The Mason Duchatschek Show - Full Length Podcasts by Workforce Alchemy - Dailymotion

Workforce Alchemy

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Transcript

00:00Are you a business owner, executive, or manager who can't afford to be making unnecessary mistakes

00:04or unforced errors right now? Maybe you ask for input from your trusted team members, but

00:09they feel more comfortable telling you what they think you want to hear, exaggerating good news

00:14and watering down, or maybe even covering up bad news as a means of career self-preservation.

00:19Maybe you even take the time to read bad reviews and surveys. Look, if you're wondering what you're

00:24missing and you've got the guts to handle the truth, as unpleasant as it may be, there's another

00:29option you might want to consider. And that's the topic of today's show. Hi, I'm Mason Dukacek

00:34and welcome to the Mason Dukacek Show. In the 1991 film, The Super, starring Joe Pesci, it

00:40was inspired by real life events, particularly involving a landlord named Morris Gross, according

00:47to IMDB. Gross was sentenced to live in a neglected apartment in one of his buildings after failing

00:54to correct over 400 housing code violations. It was a first-of-its-kind sentence in New York City.

01:00And in the film, the main character was sentenced to live under house arrest in one of his rundown

01:05apartments and function as the superintendent of the building. So basically, it made him a customer

01:11of his own property management company and a frontline employee at the same time. So there were

01:17some cool things that I learned from this. And I've always said that the price is never too high for

01:22people who don't have to pay it. The pain is never too great for the people that don't have to feel

01:27it. And the risk is never too great for the people whose necks aren't on the line. Look, I'm no judge

01:32and I can't order business owners or executives to experience the pain of working the front lines or

01:38interacting with their companies in the role of a customer. But I can encourage it in the hopes that

01:43personal experiences might teach them more about how to better identify client needs and improve their

01:49customer experiences. Your customers, however, are both the judge and the jury. And they do have the

01:56power to sentence you to a lot of lost revenue if they decide to stop doing business with you and tell

02:01their friends, family members, and anyone on the internet who will listen. Remember, if you're the

02:06boss, there are a lot of people between you and the frontline employees dealing with your customers on a

02:12daily basis. And many of them, as a matter of self-preservation, have a vested interest in either

02:17keeping bad news from you or watering it down so much that it doesn't seem like they're responsible

02:22for messing anything up. On the other hand, some of the employees might not be responsible for

02:27messing anything up. Maybe it's your fault. I recently checked into a four-star hotel in Las Vegas

02:33and I like nice things in nice places and I don't mind paying for additional services or being presented

02:38with options to do so. However, I don't expect to work hard to be a customer. I don't expect to be

02:45treated like a name or a number either. My Uber had just dropped me off and I was standing at the

02:49front desk with all my luggage. And upon checking in, I was informed that there was a mandatory resort

02:54fee of $56, which the booking agent had not told me about. Out of curiosity, I asked, what's the resort

03:00fee cover? And I was told that it covered my phone in the room for local calls only and the use of the

03:06gym and the pool from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Look, it was 441 in the afternoon. So even though it was close to

03:13100 degrees outside, the pool wasn't an option. Like most people, I carry a mobile phone and didn't

03:18need the one in the room. I'd already exercised for the day and had no need to use the gym either.

03:23The resort fee, I was reminded, was mandatory. Checkout was at 11 a.m. the next morning. So if

03:29I wanted to use the pool, I could only do so between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. because I would still

03:35need time to get up, get changed, pack my stuff, and check out. I felt like I was being manipulated

03:40and I didn't like it one bit. My other choice was to find another hotel and haul all my stuff

03:45there. Plus, I'd have to spend time arguing with the booking agents about any non-refundable fees

03:50and what they did or didn't tell me. So at that point, all I really wanted to do was relax and

03:55it was worth the $56 to not have to do all that. After navigating from my hotel room through the

04:00casino into the pool, I met a security guard who required an ID in addition to my active room key

04:05before allowing me entry into the pool area. The security guard said that they had to have IDs

04:11because the pool was open to the public and there was a bar around the pool and nobody under 21 was

04:16allowed. Then the guard informed me that I had to go back to my room to get an ID. Otherwise,

04:21I would not be allowed to enter. It wasn't like I was trying to sneak in. I mean, I was a registered

04:24guest with an active and valid room key. Plus, when I checked in, they required a valid ID to keep

04:30on record. It wasn't like I was underage and was trying to buy alcohol or drinks at the bar either.

