Now I realize that just because Next Jump Nation appears to be a great place to work doesn’t mean that it is. But it probably is.

To start with, while most companies have a mission statement that refers to serving customers, making great products, doing what they do extremely well, or that kind of thing, here’s the mission statement for Next Jump: Our mission is to make Next Jump the best place to work. I read that and thought to myself, “Here’s a company that shares my philosophy that the customer is not number one!”

And sure enough, below their mission statement it says, “Our Focus: People>Clients>Shareholders.”  Then this statement: “Happy Next Jumpers (our people) result in happy clients, which leads to increased shareholder value.”

This site contains an amazing quantity of rare and impressive employee-related content. You really should take a look-this post would go on forever if I duplicated it all. But I must tell you about one more thing I found on the site: a list of the top 10 reasons to work at Next Jump.

The list is composed of ten quotes from ten Next Jumpers. It doesn’t give their names, but it does give their titles. The quotes are great, and in some cases, so are the titles. For example, reason number 7 is from their Chief Fitness Officer, and number 8 is from their Chief Ideation Officer.

Two quotes in particular caught my eye because they reflect something about this company that I believe to be incredibly important: NJ allows—perhaps encourages—employees to take a chance, think outside the cubicle, go out on a limb…even if it means making mistakes.

This one is from the president of the Next Jump Young Leadership Committee: “I’ve learned that mistakes can often be a better teacher than success.” And this one’s from the VP of Product Design: “Next Jump is the ultimate can-do company. We prefer errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.”

I’ll end with REASON NUMBER ONE to work at Next Jump, from the company CEO: “There is nothing more rewarding in life than working and playing hard with people you trust, respect and love.”

If I ever get tired of doing what I love here at The Power of Goodwill, maybe I’ll apply for a job at Next Jump!

It’s good to see some news coverage discussing the impact this battle is having on employee morale. There’s talk of job cuts to fend off the takeover—who wouldn’t be nervous? And when one’s employer is embroiled in an ongoing tumultuous situation, with the relentless publicity (in this case, shall we call it brewhaha?) that comes with it, employees experience fear, anger, and ambivalence. Their sense of loyalty and level of productivity plummet as they ponder the possibilities. How will they be affected if InBev’s takeover is successful? Would InBev be a better company to work for? Or if the takeover fails, would life as an Anheuser employee be the same? Better? Worse?

Let’s hope that the folks in charge at A-B know how important it is to keep your employees extremely informed of what’s going on and to show concern for their feelings. Here are four of the most important things leaders must do to keep employees as loyal and engaged as possible during a crisis situation:

1. Make sure that employees receive news first. It’s demoralizing to learn something about your employer by reading it in the newspaper or online or by hearing it on the radio or television.
2. Be honest with employees about what’s going on—even if the truth involves layoffs or other unpleasant news.
3. Encourage employees to submit questions, and then regularly (for awhile, perhaps even daily) publish the questions along with the answers for all employees to see.
4. Acknowledge that the situation is difficult and stressful. Employees feel helpless and have no control over what’s going on—yet their lives may be impacted in a huge way. Have compassion for what the employees are experiencing.

Share your thought: How good is this, for a company’s Health to disclose a Personnel Policy in Media without informing to the employees?

Arvind, manager of business development for a consulting firm in India, referred to recent headlines regarding ICICI Bank, the second largest-bank in India: ICICI shelves big hikes, promotions this year. Then he wrote:

I have received calls from many people working with ICICI Bank and everyone mentioned about this news, most of the employees are feeling cheated, said that this is not the right way to announce such thing, the management should have informed the employees by internal memo then publishing in the news paper.

Share your thoughts why such announcements are done? What are the benefits management expecting by this action? How should employees act in such situation? Should they quit or stay?

I was among a number of responders to Arvind’s question. Here’s what I wrote:

Employees feel devalued when an employer doesn’t make the effort to inform them of news in advance. This is one of the reasons why 75% of all employees don’t feel loyal to their employers; 60% of all employees are looking for another job; and less than half of all employees aren’t happy at work. Employees feel unappreciated, disconnected, and overlooked. The ICICI employees have every reason to be outraged! I suppose if many employees quit over this, it would send a message to management. Even that might not do any good, though. Unfortunately, companies that don’t feel a need to adequately communicate with their employees typically have arrogant leaders that are so focused on the bottom line (and their own bonuses) that they aren’t concerned about the morale of their employees. They don’t realize that low morale directly impacts the bottom line…as well as the reputation of the company. There are way too many business leaders with this callous, impersonal attitude. Fortunately, there are also many great leaders who are sensitive to the feelings of employees, and realize the importance of communicating and showing appreciation. I hope many of the ICICI Bank employees can find new jobs with companies that have better leaders.

