November 13, 2014- ISSN# 1545-2646
What happened to the sense of Urgency?
I find it interesting that in the past few weeks multiple people have discussed with me that they are witnessing a trend in candidates, employees and others that their sense of urgency has or is fading. They talked about a time when people were a buzz about working and achieving and getting places with a fast timeline. Now there is a general sense that it is ok to eventually get to or getting to what ever it is on their own timeline and not the businesses or the customers.
Not everyone is wired to be quick all the time but then again not everyone is wired to be slow either. Our society is moving at a quicker pace in general. Technology has caused us to expect things in a more timely fashion. The challenge is that at various points along the supply/delivery chain there are people who touch the process. If these resources are not moving or engaged at a high level then the process slows down and the end customer gets frustrated.
Individuals look to their own self interest when it comes to them providing services into the deliverables so they feel they can work at their own pace and not at the demand of the customers pace. Strangely enough when these same people are the customer, they want their stuff immediately and will voice their opinion about how slow something is when they are not being serviced as urgently as they want to be.
Yes it is a double standard and it is becoming a bigger and bigger issue in the service industries. The customer is more demanding today then ever. The work staff is not oriented around customer service and customer relationships. Transactions have become very sterile and time is becoming a determining factor in a returning customers mind.
Take fast food, by its name people expect to be served quickly. They take a lesser quality food product in exchange for timely service and delivery. The challenge is that the resources touching the delivery process are typically not engaged, frustrated with their work environment and simply drag thru their job duties at their own pace. This cause the external customer to get impatient and not return. This cycle then has a spiraling effect in the success of the business and ultimately on the opportunity to provide jobs in the marketplace.
This week as leaders, take a hard look at the environment you can provide to support the engagement of your staff. Are they having a bounce in their step and a sense of urgency to meet with the job duties and goal and objectives of the business? What can leadership do to enhance the environment to make it better for them to be part of the overall success?
Is your team engaged and have a sense of urgency? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
Copyright – JKL Associates 2014
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