Healthy Workplace - ClaimLinx

Four Workplace Trends of the Future

by ClaimLinxMarch 18, 2014October 22, 2019Leave a comment

Lindsey Pollak, a key note speaker, best selling author and consultant on next-generation career and workplace topics, shares what she believes will be four future workplace trends:

1. Wellness at Work – 90% of employers are now offering wellness programs. They are taking care of the health of their employees by offering weight loss programs with incentives; smoking cessation programs, and stress reduction programs, to name a few. In order to attract and retain the best employees, wellness programs are a necessity and no longer a luxury for employers.

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2. Degree or not to Degree? – Young people are asking themselves, “Is it really worth it to get a four year college degree?” This stems from the $28-30K student loan debt graduates are carrying. Young people are trying to determine if they can get a good job without a four-year degree, or if they should consider an associates degree, online degree, or community college degree. We may begin to see more incentives from companies to help pay back college loans.

3. iMoms – Although we typically think of millennials as kids, they are quickly reaching the age of 30. We are now seeing more millennial moms in the workplace, as well as more single moms and younger parents. In fact, 46% are responsible for their kids financially. A Hartford Survey in 2013 revealed that 10% of millennials have parents relying on them financially.

4. Design Mind – Although it may sound superficial, this trend is about how everything looks. Millennials have been marketed to their entire lives. Thanks to Steve Jobs of Apple, millennials are extremely visual and design savvy. They want to be proud of their company’s brand visually, and expect attractive employment & benefits materials, as well as company communications. Milllenials utilize visual social media outlets such as Facebook, Pinterest, Vine, Instagram and Tumblr. Look for new product designs to appeal to the visual desires of millennials. Companies who embrace and understand this concept will reap big rewards in the future.

To see the short video by Lindsey Pollak in its entirety, please click here.

Making the Most of Customer Complaints

by ClaimLinxJanuary 30, 2014October 22, 2019Leave a comment

No company is perfect. It’s simply a fact, not an excuse.

That is why it is important for businesses to realize that the way they handle customer complaints is just as important as trying to provide great service in the first place.

Customers and clients are constantly judging companies for service failures. First, they judge the company on how it handles the issues and then on its willingness to make sure similar problems don’t happen in the future.

Most companies limit service recovery to the staff that directly deals with the customer. Often customer service sorts out the immediate problem, offers an apology or some compensation and then assumes all is well.

But in the end this approach is damaging because it does nothing to address the underlying problem, ultimately guaranteeing similar issues will arise.

What businesses should be doing is looking at service recovery as a mission that involves three parties: customers who want their complaints resolved; managers in charge of addressing the concerns; and the frontline employees who deal with the customers. All three must be integrated into addressing and fixing service problems.

Here are some quick strategies for real resolutions when it comes to improving service recovery:

Create and apply a “service logic” – This should be a mission statement or summary of how and why your business provides its services. It should integrate the goals of the service, customers and employees. The result should serve as a guide both for delivering service and for help with service recovery.
Draw attention to success – You can use in-house publications, intranets or training programs to share stories that emphasize your company’s values and culture. Just don’t forget to highlight the heroes of service-recovery stories.
Collect and share data – Companies must gather more feedback about poor service, record it and make it accessible. This will help equip managers and other employees with strong information to be effective at resolving disputes.
Measure employee performance – Positive reinforcement and incentives should be offered for solving problems and pleasing customers. Likewise there should be disincentives or demerits for poor handling of customer complaints.

To learn more about how to improve service recovery, read the article by Stefan Michel, David Bowen and Robert Johnston this information was taken from.