Sharlyn Lauby wrote a recent blog, The Customer Now Decides if Companies Treat Employees Fairly.
Companies like Papa John’s and Darden Restaurants have experienced a negative impact to their bottom line as a result of perceived unfair treatment of their employees. Papa John’s, CEO, John Schnatte suggested he would cut work hours for Papa John employees in order to bring them below the 30 hour per week threshold that would require Schnatter to provide their employees with healthcare benefits.
Result? According to YouGov BrandIndex, a brand marketing survey reported Papa John’s brand identity fell from a high score of 32 to a very low score of 4 among adults who have eaten at casual dining restaurants during the past month.
Corporate culture has the attention of consumers. I love it.
I found this article fascinating for so many reasons! Corporate responsibility, fairness, the courage to stick up for others, and branding all came to mind. It brought back a memory when I was a customer at a retail store about 5 years ago. A junior level employee was having difficulty ringing up my killer new pair of jeans. It was obvious she was flustered, but the effort was there, and you would have had to be a miserable individual to give her a hard time. She called in for support and a manager was at the desk within a few minutes. After the manager apologized for her colleague’s error, she soon realized it was a problem relating to the tag and register. It had nothing to do with the junior employee. Instead of admitting there is a bigger problem here-let me take you to another counter, she verbally took it out on the other employee and blamed her. After a minute or 2 of witnessing the blame game, I was a bit horrified, and so were the people behind me.
I felt bad, for about 10 seconds-and then said, “Why are you taking it out on her? It’s not her fault-she tried everything you did, with the same results-you should apologize to her”. The manager’s jaw hit the floor, the junior employee looked down at her feet, but was smiling. The manager stared at me for a few seconds and then said sorry-to me. I reminded her it wasn’t me who deserved or needed an apology. She took me to another counter solo. At that point I dropped it-but it left a lasting impression. This happened in a national, retail store.
So, I hope people will stick up for, and even better, won’t contribute financially to an organization they believe do not treat their employees fairly.
Remember-bullies grow up! However we can stand up for ourselves and others and decide what companies we give our business to.
Stephanie Mello, VPE
Sources:
http://www.hrbartender.com/2013/leadership-and-management/the-customer-now-decides-if-companies-treat-employees-fairly/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/12/04/papa-johns-applebees-and-others-pay-huge-price-for-anti-obamacare-politicking/
