The retail associate was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I had come in and asked to return a paper shredder for either a refund or store credit. The shredder was new, had never been used, and was still in the box.
The obstacle was the store’s rigid “no shredder returns” policy.
It was clearly designed to prevent the store from accepting returns on shredders that had been used and couldn’t be resold. That wasn’t the case here since the shredder was still new and unopened.
The associate recognized this and I could sense his embarrassment and frustration. Unfortunately, he wasn’t empowered to do anything except say, “No.”
Why does this happen? I've asked managers to share why empowering employees is such a challenge. This post explores the top five barriers.
What is employee empowerment?
Employee empowerment requires giving employees the right resources, best practices, and authority to consistently do a good job. Here's how it's defined:
Employee Empowerment is a process of enabling employees to deliver outstanding service to their customers.
Many managers hesitate to empower their employees because they are stuck on the traditional view of empowerment, which is giving employees extra authority.
Using this updated definition can make empowering employees an easier sell. Who wouldn't want employees to do a good job?
You can learn more about the definition here.
Why should you empower customer service employees?
Middle managers often need to sell executives on the merits of empowering customer service employees. Empowered employees can improve efficiency, increase customer loyalty, and generate positive word-of-mouth.
For example, my wife and I forgot to cancel our order from the pet supply company, Chewy, after our dog died.
My wife, Sally, called Chewy to arrange for a return, but the gracious customer service rep offered to give us a refund without us having to ship back the order. We were simply asked to donate the shipment to a local animal shelter.
It was an efficient way for Chewy to ease the burden on grieving pet owners.
That kind gesture ensured we would remain loyal customers when we eventually got another dog.
And I'm sharing this story with you, spreading positive word-of-mouth about a great company.
Empowering your employees gives your organization a chance to gain all these benefits. Wouldn’t it be great if customers shared these positive stories about you?
What are the barriers to employee empowerment?
There are a number of reasons why employees are not fully enabled to take care of their customers. Here are five common barriers, although this is by no means an exhaustive list.
1. Fear
Managers are afraid that an empowered employee will make costly errors.
Let’s say that employees in the office supply store are empowered to determine whether to allow a shredder to be returned. What if the employee makes a bad decision?
Suddenly, the company is out the cost of the shredder since it can’t be resold. The costs can add up fast if employees make too many bad judgment calls.
Managers feel safer creating a rigid policy so these bad calls don’t happen.
2. Inconsistency
Empowerment gets tricky when you have more multiple employees and many locations. Different employees might make different decisions in the same situation.
A great example is airlines’ limits for carry-on bags.
Let’s say a gate agent allows one passenger to board with three small bags, even though the limit is two. Another gate agent requires a different passenger to check one of her three bags. You can imagine how upset the second passenger might feel when she sees the first passenger boarding the plane with three bags.
Inconsistency also leads to unreasonable expectations.
The first passenger might expect to board every flight with three bags based on his initial experience. He might become quite upset if a different gate agent enforces the two-bag limit on another flight.
A manager might feel its easier to be consistent if employees are all expected to follow the same rules to the letter.
3. Fraud
Some managers believe that customers are constantly trying to take advantage of the company to get freebies and discounts. They worry that widespread fraud will make empowerment too costly.
The math rarely proves this to be true, but managers perceive that it's a fact:
Customers will invent problems to get something for free.
Customers will make up a sad story to get you to bend the rules.
Customers will yell and scream until they get their way.
Creating rigid rules seems like a way to protect employees from these conniving customers. Employees can’t be bullied into giving away the store if they aren’t allowed to.
4. Time
Some managers don’t feel they have enough time to empower their employees. This isn’t without good reason. Empowerment takes a lot of work.
You must create clear guidelines.
Employees must be fully trained.
You must continuously monitor their decision-making and give them feedback.
It can seem like its more efficient to just create a rigid policy and avoid all the effort that empowerment requires.
5. Role
Employees might not realize they’re empowered. Many see their role as something other than serving customers. The language they use when they describe their jobs can be very telling:
A cashier might say, “I ring up purchases.”
A hotel front desk agent might say, “I check people into their rooms.”
A contact center agent might say, “I respond to customer emails.”
Notice the emphasis on the transaction. Employees who have a transactional view of their customer service jobs are less likely to empower themselves.
The cashier might not respond when the customer tells them there was something they couldn’t find.
The front desk agent might be at a loss when a guest arrives complaining that the airline lost his luggage.
A contact center agent plowing through emails might miss a chance to go the extra mile to solve a customer’s problem on the first contact.
Take Action!
Here are some resources to help you overcome these obstacles and empower your employees.
You can find a few action steps in this post.
There’s a full chapter to the topic in The Service Culture Handbook (Chapter 9).
Get more ideas on this resource page.
One final thought.
You must be willing to let go if you want to empower your employees. An effective manager can’t control everything. You can’t be everywhere all at once or monitor every interaction.
You must be willing to trust your employees.