We’ve talked before on this program about the link between employee satisfaction and customer loyalty. And actually there is widespread acceptance that energized, engaged employees produce more satisfied, loyal customers. Books, articles, and tons of research have been written about this seemingly simple formula. But is it true…is there really a “happy employee = happy customer” formula? According to my guest today, yes. But it's not as direct as you may think. In fact, he says it's rather indirect.

Back with me today was Rick Garlick. He’s the Director of Consulting and Strategic Implementation for Maritz Research and I asked him to talk about the results of a recent Maritz Research poll of employees representing a cross-section of industries to better understand what employees can tell us regarding their role in producing a positive customer experience.

The indirect nature of the happy employee=happy customer relationship has to do with the fact that there is no direct correlation between the two. Rather it is a long series of elements that come into play that indicate a cause/effect relationship. He does a much better job of explaining this than I ever could so you'll have to listen to the show to get his view.

But there are two excellent take aways from the show today...

1. Toward the end of the program Rick suggest four straightforward things that senior leadership, mid-level managers, and line employees can do immediately to make a significant and positive impact on customer loyalty through employee satisfaction.
2. Rick emphasized the importance of organizational alignment and ensuring that policies and procedures made it easy for employees to satisfy customer needs. This was a common theme in the show as today's myopic focus on operational efficiencies in companies is a root cause of customer dissatisfaction.

A great topic and very practical insights for anyone wanting to make a positive change in customer satisfaction rates through employee engagement and relations.

-- David Kinard, PCM