04:35Look, I have a son that's 26. And while I like to think that I look young, I know I will never

04:39pass for under 21 ever again. So no use of common sense, no respect for my time. And I'm thinking that

04:45I paid 56 extra for this. Look, there were several other unpleasant and unnecessary aspects involved

04:51in this particular stay. And suffice it to say that their policies created unnecessary work,

04:56expenses and hassles. Collectively, I felt like an unwelcome guest who also got hustled out of 56 bucks.

05:01As a general rule, I know managers and supervisors can't fix problems they don't know about.

05:06And I try to give them the benefit of the doubt, suggestions and opportunities to fix things.

05:10I'm not one to just run to the internet and give bad reviews that can affect businesses and the

05:13livelihood of employees who work there unless it's absolutely necessary in a buyer beware kind of

05:19situation created by indifference, competence or total disregard for the customer. I went and I asked

05:24for the general manager who wasn't available. The supervisor in charge volunteered to come out and

05:28asked what she could do to help. I explained that I was not asking for special treatment and wanted

05:33nothing from her other than to offer my feedback in the hopes that others wouldn't feel the same

05:37way I did because of avoidable and easily fixable policies, rules and procedures that left a bad taste

05:43in my mouth. I explained that the easy way for me to handle this was just to write a review exposing

05:48their shortcomings, but I'd rather just give her a heads up and encourage her management team to fix it

05:53for future guests. Look, I didn't want to cause permanent consequences for this business when the

05:57problems were easily fixable. I explained the other areas during my short stay where basic courtesy and

06:03common and customer service failures occurred as a result of their procedures and customer unfriendly

06:08policies. She was not empowered or authorized by corporate leaders to fix any of it. And I appreciated

06:14her candor and her honesty. She looked at me and she said the best thing I could do to write a harsh,

06:19honest and well-deserved review because all those decisions that led to my experience were made way

06:23above her head. And she'd never met those corporate people, even though she'd been working there for

06:28years. And at this particular four-star hotel, it was obvious that the corporate leaders, they do pay

06:33attention to bad reviews. And that's why she encouraged me to write one up. Think about it. An honest employee

06:38urged a customer to write a bad review that potential customers would see knowing full well that it would

06:43hurt their business. All because those in upper management don't listen to employees or interact with

06:48customers or visit their properties as customers. Corporate thought that they knew what was going on

06:53by reading reviews, studying spreadsheets, and talking amongst themselves. Maybe their corporate

06:58leaders do learn from the bad reviews they read. Perhaps they could also learn even more from all the

07:03people who had bad experiences but didn't bother writing reviews because of the time and effort that

07:08is required to write them. Look, I think it is a mistake to treat customers like unpaid quality control

07:14personnel. The customer doesn't owe you feedback. It's your job to find out what's working, what

07:18isn't, and why. If you are a business owner or leader and you really want to earn the respect of

07:24your staff, the appreciation of your customers, and discover the true impact of the ideas and policies

07:29born in your boardroom, then I have a challenge for you. And unlike the main character in the movie,

07:33The Super, you don't need a judge to order you to do what should be obvious. All it takes is the

07:38willingness and guts to put yourself on the front lines and get out of your office. So it's a two-step

07:43process. Step one is to work some shifts on the front lines where you can experience the backlash

07:48of unhappy customers against any silly policies you and your executive teams have created. Step two

07:53is to be a guest or customer and see what it feels like to be on the other end of what you currently

07:58think are your good policies and procedures. Once you feel the pain of being a frontline employee

08:03and a customer, you'll get a real valuable education on what your company needs to fix and

08:09why it's important to do so quickly. You'll get insights and ideas that you never would have

08:12gotten otherwise. Granted, experience is a tough teacher, but the lessons you learn will last.

08:18Feel the pain. Pay the price. Take the time. If you don't, you'll never know what opportunities

08:22for improvement you're missing. At this point, you might be thinking that because you aren't getting

08:27a bunch of complaints or bad reviews that you're doing a great job. And what I'm suggesting

08:31is unnecessary. And you might be wrong about that too. Here's why. Let me share a quick story to

08:36illustrate. So I moved to a new state and had to find a new primary care physician. When I first

08:41arrived at the doctor's office, I was encouraged by the nice ladies at the front desk to download and

08:45register for their app so that I could get messages and instructions from my new medical team and review

08:50test results whenever they were ready. I was told that I would get an email link with the instructions

08:55and that it would be easy. It never came. I called and was told to talk to people at the front desk

09:00when I came for my follow-up appointment. I did. And as usual, they were very nice. However,

09:05I needed to sign up for a new app and system. And unfortunately they didn't know how it worked.

