Value feedback or find it on a Discussion Forum!

A mail in our internal informal network caught my attention. It was from an employee upset by the poor service and attitude which his team and he experienced while at lunch at a newly opened restaurant in Delhi.

 

What made me sit up was the potential impact of this experience (read: word of mouth/viral spread of messages) on the restaurant’s image and the speed at which bad management of feedback can dilute all effort in building a clientele.

 

 

 

This was a popular internal chat forum and therefore widely read. The effort of the individual to pen down his thoughts and circulate the detailed interaction allowed him to vent his anger and yet prove a point without even the restaurant knowing how their business would suffer. The note went on to share how information wasn’t shared among the restaurant’s staff – the manager mentioned the group was eligible for a complimentary drink but the service attendant was unaware. Apart from the cold food, poor service and limited buffet options, the individual was angry by the inability of the manager to listen to his complaints. I believe the mail was the result of that one big ‘listening’ problem. The grouse of being ‘lured’ by flashy advertisement and exciting meal deals was nothing compared to the insult of not being listened to.

 

All this pointed to some key insights which internal communicators and human resources professionals can gain from.

 

Any interaction has the potential of improving, downplaying or diluting your image.

 

If information sharing does not take place equally across the organization, it can result in poor expectations setting and upset stakeholders.

 

Listening to feedback even if it hurts reduces the angst people carry if looked down upon. Cause if you don’t listen, it may end up elsewhere – who knows maybe on a blog or a discussion forum like I found.

 

While cute copy and designs can interest your internal stakeholders, if the end product does not match expectations, all your effort is in vain.

 

Your employees are your friends and not just another group of people – they want you to succeed as much as you want to. Therefore they will always want to share feedback. It is about how open we are about receiving that.

 

As rightly pointed out by the gentleman – ‘the success of these joints should be directly proportional to the success of their services with us (as end-users), and we can succeed in our bid on this as long as we continue to provide an honest feedback to these outlets about their services’.

 

Thoughts?