Your resident slacker may be causing a lot more havoc on the customer experience than you thought. Research found the person’s lazy ways are a serious threat to satisfaction.
First, we’ll tell you why it’s a threat: Low-performers have a high opinion of their work. They think they’re doing a great job of helping customers and creating a good experience.
In reality, they’re often disappointing customers and not pulling their weight, which upsets other customer care professionals who have to pick up the slack.
What researchers found
When researchers from Leadership IQ compared actual work performance to how employees felt about the work they did and the impact it had on operations, slackers more often said they gave 100% to the job. What’s more, they felt their work was some of the best done in their area.
On the upside, slackers had high levels of job satisfaction and were less stressed than their counterparts.
Of course, that could be because the mid- and top-performers end up cleaning things up after slackers fail to do the job right. That does affect morale: Top-performers were actually less engaged in their work.
It’s a recipe for disaster that can negatively affect customer experiences. If the top performers are stressed and disenchanted, they’ll likely part ways, leaving the customer experience up to slackers who wrongly think they’re doing a good job.
What can you do?
- Hold employees accountable. Challenge them with quarterly performance goals and reward them well for meeting them.
- Show the consequences. When reps fail to meet goals, put them on performance improvement plans. If they fail again, be prepared to show them the door so everyone sees poor performance is not acceptable.