09:09So they gave me a number that I could call when I got home. Well, to make a long story short,

09:14I ended up spending about an hour speaking with six or seven different people, none of whom gave me

09:18the same instructions. The last one just suggested that I may have done everything correctly,

09:22but their system could take a few days to properly populate. I checked back the next day

09:26and magically it was working. I felt pretty lucky because none of the people I spoke with

09:31knew anything for sure. They were all guessing all of them. And when I got a quality control survey

09:35from the hospital, I gave them an honest review. I praised the medical staff for their excellent work

09:39and professionalism. I also described their huge waste of time and frustration associated with their

09:44supposedly easy to use app, which absolutely wasn't easy to use. To my surprise, I got an email reply

09:50apologizing that their service and I quote, didn't meet my expectations as if it was my expectations

09:56that might be the problem instead of their terrible new app rollout plan. As a bonus, the person who sent

10:00me the mail just gave me her name and number and offered to listen if there was anything else I needed

10:05to add. I appreciated the gesture and I took her up on the offer. 18 minutes on the phone, I was able to reach

10:10her. To make sure things were not a problem related to my expectations, I asked her how long it should have

10:15taken and how many people that I should have had to speak with to get my app activated properly. She

10:20said I should have only had to speak with one person and it should only take in a few minutes. Then we

10:24agreed that it wasn't me having to waste, that we agreed that me having to waste an hour talking to

10:29seven different people didn't meet their expectations either. She was very nice, polite and apologetic, but

10:33before continuing our conversation, I asked her if she had the ability, authority or responsibility to make

10:38the necessary changes to workflows, policies or training that would prevent other patients from the same

10:43crummy experience I had. She said no, her role was just information gathering to report it to the

10:49executive leadership team that was supposed to prevent and or handle these kinds of issues.

10:53Again, no pain is too great for the people who never feel it. These executives were obviously clueless.

10:57They weren't the ones feeling the pain of their ineffectiveness. The other patients and I were.

11:02The employees on the front lines dealing with all the unhappy patients were too. The lady and I visited

11:06for about how the executive team didn't seem too concerned because, well, they hadn't been getting many,

11:11if any complaints, as if the absence of complaints meant that patients were happy and they were doing a good

11:16job. Based on firsthand experience, I knew this wasn't the case. After wasting an hour dealing with untrained

11:22people and systems and weren't ready for release, I was willing to invest another 18 minutes to get her on the

11:26phone and maybe, just maybe, that is why they didn't get many, if any, complaints. It wasn't because the patient

11:33experience was good. It was because the barriers in place to insulate the executives from the criticism of their work

11:39were so cumbersome and time-consuming for patients that I suspect most of them just gave up.

11:43She had a hard job and I know it's hard to explain to executives who actually are responsible

11:48why they aren't doing a good job, especially when there aren't many, if any, complaints. I suggested that

11:53these executives pretend to be new patients and also get their children or parents who didn't know

11:59the ins and outs of their system they created to call and try to accomplish what I did. If they did that,

12:04then they would get plenty of helpful feedback. I would like to think that there are plenty of

12:09executives who have the guts and care enough about their clients to experience their organization's

12:13customer service or lack thereof for themselves. Sadly, many don't. Don't be like them. Do better.

12:19I hope the ideas and concepts I shared today make your business, you, and the team around you better.

12:25And if you feel they did, I want to invite you to tune in regularly, spread the word, share, and subscribe

12:30to our YouTube channel and my blog at workforcealchemy.com. You can also apply for free to

12:36take the workforce alchemy challenge and access additional tools and training that can help you

12:41improve your job security, earn faster promotions, and get bigger raises. The tools and training are

12:46all about helping your company select, engage, and retain the most talented people. More specifically,

12:51I'm talking about giving you access to skill, attitude, and personality-based assessment tools built by

12:56world-class industrial psychologists in street-smart proven training on how to use the data they provide

13:01to make better decisions faster. This leads to things like lower turnover costs, lower labor costs,

13:07and better quality work accomplished without adding unnecessary staff. When you've got the right

13:12people in the right places, they're empowered and doing what they do best and like to do most.

13:16You end up with a culture lacking the kind of unnecessary drama and conflict that

13:20kills productivity and drives good people away. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you soon.

13:26We'll see you soon.

When Business Policy & Customer Needs Clash: Executive Leadership Secrets & Solutions

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The Mason Duchatschek Show - Full Length Podcasts

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