Did you know that there is a type of bamboo seed that when planted and nurtured can take up to a year or two before the first sprout breaks through the earth? And then... it can grow as high as 100 feet or more in just two weeks! The organizational equivalent of this natural phenomenon is realizing that our human resources are the root of customer service and that these resources need cultivating and care. Only then can we expect high employee spirit and measurable results.

A high-producing garden requires three things: careful selection of the right plants for a specific location, nurturing and care of the plants, and the elimination of pesky weeds… all of these require commitment from the grower. The reward is beautiful flowers and/or quality fruit.

A high-producing organization has similar needs: careful selection of the right person for the right job, nurturing and care of its employees, and the elimination of pesky non-performers… all of these require commitment from the organization. The reward is happy, productive employees and customers who return over and over.

Selecting the right person for the right job requires a commitment to effective recruiting and interviewing. Recruiting starts with creating a workplace that existing employees will brag about to potential applicants. The actual interview is our first opportunity to let the potential employee know first hand that we value his or her skills. This requires preparing good behavior-based questions, which go beyond the “what” and include the “how” of customer service. Instead of “How are your customer service skills?” we need to probe to find out what behaviors the applicant has used to achieve good customer service. Effective interview questions should produce responses like, “When customers are unable to find items, I personally escort them to locate what they are looking for.” This process of behavior-based interviewing helps you choose the right person and helps the potential employee find the right job. Even at this early stage in the relationship you can show that you really care by making sure that the interview takes place in a quiet, private place free of interruptions.

The first major step in the nurturing and caring of our service providers is a good, solid orientation. Many organizations underestimate the importance of this process with orientation programs that focus on company rules and benefits. This leaves the introduction of company values and beliefs to chance. It’s not unusual for a new employee to shadow a more senior team member to “learn the ropes.” As a result of this not-so-well-thought-out system, what the employee may hear the first day is, “Boy did you make a mistake; things here are a lot worse than they look.” To return to the garden metaphor, your new, fragile plant is already starting to be crowded out by a pesky weed. The investment to develop or have someone develop a good orientation program is minimal, especially compared to the value it will bring. A good orientation program greatly increases an employee’s sense of belonging and sense of worth. In addition, we get the employee off on the right foot with a good understanding of the organization and its desired culture.

Further care in terms of continued training and fair treatment should go without saying. But companies sometimes have the commitment of weekend gardeners who treat their plants with care in the beginning, but then lose interest and seem content with whatever the poorly cared for gardens produce. And oddly enough some plants do survive and even produce well. We see this same phenomenon with employees who do not receive proper training and/or fair treatment. Some still survive the pesky weeds and even manage to succeed without the care and nurturing they deserve. What about the many who don’t survive? What effect do these short-term employees have on corporate spirit? After all, the weekend gardener can afford to sacrifice the cost of a dozen or so plants. Even in times of low unemployment can our organizations really afford to continue to sacrifice the cost of high turnover and/or low performance as a result of inadequate training and care of employees?

And now, to address those pesky weeds or the non-performers of our organizations - we all know what happens to a garden if we allow the weeds to remain. They reproduce at an incredibly rapid rate and choke out many of the producing plants. Our organizations are different from the garden in one way. With performance coaching, support, and care, many of our “weeds” could be converted to well-producing plants. A management team of good coaches and visionary leaders can convert most of these pesky weeds to good producers. This begs the question, “What’s being done to develop the management team?”

The root of customer service is human resources. Invest in your selection process, provide care and nurturing, and eliminate the pesky weeds. Your garden can then produce a bouquet of internal and external customers that bloom time and time again.