Taking care of customers by taking care of employees, (give them all a raise edition)

ETERNAL TRUTH: Better engaged employees are happier, more productive, are retained at higher rates than less-engaged folks, and provide higher levels of customer service, all things being equal.

So if you want/need/desire improved customer service, all you have to do is find a way to improve employee engagement levels of the folks meant to be providing the customer service. 

Easy, right?

Except when it's not. I have written plenty here, (and so have lots of other folks), about how despite tossing money and effort at improving engagement for at least 20 years, that in aggregate engagement levels are about what they have always been since it became a member of the 'something we measure' club.

But what if there was another, simpler way to improve customer service that didn't involve 'engagement' at all, but did impact those employees that are on the front-line working with and helping customers every day? You'd be interested in something like that, wouldn't you? What if it was as simple as cutting a check? Well, make that several thousand checks.

Check this excerpt from a recent Fortune piece - McDonald's Says its Wage Hikes Are Improving Service:

The hamburger chain in April announced it would raise the average hourly rate for workers at the U.S. restaurants it owns to $9.90 from $9.01 starting July 2015, with average wages climbing above $10 per hour by the end of 2016. The company also said it would allow those employees to earn up to five days of paid vacation every year following one year of employment.

McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook, who took the helm in 2015, has since moved swiftly, closing hundreds of weak stores, bringing back all-day breakfast, and simplifying the chain’s menu, reducing bottlenecks in serving customers quickly. But improving the customer experience hinges on workers being on board with all these changes, hence the raises.

“It has done what we expected it to—90 day turnover rates are down, our survey scores are up—we have more staff in restaurants,” McDonald’s U.S. president Mike Andres told analysts at a UBS conference on Wednesday. “So far we’re pleased with it—it was a significant investment obviously but it’s working well.”

The move reportedly created friction with franchisees, who hire and pay their own workers, as they felt pressure to match the wage hikes. Still, there are early signs it is paying off: In October, McDonald’s reported its first quarter of comparable sales gains in two years. The company built on that growth with a huge 5.7% increase in the following quarter.

Wow, is it that simple? A general 10% across the board wage increase and sales and customer service both rise enough to offset the costs of the increased wages? That's it? Man, what took them so long to sort that out?

In truth, there are a few things to tease out of this experiment, and it could be that some of the non-wage increase changes have been at least somewhat responsible for this recent turnaround in McDonald's fortunes. But as CEO Easterbrook rightly observes, in order for these operational and strategic changes to really work, the employees had to be on board, and raising wages was the simplest, (and possibly best) way to accomplish that.

There are probably a few special circumstances that make this strategy more effective than it would be in other places, even small reductions in turnover are likely to have a big impact on service levels in the fast food business, and even with a high number of employees, giving blanket increases of 10% does not represent massive spending. So get turnover down just a little, keep a few more longer-tenured staff on each shift, and boom - the drive thru lines move a little bit faster and the customers are happy.

Sometimes, maybe most of the time, we tend to over think what it takes to keep people (reasonably) happy, and give them a situation where they feel good about the work they are doing, and the customers that they are serving. 

You might not be able (nor necessarily should you), give everyone on the staff a 10% bump. But there probably is some other, simple, reachable change you can make that would serve the same purpose. It's out there. You can find it.

Just don't call it "employee engagement" and you will be fine.  

PODCAST - #HRHappyHour 238 - Keeping the Human in HR, Live from Ultimate Connections

HR Happy Hour 238 - Keeping the Human in HR: Live from Ultimate Connections 2016

Recorded LIVE at Ultimate Connections 2016 in Las Vegas

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Guest: Cecile Alper-Leroux, VP HCM Innovation, Ultimate Software

Listen to the show HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, we welcome back friend of the show and one of our favorite guests, Cecile Alper-Leroux, VP of HCM Innovation at Ultimate Software to talk about the three big mega-trends that are facing HR leaders in 2016, and some of the ways that technology can help HR leaders and their organizations meet these challenges.

The three big topics we touched upon on the show include, the concept of the  "Employee Experience", and how that differs from traditional ways of measuring employee engagement, the evolution and transformation of performance management as many organizations are re-thinking their performance management processes, and finally, how HR and HR technology has strive to make predictive and prescriptive analytics more accessible and relevant for HR and business leaders in 2016.

This was a fun and interesting conversation about some big issues in HR, ways HR leaders can wrap their minds around these issues, and how technology continues to evolve to address these dynamic trends.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, or by using the widget player below:

Many thanks to Cecile and to the team at Ultimate Software for once again welcoming the HR Happy Hour to the Ultimate Connections event.

Remember to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show on iTunes or your favorite podcast app or iOS or Android - just search for 'HR Happy Hour' to add the show to your playlist to never miss a show!

Movie Batmans, Ranked

This very subject was discussed in a recent conversation with four or five extremely successful business people, all of whom I would hazard to guess consider themselves very smart persons. Which just proves the world needs to know, Which movie Batman is the best movie Batman? 

So without delay I present the unscientific, unresearched, completely subjective, and yet 100% accurate list of Movie Batmans, Ranked.

