Internal Customer Service: The Little Things Really Count!
Internal customer service is often overlooked when you are planning and developing a business. Architects and planners consider the physical aspects of the work place: counter heights, work stations, break rooms, lavatories. Developing a work environment that is pleasant, calm and (dare I say) fun while maintaining professionalism is a bit more challenging.
Typical business models address employee relations through wages, compensation and benefits. Obviously those elements are extremely important, but what else can be done to attract and keep employees?
The last 6 years I have tried to make ECFC a place where patient and staff can feel comfortable and relaxed. I cannot pay my staff a lot, and we are unable to provide insurance or other monetary benefits so we find other ways to make them feel appreciated. I try to say thank you to the staff when I leave at night. I thank them for their help during the day. If I am finished and one of the staff appears to have a lot of work left to do, I help them prioritize the tasks and chip in if I am able. My partner says we treat our employees with respect not because we are not able to compensate our employees the way we would like, but we act this way because it is the right thing to do - and it makes for an efficient and effective work environment.
Never ask your staff to do something you would not do yourself. I have worked in environments where cleaning up patient rooms, finding equipment for a procedure or taking specimens to the lab were deemed to be beneath a provider or manager and would be left for the MA who has six shots to do, three patients to room and phone calls to make.
Respect your staff and their opinions. I am sure we have all been exposed to environments where we felt our thoughts and opinions counted for very little. The feeling is not pleasant. Disregarding an opinion is showing disrespect for the person who voiced the opinion.
Flexibility in scheduling and self-scheduling are working well with our staff. We have staff with a variety of activities and projects outside of work as well as a few with physical limitations. Allowing the staff to talk together and set the schedule puts ownership in their hands as well as accountability for their decisions squarely on their shoulders. As a team we set the schedule based on our needs (one provider, etc.), and they take it from there. We have far fewer short-staff days and we have happier staff, willing to help each other out when unexpected things happen. Our staff has told us they very much appreciate our passing this task on to them.
We are a pediatric and family clinic. I cannot justify criticizing the staff for having to keep a sick child home, scheduling doctor or dentist appointments during work hours or helping an ailing parent. It seems hypocritical. Our staff knows that we insist that family is most important and job is much further down the list. Causing undo stress to an employee because they had a sick child or went home ill when we felt "we would have been able to stay" creates a very negative almost hostile environment.
Letting or encouraging a sick employee to go home actually improves productivity over all. When you are sick your productive work is less than optimal. Our patient care has not suffered because we allowed a sick employee to go home or stay home. If we need an employee who has a child who is home because of a minor illness (24-hour wait for strep, pinkeye and the like) we allow them to bring their child to the office, and we set up an area for play, etc.
We also encourage random acts of appreciation. Periodically we buy "fancy" coffee drinks for the staff or buy lunch for no reason. On particularly busy days when it appears there will not be much time for lunch or breaks, we order in pizza or something that can be eaten on the fly. There is at least one "Dairy Queen" or Culvers run every month. When an employee's washer went out she brought her laundry to clinic until it was fixed. Never once did we feel our employees were taking advantage of us or abusing their position.
Internal customer service begins with you. Your example and your direction can influence the rest of your team. Like the old saying goes, "Treat others as you would have them treat you."