“There should not be any traffic jams while going the extra mile.” ~ Ty Howard
I am a person who lives by the philosophy and understanding, if it looks, feels and smells like a skunk—it at one point, will definitely reach a level where it repulsively stinks, and you will no longer be able to ignore it.
When we speak of customer service, an overwhelming majority of companies today relate it to the final consumers, external customers who actually consume or buy a company’s products or services. Yet, the term customer service has two sides to it; the other side being internal customer service. Internal customer service is one of the most important, but often overlooked and neglected aspects of business. It is imperative for any business today to develop and sustain what I call “Green & Growing” (healthy and positively thriving) internal customer service habits and practices, especially if the company expects to have employee teams and departments eager and happy to satisfy all customers 100 percent of the time.
As soon as a company loses its focus and commitment in sustaining “Green and Growing” internal customer service habits and practices with all of its employee teams and departments—you can rest assured that the repulsive stench of a skunk will soon run rampant throughout the company. You will soon find “silos,” “us-against-them conflicts,” “negative attitudes,” “low morale,” “policy battles,” “unfulfilled internal requests,” “management conflicts,” “toxic employee cliques,” and “endless low-productivity issues.” The company is stinking and dying slowly from the inside out with its employees either screaming aloud for relief (immediate improvements) or leaving the company for a healthier work environment.
Don’t fret. If you are a manager and find the current state of your organization’s internal customer service to be repulsively stinking, then you need to act fast. You can create and put in place a sustainable action plan that can bring an end to the silos, conflict battles and low-productivity issues—and rid your company of its internal customer service “Stink.” Here are five strongly recommended things for you to do – starting today – to improve your company’s internal customer service issues:
The first thing you need to do as a manager is to turn to your employees to take a note of their grievances as it pertains to internal customer service. Talk to them about their problems in their respective work environments and get honest feedback. Conducting regular surveys is also a useful approach in this regard. Then try to eliminate these impediments for your employees. This will increase their morale, team harmony, trust with management, and workload productivity.
Secondly, as a manager, you must strive to create a collaborative environment rather than an individualistic environment inside the workplace. This will reduce silos and the mean spiritedness amongst employees or departments which often results in productivity sabotage and hampers the organization’s progress towards achieving its goals. This will also further create togetherness and a sense of harmony amongst employee teams and departments. The key here is to create a “Green & Growing” supportive environment.
Another important thing to do as a manager, is to encourage all employees to treat one another with courtesy and professionalism at all times. Employees should be recognized and rewarded for their exceptional work performance, and any instance of underperformance or discourteous behavior on an employee’s part should be immediately addressed and dealt with professionally. This will boost the workforce’s confidence, morale, trust and accountability which will eventually result in overall improved organizational performance.
To further improve internal customer service, it is of paramount importance that whenever managers need to make big organizational changes, they keep internal customers informed and at the heart of the decision making process. Any decision which is taken without getting the internal customers onboard has the potential to backfire, and bring back your internal customer service repulsive “Stink” again.
Lastly, as a manager, you must display positive leadership skills and abilities in order to direct employee teams and/or departments towards achieving “Green & Growing” internal customer service and continuous organizational success. Clearly communicate the organizational goals to improving internal customer service and also encourage and empower employees on all levels to consider themselves important in the new, healthier, fun, and harmoniously productive organizational structure. This way, they will take ownership of, and play their part in, building and sustaining “Green & Growing” internal customer service habits and practices with motivation and enthusiasm.
Now it’s time for you to get started on removing the “Stink” from your company’s internal customer service habits and practices. Be responsible and accountable for focusing on how you’re going to create and execute your plan for the improvement of your company’s internal customer service habits and practices. Keep in mind, you already know what “dead and stinking” looks, feels and smells like. By creating, promoting and sustaining your new “Green & Growing” internal customer service way of doing things—you and your company will, over time, continuously improve morale, performance, productivity, and profits inside a company that was once stinking and dying slowly from the inside out. This will be a big accomplishment for your company as a whole, and all internal customers will feel valued as they appreciate and celebrate company leadership and the ongoing accomplishment of company goals.
