Despite the common phrase “the customer is always right”, the customer often gets things wrong by demanding things that go against company policy or mistreating employees. But because customers are absolutely vital to the growth of a business, many companies fall back on the old “the customer is always right” line in the hopes of keeping customers happy and HR asks employees to just go with it. Unfortunately, this can make things difficult, upsetting, and uncomfortable for your employees. Keeping your customers around is important but so is keeping your best employees on board. Here are a few ways that HR can keep employees happy without sacrificing the customer’s needs.
One of the first steps that can help HR keep the peace between employees and customers is ensuring that policy is adhered to. It happens all too often that an employee informs an irritated customer that what they want goes against policy but a manager or supervisor swoops in and makes an exception for the customer. This makes the employee look bad and it teaches the customer that all they need to do is be rude in order to get their way because they have just learned that you will bend the rules if they act out. HR can help employees be treated with respect by making sure that everyone is sticking to policy and not bending over backwards for customers that are behaving rudely to employees.
This might seem like a worst case scenario, but don’t be afraid to “fire” a client if they are displaying unacceptable behavior. It can seem crazy to break ties with a customer, especially when you think of how much you might lose, but in some cases it is legally necessary. For example, if an employee comes to HR and reveals that a client has been sexually harassing them, your company can be held legally liable if you decide to keep the client around in favor of your bottom line. In other scenarios, you will have to determine the value of the employee versus the value of the customer. Clients can be demanding but they should still be respectful. If a client is belittling and demeaning an employee, that employee probably won’t be able to do a great job because they’re constantly being cut down and hurt. When you cut the rude clients loose, you’ll find that your employees’ morale will bounce back and you’ll have more time to dedicate to your other clients.
Every business needs customers as well as employees in order to be functional and successful. By ensuring that employees are respected through policy and positive client relationships, HR can create a healthy balance between employee happiness and customer happiness. Doing your best for your customers is important, of course, but you won’t get very far without your employees. It’s no secret that happy employees do great work. Making sure that your employees feel respected and safe at work is vital for their happiness and ultimately for the customer’s satisfaction as well.