Keeping customer-facing staff happy is essential for delivering good customer service, and one way companies are trying to do that is by providing perks that make employees feel valued.
US retailer Target recently stirred up lively debate on Reddit by introducing a “10-4” policy, which requires employees within 10 feet of customers to smile, make eye contact and use welcoming body language, and those within 4 feet of to actively greet shoppers and offer assistance.
Motivating employees to go the extra mile for customers isn’t always straightforward, and what works in theory may not always work in practice. For some employees, traditional benefits may hold little appeal.
Researchers at the University of Bath have found that retail customer service staff, such as cashiers or shop assistants, prefer free meals or team outings to health benefits or gym memberships. These kinds of benefits will encourage greater company loyalty, better customer service and higher sales.
The study, co-authored by Professor Jens Nordfält of the University of Bath School of Management and published in the Journal of Marketing Research, looked at five categories of company-sponsored wellness benefits: food, social, mindfulness, physical and health. Free meals and events such as happy hours and company picnics were the most effective at inspiring workers to deliver better service, as employees felt more valued and developed a stronger sense of loyalty to their employers.
These loyal employees were more likely to care about their company’s well-being and deliver stronger performance, service quality and customer assistance. That better service, in turn, translated into higher sales, the study found. Professor Nordfält, who is also co-director of the Bath Retail Lab, said:
“Our study showed food had the biggest impact on employee motivation, followed by social gatherings. Mindfulness activities also helped. But physical and health perks like gym memberships or flu-shot drives had the least effect.”
The rising popularity of wellness programs prompted the research, said the study’s co-author, Professor Dipayan Biswas of the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.
Investing in the Right Benefits Can Pay Off in Customer Satisfaction
More than 90 percent of companies around the world offer some form of employee benefits, and global spending is projected to exceed $90 billion annually, the report notes.
With enterprises feeling the pressure on budgets, they might be inclined to cut their employee benefits to manage costs. But as the research shows the right types of benefits can have a tangible impact on sales, the key is to find the balance so that the perks pay for themselves.
“The onus is on benefits professionals to understand what people really want,” said Sarah Jefferys, Head of Reward Consulting, Gallagher’s Benefits & HR Consulting Division in the UK. Gallagher’s Workforce Trends Report, released earlier this year, emphasized the importance of clear communication to gain insights and shape benefit programs that work. Jefferys added:
“The key to getting good engagement and positive ROI on benefits hinges on employers communicating the options available and being open to adjusting strategies to meet the shifting needs of employees.”
The advice for employers is to find ways to introduce cost-effective perks that will have the biggest impact on employee motivation, creating tangible benefits for the staff and the company.
“The recommendations for any business, small or large, is when you’re having these wellness programs, the ones that foster nourishment and connection have stronger downstream effects,” said Biswas.
Professor Nordfält added that the research pointed to a way to reduce food waste, as one of the main sources is discarded grocery items. “[I]nstead of discarding aesthetically unattractive foods that many consumers do not buy, stores can provide them as benefits to their employees to make them feel more valued, which in turn might lead to more responsive customer service.”