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To learn more about Ty Howard’s Employee Morale and Staff Development keynote speaking and training programs, visit: http://www.tyhoward.com
About the Author: Ty Howard,
Mr. Untie the Knots®,
Freeing Maximal Business, Performance & Human Potential Daily!
Ty Howard is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance and success. He is the creator and lead facilitator of the trademarked “Untie the Knots® Optimal Performance Process,” and the author of Untie the Knots®: Improving Habits, Choices, People, Relationships, Performance and Results, as well as dozens of published articles on employee and organizational performance and development worldwide. For information on his programs and services, visit: http://www.tyhoward.com.
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything.”
~ Author Unknown
In today’s work environment it’s become the norm to come across more and more employees who are very unhappy at work. Many will say, it’s due to recent work related changes, coping with difficult leadership, downsizing, working on conflict plagued teams, the economy, the current national unemployment rate, unfavorable changes at home, health issues, personal toxic habits, or they simply do not like their job. These are definitely factors that can zap and plummet a person’s “Happiness” levels over time.
Even in the midst of uncertain and undesired challenges—you can recapture and reignite “Happiness” at work. It will require your positive mental toughness and inspired change of perspective. From this point forward, I want you to shift your thinking from what your organization and everyone else has to do for you to be happy at work to what you will immediately begin doing so you can recapture and enjoy “Happiness” at work.
Now that you’ve shifted your thinking, I find it timely to provide you with my “15 Quick Tips to Recapturing and Reigniting Your Happiness at Work.” Keep in mind that we cannot control one hundred percent of the external factors that can impact our “Happiness” but we do have full control over how we manage ourselves and our internal feelings each day. In turn, giving us the internal power to identify, control and untie the knots® delaying or blocking our “Happiness” at work.
I challenge you to read, consider, and post the complete list of 15 quick tips in your work area for daily recall and guidance. Also practice at least seven to ten of them daily to begin promptly improving your level of “Happiness” at work.
15 Quick Tips to Recapturing and Reigniting Your Happiness at Work
( What not to do so your “Happiness” can shine through at Work! )
1. Do not listen to or side with other unhappy employees.
2. Do not contribute to gossip or participate in the workplace rumor mill.
3. Do not waste time pointing fingers and blaming others.
4. Do not disrespect, bully, belittle or sabotage co-workers.
5. Do not frown or display negative emotions, even in moments of adversity.
6. Do not pass-off or turn-in poorly done work.
7. Do not waste productive work hours doing non-work related tasks.
8. Do not fail to consistently get your work done in a timely fashion.
9. Do not be the team player who is confrontational and difficult to work with.
10. Do not say and do any inappropriate things that will offend other co-workers or land you in trouble.
11. Do not be the employee who chronically comes in late, calls out, and makes excuses to leave early.
12. Do not make it your mission to get other happy co-workers to think and perform negatively.
13. Do not bring your home or outside of work drama into the workplace.
14. Do not be the employee other employees cannot trust or count on.
15. Do not voice a complaint without ‘professionally’ suggesting with it at least one researched solution to possibly fix the problem or challenge.
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To learn more about Ty Howard’s Employee Morale and Staff Development keynote speaking and training programs, visit: http://www.tyhoward.com!
About the Author: Ty Howard,
Mr. Untie the Knots®,
Freeing Maximal Business, Performance & Human Potential Daily!
Ty Howard is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance and success. He is the creator and lead facilitator of the trademarked “Untie the Knots® Optimal Performance Process,” and the author of Untie the Knots®: Improving Habits, Choices, People, Relationships, Performance and Results, as well as dozens of published articles on employee and organizational performance and development worldwide. For information on his programs and services, visit: http://www.tyhoward.com.
The above video clip is a short compilation video of the dynamic professional speakers who presented at the Motivational BOOMTM Seminar (Fall Event) on Monday, October 24, 2011 at the Four Points by Sheraton BWI Airport Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.
