meeting early at the New St. Pancras Station, what a great place that is, and totally opposite to Heathrow, see my previous blog. We were quickly through check in and on our way to Paris, being whisked along at a great speed through the English countryside, we went through the channel tunnel and through to France. This is a great way to travel. Far more civilised than a plane. On the way over I noticed that the waiters or hosts (not sure what they called them) where very transactional in the way they were dealing with us. In other words they were performing the task associated with the job but no smiles, no form of engagement despite my trying to engage them in conversation. It was clear they just didn’t want to be there. I wondered if they had “Fun Days” with their management team? All too often the employee experience is forgotten in building a great Customer Experience, and yet in reality, without employee engagement at work the chances of building a great Customer Experience is limited.
So what is the learning here…. Happy people give you happy customers. When looking to build a great Customer Experience you also need to look at improving the employee experience. If you want to read more I would recommend a great book called the Service profit chain.