Want to demoralize your employees? Let them learn major news about your organization from a newspaper article or the evening news…along with the rest of the world. It’s guaranteed to kill morale…and damage the reputation of your organization.

This sign sent a negative vibe to me, the customer, because I felt like I wasn’t exclusive enough to be invited to this private party, so now I can’t go there. But it also sends a terrible message to the restaurant staff: we can’t help these people, so just apologize and move on. WRONG. Instead of saying “Sorry for any inconvenience,” why not say, “Visit www.OurWebsite.com to learn how you can reserve the Lounge for your own private party.” That way, the staff is empowered to give a helpful answer, and customers walks away knowing that they too can be part of an exclusive party.

Janet, who has handled grand opening events for Applebee’s and d’Bronx Deli and Pizzeria, has another idea. She suggests that my favorite restaurant could have won me over for good by providing me with a free appetizer coupon for my next visit, or perhaps a $10 gift card. Janet says Applebee’s and d’Bronx used this technique when holding private “friends and family” grand opening events a few days before their restaurants opened to the public. “Uninvited” customers would show up to eat, the restaurant looked open and the parking lot would be full. Instead of turning away potential patrons empty-handed, the hosting staff explained that the cooks and wait staff were practicing on friends and family members. Then they handed out great coupons and to-go menus, and said, “We open on Monday at 11 a.m.—please come back then!”

By providing your employees with the means to handle potentially difficult situations with your customers, you not only ensure a better customer experience, you ensure a better employment experience. Your employees enjoy being able to solve your customers’ problems—empower them with the resources to do so!

Contrast this with the policy of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain, legendary for the extent to which they will go to satisfy customers.

Every non-management Ritz-Carlton employee—and we’re talking about the housekeeping staff, bellhops, everyone—is empowered to spend up to $2,000 to take care of a customer problem. Each employee can do what it takes to please a customer, and they don’t have to get approval from a manager to do it.

This remarkable level of employee empowerment is just one element of the Ritz’s unrivaled program that makes every worker feel they are an owner of the company. The Ritz has perfected a method of recruiting, training, development, coaching, and empowering that inspires every employee to be an ambassador for the organization.

Imagine how it must feel to know your employer trusts you enough to go the extra mile for a customer. And imagine how it must feel to know you might get in trouble if you give a pizza away.

If you don’t inspire your employees to be your ambassadors, the reputation of your organization will fall…like a line-up of dominos. But with empowered, engaged employees…you’ll be puttin’ on the ritz!

He said the only way to get the pizzas for five bucks apiece was to order one more and wait for it, which I didn’t have the time to do. If I just wanted two…I’d have to pay $8 per pizza.

Why, I asked, wasn’t the three-for-$15 deal mentioned when I called in my order? He said they were instructed not to “upsell.”

I suggested that surely a huge company like Domino would rather sell me two pizzas for $10 than lose a customer forever. He shrugged and said he didn’t have the authority to lower the price of two pizzas. And believe me, I’m sure he was telling the truth. He would easily have won Disengaged Employee of The Year if such an award existed.

This guy didn’t care if Domino’s lost one customer that day, or a thousand of ‘em. He just wanted to pick up his paycheck every week.

Employees who aren’t empowered to satisfy customers (especially if they work for companies with ridiculous “specials” like this one!) feel helpless, and disengagement becomes a survival technique.

Somewhere up the line, a manager at Domino’s decided that this low-paid, hourly worker was not important to the success of the company. Someone made the decision that he didn’t need to understand the goals of the company and that he didn’t need to understand how he contributed to the achievement of those goals. And it’s clear that no one thought he should be empowered to give the customer a good experience. Who can blame the kid for not caring?

Employee morale and reputation go hand in hand. Domino’s got eight bucks from me that day. But my opinion of the company tanked. Every employee matters.

Related:
15 ways to motivate hourly employees
Empower your employees for a better reputation

This is why we keep saying that your customer is not number one. Because if you don’t treat your employees like they’re number one…your employees won’t make your customers feel like they’re number one.

Every few days, I’ll write in this blog about reputation, employee morale, and the connection between the two. If you become a regular reader, and I hope you will, I’m warning you now that you’ll get tired of this statement: If you don’t treat your employees like they’re number one…your employees won’t make your customers feel like they’re number one. Employees who feel marginalized care less about quality, meeting deadlines, going the extra mile, and being innovative. They complain to each other—which is normal. But many more of these unhappy/unengaged employees (more of them than you think, and more often than you think) complain to your customers—which is damaging. Anyone who has ever worked pretty much knows the harm that unhappy and/or unengaged employees do to an organization and ultimately, to its reputation.

There are some great leaders and management folks who get it. Unfortunately, there are many more who don’t get it, or don’t believe it, or choose to ignore it. I created the Morale-Based Marketing System to help those that get it get better at it. And to help those that don’t get it, get it.