HOW TO BE A ROCKSTAR IN GIVING RECOGNITION

In his book, “136 Ideas for Rockstar Employee Engagement”, James Dodkins shares some of his best ideas regarding employee engagement and showcasing its direct link to improved customer experience. It is advisable to go out and read his book and below you can find 5 “Rockstar Employee Engagement” tools/techniques that will lead to better acknowledgment and cooperation between your teammates , which will translate to better interactions with your customers/consumers.

1. The employees are your rockstars

It is only natural for them to interact with the fans. Empower them with opportunities to meet their customers and get direct feedback from them. Customer appreciation events provide environments where the key pillars of your organization can get a chance to interact, engage, acknowledge, and flash out the ups and downs of their professional relationships.

2. Family matters most

Consider highlighting the contributions of your rockstar performers to their family members – what they did, how great they are, how lucky you are they work are part of your team. A simple “fan mail” can do the job, or an open conversation – it provides a sense of belonging and inclusion that can do wonders for your relationship and the business as a whole. You can send it to the spouse, cousin, close relative, as long as you are mindful and considerate this simple act can go a long way.

3. Include your employees in the process

Rockstar employees see, represent and instil a sense of reality to a company’s core values, mission statement, and vision. When establishing or re-evaluating the latter consider including your employees in the process. Ownership is the frame of mind you need to go for in this particular situation.

4. Rethinking job profiles

Adopt a new mindset with regards to job titles in order to better represent your company culture. James Dodkins provides some great examples here – like the Customer Experience Rockstar. Your social media experts can become Experts / Directors of Reputation. Tech and support personnel can become the “Managers of Many Things.” Boost your team’s creativity and have them recommend job titles they would like to be known for.

5. Be accessible to employees

Promote openness and transparency by creating spaces that encourage employees to speak up. Be accessible to employees. A good way to do this is to have regularly scheduled “town hall-type” meetings, where leaders share with teams the state of things (new and old) providing a chance for employees to ask questions. Your employees are rockstars so think of these meetings as “jam sessions”, practice makes perfect.

This is a very eagle-eyed view of only a few of the ideas that James Dodkins provides in his book. Tailor the findings to your organizations and use ideas that will resonate with you and your organization. A good frame of mind is to go for the Rockstar employee experience and as the author said, “If you want to put your customers first, you need to put your employees first, first.”