Mapping Experiences, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 11. Mapping the Employee Experience: Aligning Inside

What employees experience, Customers will. The best marketing is happy, engaged employees. Your Customers will never be any happier than your employees.

―John DiJulius, The Customer Service Revolution

IN THIS CHAPTER

• The employee experience and why it’s important
• Mapping the employee experience
• Aligning the customer experience to the employee experience
• Organizational design and customer experience
• Collaborative method for aligning customer and employee experience

There was a deli around the corner from my previous home in Hamburg, Germany, that sold quality meats and specialty items. I used to stop in every so often to get products that were otherwise hard to find. But the service was often rude and abrupt. I sometimes felt nervous interacting with the servers, who might get annoyed if I asked about the different types of salami they had (as if I should already know all the subtleties).

My wife worked in the area and knew a lot of the neighborhood businesses. When I brought up the abrasive service I had experienced, she immediately said, “Not surprising: the owners are exactly like that too. They are difficult people to deal with.” And to be sure, the deli had high employee turnover.

The point is that organizations are often mirrors of the customer experiences they deliver. If employees are treated poorly behind the scenes, how can they be expected to provide good service to customers? If management ...