The theme of the event: “Re-Igniting Passion for Growth & Success.” It was a Day of Motivation & Professional Development for Everyone! Watch and enjoy as one Baltimore Worldwide Speaker’s Bureau speaker after another motivates the hearts and minds of all in attendance.
Is your company, like many other companies today, struggling with and fighting to get ahead of the many challenges eroding employees, sales, the company, and ultimately, the bottom line?
Challenges like —
• Attracting Good Talent
• Keeping Good Talent
• Filling Jobs
• Controlling Your Brand
• Keeping Up Communication
• Creating Opportunities
• Excelling in Creativity & Innovation
• Selling in a Tough Economy
• Keeping Leaders Motivated, Focused & Committed
• Improving Employee Morale
• Sustaining Peak Performance
• Combating Gossip & Other Negative Behaviors
• Keeping Out Ethical & Legal Issues
• Building Efficient Work Teams
• Keeping a Healthy Workforce
• Making Excellence the Norm
If your employees start the day in a good mood – a motivated mood – it can have a huge impact on the company’s performance! It can be the difference between your company continuing to miss one desired outcome after another, or celebrating the successful accomplishment of one desired outcome after another.
To create and maintain a company culture where every employee is committed to and Excelling in Excellence will require more than a single executive or manager rallying the troops. It will require an experienced group of professionals who know how to motivate and empower professionals on all levels to continuously peak perform, and make Excelling in Excellence “the norm.” This is where and why you should register your entire office and yourself to attend the Motivational BOOMTM Seminar (Spring Event) on Friday, May 25, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Motivational BOOMTM Seminar will give you and your employees proven strategies to sharpen your business skills, ignite your motivation, effectively communicate and work as a successful productive team, accelerate your efficiency, cope with and embrace change, do passionate and meaningful work, boost you back to performing at your peak, continuously increase sales, achieve desired outcomes, and help you to increase your income. This BOOMING seminar has a consistently positive reputation for getting and keeping executives, directors, managers, supervisors and employees (on all levels, and from all professions, industries and educational backgrounds) — Green & Growing!
Toll Free Phone: 1 (800) 385-3177 (Maryland / USA)
The above video clip is of Ty Howard, Renowned Motivational Speaker & America’s Untie the Knots(R) Coach, speaking to wonderful faculty of The University of Cincinnati, Clermont College in Cincinnati, OH.
Ty’s presentation title is “Untie the Knots(R): Improving Habits, Choices, People, Relationships, Performance, and Results.” Watch and enjoy as he connects, inspires, motivates and empowers the hearts and minds of Clermont College’s faculty and staff at their Annual Faculty Retreat.
Ty Howard of http://www.tyhoward.com is one of America’s TOP and in-demand business and motivational speakers on the circuit.
Ty Howard, Mr. Untie the Knots(R), is an internationally respected authority on self-development and business-development. He is a habits consultant, relationship expert, teacher, success coach, and professional development consultant who has dedicated his life to teaching knots-free living and relationship-building to organizations, individuals, and families around the world. Ty is the author of the best-selling book Untie the Knots(TM) That Tie Up Your Life: A Practical Guide to Freeing Yourself from Toxic Habits, Choices, People, and Relationships.
When doing a story on any aspect of Achieving Success, Motivation, Overcoming Life’s Challenges, Employee Morale, Balancing Work & Life, Relationships, Fatherhood, Habit Development or Breaking within People, or Professional or Personal Development…
Contact Ty’s Business Office: Maryland, nationwide by arrangement and via telephone; available for keynote speaking engagements, and radio / television interviews…(also available for last minute radio / television interviews). Toll Free Phone: 1 (800) 385-3177 (Maryland / USA)
The above video clip is of Ty Howard speaking in a general session format at the Global Product Education Meeting for Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics in Philadelphia, PA.
Ty is speaking on Peak Performance Principles. His general session is titled: “Untie the Knots®.” Watch and enjoy as he inspires, motivates and empowers Siemens’ Global Product Educators to peak performance.
Ty Howard of http://www.tyhoward.com is one of America’s TOP and in-demand business and motivational speakers on the circuit.
