What comes first? Customer Satisfaction or Employee Satisfaction?

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I have always wondered about the reason Taj Hotel is said to be the best hotel in India in the 5 star category or the reason why I have never had any complaints with my mobile service provider when I have heard my friends crib and complain about their dissatisfaction with their own service providers. I thought I hit upon the answer when I learnt that the customer satisfaction in these companies were highest in their respective industry. But then the question arises ‘What is the reason for this Customer Satisfaction?’

A customer goes to a company for a service or with a complaint and before he goes there he has a certain perception of the service. But when the service he receives there exceeds his expectations it leads to delight. And the only way this can happen is when the encounter the customer has with the employee of the company is exceptional. The onus now lies on the performance of the employee. Be it a product or service industry it is absolutely essential to have a dedicated and exceptional workforce if a company aims at exceeding customer satisfaction and achieving customer delight. An employee is the face of the company. If we see a smiling face and happy and eager person during the service encounter we will naturally feel more comfortable stating our requirements and getting exactly what we want from them encounter. But this employee front cannot be achieved if the workplace environment is not good or the remunerations are not adequate or if the performance of the employee will not be rewarded. As it is rightly said the employees are the first customers of the company. Satisfaction of an employee with his workplace is absolutely essential if a customer has to return from the encounter satisfies. If the customer is satisfied he will return to the company and bring other people with him which will in turn increases the revenue of the company. It is thus important to create customer satisfaction but it is possible only with the satisfaction of the employees. A moment of lapse in the employee’s performance due to any factor can lead to loss of a customer and in effect many more he could have brought in.

I have learnt that during the 2008 blasts in Taj the staff at the hotel helped many people to escape sometimes putting their own life in danger. This exceptional loyalty to their work and the company they serve shown by the Taj employees is the result of high level of employee satisfaction in working for the company. This kind of employee satisfaction and loyalty when translated to work and portrayed to customers - causes employee loyalty. So it can be safely said that if the company looks after employee loyalty, the same employees will look after customer satisfaction.