6. Ben Affleck Batman - "Batman vs. Superman", 2016

Hard to say for sure until the movie comes out. But if Affleck thinks Batman is a match for Superman then he is insane. Which he is. Batman I mean. Possibly. Also, Affleck was TERRIBLE as Daredevil.

5. Val Kilmer Batman - "Batman Forever", 1995

Should have held out for a "Top Gun" remake instead of donning the cape and cowl.

4. George Clooney Batman - "Batman & Robin", 1997

Possibly the worst overall movie on this list. Clooney just never seemed to fit the role. Batman shouldn't be so perfectly handsome I think.

3. Adam West Batman - "Batman: The Movie", 1966

For a generation, Adam West was Batman. This was before Batman became the Dark Knight of course. West's Batman was more like the Chubby Knight. But is deadpan delivery of some of the most absurd dialogue in the character's history places him in the Top 3.

2. Christian Bale Batman - "Batman Begins", 2005; "The Dark Knight", 2008;, "The Dark Knight Rises", 2012

Probably the best overall actor on this list, Bale was just about perfect as the 'modern', darker Batman. Bale's Batman was intense, brooding, and violent. Which is exactly what the best Batman stories were all about. 

1. Michael Keaton Batman - "Batman", 1989; "Batman Returns", 1992

Back in 1989, Keaton seemed an unlikely choice to play a vigilante superhero. Better known for comic roles in movies like "Night Shift" and "Mr. Mom", somehow Keaton nailed the Batman role with a mix of dark and witty. His "I'm Batman" line sums it up the best - Keaton was Batman.

There you have it. Glad to settle an argument you possibly didn't know you were having.

You can let me know if the comments if you disagree with these rankings, but as I mentioned, you would be wrong.

Have a great weekend!

The one HR tech feature you'll regret not asking to see in the demo

I have seen lots of HR software, done more than a few of my own selection processes and subsequent implementations, worked on an HR tech product team for awhile and even been an end user of a bunch of different HR technology solutions over the years.

And if I have, in all these years and in these varying roles learned any single thing about HR technology I think it might be this: In the sales/evaluations stage almost no customer asks their potential HR tech vendor that will be supplying technology solutions that will (hopefully) be used by every person in the organization to review and demonstrate perhaps one of the most important feature/functions of the software, namely, the 'I forgot my password' process.

I don't know why, and I suppose I may be wrong about this as I am not actually sitting in every HR tech vendor demo going on (shock), but I know that I have never seen, nor asked any vendor to discuss and/or demonstrate that actual process that employees would have to follow when they forget their passwords. And they will forget their passwords. Probably every few months. And if the 'I forgot my password' process is slow, clunky, and hard to complete they will become more enraged than they were before. 

So the 'use case' for the "I forgot my password' process flow also needs to factor in the increasing frustration and impending rage of an employee, who has just tried three or more times to (unsuccessfully) log in to the HR system, likely because someone told them they have to, and now the technology tosses them into the 'I forgot my password' abyss. This seems like an incredibly small thing, but for some reason I think it is more important than we tend to believe. 

You have an already unhappy customer who is not able to log in to the system. Make sure the process for welcoming them back into the system doesn't make them even more unhappy. Make sure you take a look at the 'I forgot my password' process when you evaluate any HR tech supplier.

Happy Thursday.

In my tribe

I am in process of working on an epic 'Ranked' post, (1980s Albums, Ranked), that is taking ages to compile. In the extensive research (two or three Google searches), for that post I was reminded of one album that is certain to make the final rankings, In My Tribe by 10,000 Maniacs. 

The album was 10,000 Maniacs most popular album, and for many music aficionados it was the defining work for the band. I had the album back in the day, and I recall seeing a fantastic 10,000 Maniacs concert once as well. 

But what made me think about this album more directly today, was an extremely interesting comment someone made about me yesterday. This person thanked me for (I am paraphrasing a little), for being 'An advocate and supporter of our tribe'.

It was an interesting comment to me because I suppose I have not ever explicitly thought about being a supporter of a 'tribe'. But I suppose over the last few years especially, I have looked to work with and collaborate with people that I have known for a while, and who's talents and abilities I respect, (and often envy). And that is just a normal, natural thing I think. We want to work with the people we enjoy working with and who can imagine, create, and deliver amazingly cool things. And sometimes, maybe most of the time, these are people that we like, we maybe know socially, and perhaps we even consider them friends outside of 'work.' So I suppose given that context we (perhaps while not even thinking about it in those terms), we create, nurture, and support our own versions of a 'tribe'.

I don't really have a point to this, I am fortunate that the editor of this blog (who is me), has extremely low standards for quality, clarity and relevance.

But I suppose I should make some kind of point, (especially for the kind, kind people who are still reading).

So the point is this: We should support, champion, care for, nurture, and protect our 'tribe', even if we don't actually know who they are, how they precisely 'fit' in the tribe, and even when we may not be realizing that we are actually doing these things, even while we are doing them.

I am thankful to have the opportunity to know the incredible people that I get to work with, and who have supported me so much. I hope you know who you are and how grateful I am.

Thanks for reading. I will try and do better tomorrow.