Keeping customer-facing staff happy is essential for delivering good customer service, and one way companies are trying to do that is by providing perks that make employees feel valued.
US retailer Target recently stirred up lively debate on Reddit by introducing a “10-4” policy, which requires employees within 10 feet of customers to smile, make eye contact and use welcoming body language, and those within 4 feet of to actively greet shoppers and offer assistance.
Motivating employees to go the extra mile for customers isn’t always straightforward, and what works in theory may not always work in practice. For some employees, traditional benefits may hold little appeal.
Researchers at the University of Bath have found that retail customer service staff, such as cashiers or shop assistants, prefer free meals or team outings to health benefits or gym memberships. These kinds of benefits will encourage greater company loyalty, better customer service and higher sales.
The study, co-authored by Professor Jens Nordfält of the University of Bath School of Management and published in the Journal of Marketing Research, looked at five categories of company-sponsored wellness benefits: food, social, mindfulness, physical and health. Free meals and events such as happy hours and company picnics were the most effective at inspiring workers to deliver better service, as employees felt more valued and developed a stronger sense of loyalty to their employers.
These loyal employees were more likely to care about their company’s well-being and deliver stronger performance, service quality and customer assistance. That better service, in turn, translated into higher sales, the study found. Professor Nordfält, who is also co-director of the Bath Retail Lab, said:
“Our study showed food had the biggest impact on employee motivation, followed by social gatherings. Mindfulness activities also helped. But physical and health perks like gym memberships or flu-shot drives had the least effect.”
The rising popularity of wellness programs prompted the research, said the study’s co-author, Professor Dipayan Biswas of the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.
