Proper Communication to Solve Workplace Problem
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Proper communication is a critical element towards addressing workplace challenges, enhancing the customer-employee relationship and achieving customer satisfaction in any organization in the long run. Improper communication will result in dissatisfied customers and frustrated employees within the workplace. Disagreement situations within business organizations are inevitable, but with proper communication strategies, both the employee and the customer can find amicable solutions and rebuild their working relationship. Proper communication that is guaranteed to solve the workplace challenge and avoid a similar situation in the future; should follow up and immediately address the customer complaints. Similar to customer service role of ensuring customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty, proper communication between employee and customer is critical in solving disputes and misunderstanding within the workplace.
As a manager, walking the confrontation between an angry customer and my employee about an applied late penalty will necessitate me to take a marketing perspective where; firstly, I will apologize to the customer, show empathy by acknowledging his continued partnership with our bank and propose we have a sit down to discuss the matter. Van Vaerenbergh et al. (2012), describes this action as customer recovery where efforts are put to restore unhappy customer due to failed service or dissatisfaction, thereby reassuring the organization of customer’s loyalty and satisfaction with our services. After the sit down amongst the three of us, I would ask the customer to elaborate on the misunderstanding as my employee listens carefully to understand any information that he might have missed. The next step is to confirm if the late penalty is genuine or not against our service terms. If it is not genuine, we will remove the penalty immediately. If the penalty correctly applies, I effectively communicate it to the customer that the employee acted on procedural action. With the reasonable justification of the customer’s late submission, I will initiate an alternative later submission date for the client and withdraw the penalty until the agreed-upon time. With this adjusted timeline, our company stands to settle customer complaints and reinforce customer satisfaction without compromising our service terms. Therefore, incorporating customer recovery strategies as part of the communication will benefit the organization’s brand relation with customers and alleviate future communication challenges.
Understanding that the late penalty is a measure used to reinforce customer compliance with our banking terms and conditions, I would identify and acknowledge the employee as a dedicated and procedural workforce after the customer has left. Such communication will not only appreciate the efforts of the employee but will also ensure that the employee is well motivated to handle any further complaints that will come up. Secondly, by applying the process recovery argument by Van Vaerenbergh et al. (2012), I would explain it to my employee to also take up the role of customer service, whose ultimate role is to examine the customer’s complaint. Identify the reason behind the late submission and file it as feedback to work on if it occurs in the future. When the complaints are properly communicated and resolved in this manner, the organization will benefit in satisfying future angered customers while gaining from complaints feedbacks.
Proper communication is essential in satisfying workplace challenges, especially, customer-employee problem. Recognizing that customer is the ultimate reason for business existence, all efforts should be made to ensure that customer dissatisfaction is avoided while promoting customer satisfaction. Effective communication that bears; customer recovery through addressing the complaints early and process recovery, which focuses on undertaking the cause of the complaints to avoid a similar situation in the future, is paramount for any organization workplace.
References
Van Vaerenbergh, Y., Larivière, B., & Vermeir, I. (2012). The Impact of Process Recovery Communication on Customer Satisfaction, Repurchase Intentions, and Word-of-Mouth Intentions. Journal Of Service Research, 15(3), 262-279. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670512442786