Ty Howard, Mr. Untie the Knots(R), is an internationally respected authority on self-development and business-development. He is a habits consultant, relationship expert, teacher, success coach, and professional development consultant who has dedicated his life to teaching knots-free living and relationship-building to organizations, individuals, and families around the world. Ty is the author of the best-selling book Untie the Knots(TM) That Tie Up Your Life: A Practical Guide to Freeing Yourself from Toxic Habits, Choices, People, and Relationships.
When doing a story on any aspect of Achieving Success, Motivation, Overcoming Life’s Challenges, Employee Morale, Balancing Work & Life, Relationships, Fatherhood, Habit Development or Breaking within People, or Professional or Personal Development…
Contact Ty’s Business Office: Maryland, nationwide by arrangement and via telephone; available for keynote speaking engagements, and radio / television interviews…(also available for last minute radio / television interviews). Toll Free Phone: 1 (800) 385-3177 (Maryland / USA)
Healthy work relationships are a must for any business to thrive and succeed in today’s economy. If employees are unhappy with their current work duties or teams, your customers and overall organizational productivity will definitely be impacted by the tension. To keep employee morale and performance moving toward optimal success, you should learn and practice the following twelve strategies that build and maintain healthy relationships at work:
1.) Develop a Positive Attitude.
Avoid sharing negative thoughts, actions, criticisms, and sarcastic snipes. Be less judgmental and accepting of others. A positive attitude is contagious and inspiring to work alongside. Make it your new daily habit to bring a positive attitude to work.
2.) Accept Personal and Cultural Differences.
It is counterproductive to expect and hope for everyone to be like and think like you. Do not place on or address co-workers with assumed cultural biases or stereotypes. When you and a co-worker don’t see eye-to-eye, try looking at things from his or her perspective. You will both be more productive if you recognize the need for cooperation to reach the set goals of the team and organization.
3.) Give Respect to Earn Respect.
Regardless of the situation, try not to lash out or be rude. Be respectful by paying attention, showing interest, listening carefully, and responding appropriately. Be open and honest about your feelings and allow others to do the same, in an amicable and professional way. Remember, respect starts with you and impacts others.
4.) Share Opportunities and Recognition Willingly with
Co-Workers.
Avoid being a spotlight and recognition hog. Never take credit for work or projects you did not do. If you want to be liked by members of your team, try recommending them for opportunities and recognition first. Share the spotlight and recognition with co-workers and you will find yourself improving the trust and appreciation level amongst the entire team.
5.) Avoid Gossiping.
Gossip is one of the top destroyers of healthy work relationships. Do not snoop into or tell another co-worker’s business or private life. If someone tries to invite you into a gossiping party, refuse to take the invitation. Keep away from both the rumor mill and gossiping trap inside your workplace, and you will enjoy the benefit of being looked at as a positive team player.
6.) Resolve Conflicts Early.
When a negative situation arises, do not let it continue to boil. Be prompt, direct, honest and courteous. Develop a plan of action to address the problem professionally with your co-worker. Then work together toward resolving it positively before having to bring it to your manager.
7.) Accentuate the Positives.
Do not jump at every opportunity possible to expose the negativity or incompetency of another co-worker. Be less of a watchdog or a tattletale. Instead, catch co-workers doing good work and tell that to as many people as you can across the organization. Become an Ambassador of Accentuating the Positives.
8.) Set Boundaries.
Avoid developing friendships at work that are too personal and that will sooner or later begin to interfere with your work. Maintain a professional behavior and not a bar or club scene behavior while at work. Developing healthy and professional relationships at work is always a plus. Focus on your priorities at work, and make it your commitment to not end up on the company’s “Wall of Shame” because you crossed the set professional boundaries.
9.) Listen Attentively.
When a co-worker comes into your work area, never be rude to them by not turning around so he or she can talk to your face instead of your back. Do not doddle, send text messages, take calls or answer emails when you’re supposed to be listening attentively. The most effective way to listen to anyone is with both your ears and your eyes. This will allow you to respond appropriately and avoid misunderstandings.
10.) Communicate Effectively and Professionally.
