Like a Virgin

CAN BAD NEWS BE GOOD NEWS?

After an entrepreneur has expanded his successful new company or an executive has been promoted to an even larger corner office, he may sooner or later find himself starting to lose touch with employees and customers.

This happens for a variety of reasons. Most managers will tend to minimise bad news in front of senior executives and emphasise only positive developments in their area of the operation. This in turn forces senior management into perpetually having to read between the lines, and it may leave employees unable to get action on an issue – all because of the fear that admitting to a problem might embarrass a manager or supervisor. Instead, they learn not to ask, but work around the problem while, understandably, griping about management’s inability to understand their issues.

So if you find yourself losing touch, one of the best solutions is to take some time to find out what the staff are actually doing on a day-to-day basis. Spend at least a few hours observing operations, and, if you are qualified, grab a widget or another tool and lend a hand. Or if you’re visiting the customer service staff, field at least a few customer calls yourself.

As you observe and work, ask yourself: how would I feel if this were my daily work environment? Do people seem energetic and creative? And ask employees: do you have the resources you need to do your job well? If you could, what problems would you fix? What ideas of yours has your manager ever followed up on? Could you do your job from home? Would you like to?

Throughout most organisations, all supervisors, from team leaders to top managers, need periodically to dig in and get their hands dirty. At the executive level, accessibility is key. You must ensure that the staff are consistently encouraged to contact you with ideas and problems. The larger the business, the more important this is.

If you are losing touch with employees, it’s also likely that you need to work on maintaining your connection to customers. Most executives and managers tackle this second challenge partly through surveys and other tools that evaluate the customer experience – like letters of complaint. Others, myself included, have embraced social media, keeping clients updated through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the rest.

Writing articles or columns is also a new channel for me. To my surprise and delight, I have found that not only has my advice and experience been reaching aspiring entrepreneurs, but also that I, in turn, have been getting a different perspective on our own operations around the world. The hundreds of emails I receive every week bring up a lot of questions, some new ideas and a few telling customer comments – some good, some bad.

One example highlighted how valuable it is to get direct feedback from customers. A Virgin Atlantic flight from Kenya to London was diverted because of heavy snow at Heathrow. It was forced to land in France where, thanks to strict European immigration laws, many of our Kenyan passengers were barred from leaving the airport and had to sleep on camp beds.

The uncomfortable conditions and the unfriendly welcome not unnaturally distressed many of our passengers and I soon received a number of angry emails from Kenyan readers of my column who were either passengers on that flight or who had heard about the ordeal. I wrote an apology that was published in the Nation in Kenya, promising we would take up the matter with the French authorities and ensure it could never happen again.

The incident underlined for me the idea that however you can, wherever you can, you must always find ways to keep in touch with your employees and your most far-flung customers. Embrace every opportunity – you never know what you will learn!

Just remember that when you establish or re-establish those relationships with your customers – both internal and external – you are not always going to hear only pleasant news. But as I have mentioned before, the best managers try to catch people doing something right: re-energise your people by showing them that change is possible and action is valued.

If inertia has set in at your company, it’s time to show people that their contributions are appreciated. A simple idea can go a long way. When Virgin Active employees expressed a desire to gain experience at other branches, we set up a staff exchange programme. Seven African employees are now working in our European operations; and a related project has resulted in our developing an enhanced pack of information for new employees that has helped to engender greater loyalty right from the start.