“Does anyone have any last-minute questions?” you say to your team.
Most of the group begin shaking their heads.
You get the indication that everyone is on board with the action plan.
Tonight’s event starts in seven minutes.
You make your way to the operations center where your team is waiting for you.
Your Operations Manager, Terry, joins you in the Operations Center.
You require all your supervisors to be in there at event start.
They usually get pulled out for other calls.
But, you like to do a quick meeting to kick off each event.
This ensures everyone is on the same page.
“Hi, Susan,” you say to your director of customer experience, and you walk through the door.
“Hey, Steve!” you shout to one of your operations coordinators.
After a few more greetings and a communications check with the rest of your team, the room gets quiet.
The event starts.
Issue and incident calls come in before most events start.
But, the velocity of calls picks up once the customers congregate into the building.
A couple of hours of standard incident calls – wet spills, unruly spectators – go by without a hitch.
Everyone is on top of his or her game.
Nothing seems to be slipping through the cracks.
But, in an instant, that all changes.
Your team receives an incoming call that causes you to get involved quickly.
A customer reported to one of your employees that they identified two of your staff drinking beer while on duty.
You rush to meet your supervisor at the location.
Unfortunately, because the customer had to search for an employee to report the issue, the two employees are gone.
The customer is only able to identify that they were in uniforms.
After checking the surveillance cameras,
it is hard to distinguish who the employees are or to prove they were drinking.
How frustrated does this make you?
How do you feel knowing that you have unruly, dishonest employees working for your operation?
You can change your process, so you do not have to be frustrated.
You can be proactive.
You can eliminate this burden and catch them in the act.
Use text communication to find the problem employees create an unpleasant image of professionalism for your operation.
Keep reading; we are going to share how implementing one of these software solutions outperforms what you are doing now.
Text Communication Protects Operations from Unruly Employees
Your biggest problem is finding out about an employee incident after the fact.
Catching them in the act is the best way to solve the problem.
Agree?
It ensures accountability, and you can make an example of them.
Do you agree?
What is the number one way to prevent staff from committing acts that go against your standard operating procedures?
Demonstrate your ability to be proactive.
Use the thousands of eyes provided by text communication to have the awareness needed to enhance the customer experience which will ensure your employees are professional.
The last thing you want is your valued and paying customers to catch your employees in the act and not be able to report the issue immediately.
It makes you look bad.
Give your customers the ability to participate in catching unruly staff – instantly and discretely.
This benefits you too.
Your customers know you cannot control the actions of others.
But, they do know you can control whether you handle the incident proactively.
Here’s how text communication helps you catch the “bad guys” within your operation.
Show Customers a Discreet Way to Report Unruly Staff
You must promote your system! Why?
It is the only way your customers will know it exists.
If they know it exists, then they’ll know how to use it, and they will use it.
You’ll need to make sure your signage provides the right information, so everyone can take part in your security (and safety) initiatives.
Your system will only have value if it is used.
You might already know; you must display visible signage throughout your property for customers to see.
Here’s a quick overview of how using signage works:
- Display your property’s shortcode and keyword on signage throughout your property.
- Information required by operations must be included in your signage.
Once a text message is sent to the system, the system will automatically respond with a message to your customer. A message you’ve created.
This message will let them know your team has received the message and will get right on it.
It is not just a way to enhance proactive measures.
The Proactive Way to Spot Problem Employees
Once a message is received, it is color-coded.
This gives your staff a visual representation of the new message.
Each message, depending on its status, will be marked, so nothing ever slips through the cracks.
Messages can be prioritized in real time.
Your team will now know which stage in the process the message is.
The system prevents any confusion and ensures efficiency.
You consider a problem staff member a priority, right?
Act when someone spots your employees doing something he or she should not be doing.
Get All the Details Needed to Be Proactive
Your conversation thread provides your employees with an in-depth visualization of what’s occurring.
The system displays the thread of any two-way conversation in progress.
It is in an organized format, so all messages can be looked at for relevant data.
Improve your ability to make a real-time decisions.
Use this solution.
Facts have quickly replaced unclear information.
Facts you can use to employ Proactive Operations all the way to ensure employee behavior.
Limit the Time It Takes to Respond
Response templates let your team respond to a message in one click.
Establish the appropriate responses for catching unruly employees.
Then, get to work. Effective communication reduces the time it takes to move the issue along.
Do you need more information from a customer regarding the employee?
Staff can request additional information about the location, what the employee is doing, and any identifying attributes to ensure accountability.
Communicate Efficiently to Handle Problems Quickly
Create user groups for employee-related alerts.
It is a convenient way to communicate accurate information.
Maybe you must notify your human resource manager.
You can efficiently send an alert to a group, automatically or manually, that includes critical stakeholders for these sensitive scenarios.
The process is so quick that you do not even have to engage in conversation.
Analytics Helps Deter Unruly Staff
Over time, you need to see how your efforts are improving your staff’s accountability.
It is always a good feeling to realize success.
Reporting and analytics give you the insight needed to know how well the software is working.
It will assist you in identifying key areas of your property where the staff tends to carry out unwanted behavior.
Once armed with this information, you can be proactive and eliminate the problem.
Over to You
You probably did not know this: text communication can improve professionalism throughout your operation. It is an internal tool as much as it is a customer solution.
Software that deters staff from becoming unruly ensures accountability but also gives you the confidence that your employees are doing what their role demands. This is Proactive Operations.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.