Never refuse to communicate openly and professionally with your co-workers. Do not purposely hold information on how you did something or give partial information with the negative hope that you’ll delay or trip up a teammate on a task or project. Take the time to learn how co-workers on your team prefer to be communicated and interacted with. Make the continuous improvement of your effective communication skills an annual goal for yourself.
11.) Deliver Customer Service with a Smile.
A definitely recipe for poor customer service is frowning, arguing, complaining, being spiteful, and a negative attitude. When you’re unfriendly, rude, sarcastic and mean-spirited at work, you set the team back from achieving service excellence and delivering quality customer service. Common courtesy and professionalism costs you nothing. A sincere smile can be felt through a phone. Become the example and not the excuse within your organization when it comes to delivering quality customer service with a smile.
12.) Do and Complete Your Work.
Being surrounded by clutter, disorganization, and failing to make the expected workload contributions towards the team’s goals reveals your unprofessional and slacker habits. If you find yourself continuously moaning about taking on new projects or are a skilled expert at finding someone who can do a task “better than you”, you are definitely a master at avoiding work. The more work you offload, the more stress and pressure you put on others. It does not require you saying “Yes” to every task, showing your willingness to do and complete your work reflects positively on you and your work ethic. A healthy and positive work ethic will often encourage others to want to work with you, and recommend you for recognition or promotion in the future.
Happy employees are productive employees. All-hands meetings and one-on-one pep-talks alone will not improve toxic work relationships if your employees become frustrated, unhappy, depressed, and feel that they are just plain “workers.” Consider building and maintaining healthy work relationships a very important investment in your company, because it is. By practicing – daily – the above twelve strategies that build and maintain healthy work relationships, you will build stronger work teams, effective lines of communications, higher levels of productivity, award-winning customer service satisfaction experiences, and improved levels of employee morale.
About the Author: Ty Howard is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance and success. He is the creator and lead facilitator of the trademarked Untie the Knots® Optimal Performance Process, and the author of Untie the Knots®: Improving Habits, Choices, People, Relationships, Performance and Results, as well as dozens of published articles on employee and organizational performance and development worldwide.
Ty Howard of http://www.tyhoward.com is one of America’s TOP and in-demand business and motivational speakers on the circuit.
Ty Howard, Mr. Untie the Knots(R), is an internationally respected authority on self-development and business-development. He is a habits consultant, relationship expert, teacher, success coach, and professional development consultant who has dedicated his life to teaching knots-free living and relationship-building to organizations, individuals, and families around the world. Ty is the author of the best-selling book Untie the Knots(TM) That Tie Up Your Life: A Practical Guide to Freeing Yourself from Toxic Habits, Choices, People, and Relationships.
When doing a story on any aspect of Achieving Success, Motivation, Overcoming Life’s Challenges, Employee Morale, Balancing Work & Life, Relationships, Fatherhood, Habit Development or Breaking within People, or Professional or Personal Development…
Contact Ty’s Business Office: Maryland, nationwide by arrangement and via telephone; available for keynote speaking engagements, and radio / television interviews…(also available for last minute radio / television interviews).
Ty Howard of http://www.tyhoward.com is one of America’s TOP and in-demand business and motivational speakers on the circuit.
Ty Howard, Mr. Untie the Knots(R), is an internationally respected authority on self-development and business-development. He is a habits consultant, relationship expert, teacher, success coach, and professional development consultant who has dedicated his life to teaching knots-free living and relationship-building to organizations, individuals, and families around the world. Ty is the author of the best-selling book Untie the Knots(TM) That Tie Up Your Life: A Practical Guide to Freeing Yourself from Toxic Habits, Choices, People, and Relationships.
When doing a story on any aspect of Achieving Success, Motivation, Overcoming Life’s Challenges, Employee Morale, Balancing Work & Life, Relationships, Fatherhood, Habit Development or Breaking within People, or Professional or Personal Development…
Contact Ty’s Business Office: Maryland, nationwide by arrangement and via telephone; available for keynote speaking engagements, and radio / television interviews…(also available for last minute radio / television interviews).
