Fact Check Your Motivational Posters

Remove the Motivational Posters
(Before they do any more damage.)

I’ve got a problem with those motivational posters you see in call centers. Actually, the posters themselves are fine. The sayings printed on them certainly reflect our highest aspirations.

After all, don’t we all believe, as the poster below suggests? “Service is the lifeblood of any organization. Everything flows from it and is nourished by it. Customer service is not a department…it’s an attitude.”

What concerns me is your service reps’ reaction to that lofty sentiment when they walk by it every day. They recognize the disparity between the pretty sayings on the poster and what’s really happening on the front lines.

“Service is the lifeblood of any organization.”
What your reps may be saying to themselves:

• “If we are supposed to be so vitally important to the company, then why has our personnel budget been cut to the bone so I’m told I need to work overtime several times a month.  And those monthly team meetings we used to look forward to? Forgetaboutit!”

“Everything flows from it and is nourished by it.”
What your reps may be saying to themselves:

• “If ‘nourishment’ is so important, how come I don’t feel particularly nourished by my supervisor who acts more like a ‘performance enforcer’ than the helpful coach and mentor they are supposed to be.”

“Customer service is not a department…it’s an attitude.”
What your reps may be saying to themselves:

• “If that’s true, given the low morale around here and most people’s bunker mentality, I’d say we are  just a customer service department. We’re simply a bunch of boxes on the corporate org chart.”

It’s no wonder that after awhile some of your best reps lose their cheery optimism and become less engaged.

Make it a great week.      

Barbara Burke

2010 © Barbara Burke. All rights reserved.

CLICK HERE FOR READER SURVEY

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A Message to Monday Aha! Readers from Barbara

As summer is winding to a close, I hope you’ve had the opportunity to take time out of the office to enjoy it.

As for me, I’ve spent the last month happily holed up in my office finishing my next business fable. I’ve also been doing some thinking about how I’m going to manage my time so I can get everything I have to do done in the coming year.

So, that lead me to a decision I was reluctant to make, dear readers. Effective next month I will reduce the number of Monday Aha!s I write from one every week to two a month. (I was astonished to discover that since my first issue almost 3 years ago that I’ve racked up 134 Monday Aha!s)

Whether you are one of my faithful subscribers who have been reading these missives since it began, or are a brand new subscriber, or are somewhere in between, I would like to ask you if you would do me a huge favor. I promise it won’t take more than a couple of minutes of your time.

I’ve prepared a quick survey to get your feedback about the content of the Monday Aha!s, what you like about it and any ideas you have for future issues, and I want to run an idea by you to see what you think.  

Here is the link: http://www.surveymk.com/s/MONDAY_AHA_SURVEY 

Or, if you prefer, you are welcome tocontact me directly. 

Thanks very much for your support and a big virtual hug to you all.

Barbara