PeterDrucker

Eye on the Front Lines

The three most important questions are:

What is our business?
Who is the customer?
What does the customer value?

Peter Drucker¹

The front lines of an organization serve the customers. An army wins or loses based upon what happens on the front lines. The same is true with an organization. The organization’s leaders must maintain constant awareness of the situation and performance of those who serve on the front lines. The importance of the frontlines is absolute. The neglect of the frontlines is disastrous.

As corporations have been reshaped by trends such as downsizing, virtual offices and e-commerce, the importance of the frontlines remains constant. However organizations and their teams are configured, those employees who serve the organization’s external customers are the consummately important front lines. All too often their importance diminishes in the minds of the organization’s leaders. How could this happen?

It happens in some companies when managers live in a world that is insulated by ignorance of the front lines. This ignorance can be willful on the part of the manager when for misguided reasons he does not want to be concerned with the front line employees and their performance. Managers can also be ignorant due to their negligence of staying informed and connected with those on the front lines. This often happens when the "tyranny of the urgent" directs their involvement away from the front lines. In some organizations managers become victims of diversion, by others in the company who willfully prevent them from understanding the situation and performance of the front line employees.

Managers can also be misguided in their relationship with front line employees by the development of disparaging attitudes, biases and stereotypes. Expressions like, "They always screw things up" and "They ought to just be glad that I’m giving them a job" often reveal underlying attitudes that prevent proactive engagement between manager and front line employees. Biases such as "They will never learn how to do this right" or "We can’t expect much from that department" prevent the intentional and effective development of front line employees. Stereotypes whether they are based in ethnicity, gender, educational level or organizational position accomplish nothing positive for an organization in its service to its customers.

Managers must make a focused commitment to enable their positive engagement with front line employees. These commitments should include the following areas:

Resources For the front line employees to succeed in serving the customers, they must have adequate resources. Very few things demoralize and demotivate employees more than having to face customers without the resources to adequately meet their needs. This is especially true when they are providing the customers with inferior products or services. Managers should work to anticipate the front line employees’ need for resources and proactively make provision. They should also include feedback from front line employees in the design of the company’s products or services.

Development Similar to anticipating their employees’ need for resources, managers should also anticipate their need for training and development. When customers interact with an under trained employee both walk away from the interaction frustrated. Additionally, the employee walks away either angry with the customer or angry with their company. This undermines their future effectiveness in serving the customers. It is strategically important for managers to anticipate and provide for the developmental needs of their front line employees.

Attention It is a great motivation to employees to know that they have their boss’ attention. Productive employees do not want to be micromanaged. They also do not want to be abandoned. When they see that the boss is willfully and proactively engaged in their situation and performance, they tend to feel valued and empowered. Smart managers plan continual ways to prove to their front line employees that they have her attention.

Ownership It is important that managers give front line employees ownership of customer service practices. Employees who are fully engaged in meeting the needs of customers help win the right for continued service to the customer. Employees who merely mouth a thin, generic customer service script become a nuisance to many customers. It is important that manager’s ensure that their front line employees own their customer service processes so that their heads and hands are engaged in their work and not only their mouths.

Results The desired results from the work of front line employees are not only happy customers. The results must also include repeat business and new customers. Managers must prove to their front line employees that they will positively help them accomplish these essential results. Results must be accomplished. Smart managers commit to doing all that they can in helping their front line employees succeed in accomplishing these results.

Staying engaged in the situation and performance of the front line employees is as much the responsibility of the CEO as it is the responsibility of these employees’ immediate manager. What happens with the customer determines what happens to the company’s future. The front lines of the organization must stay in the sight and minds of the organizations leaders. In so doing they help insure that the company will win the right for continual service in the future.

¹"Immortal Lessons From Peter Drucker," Net Fax (July 7, 1997) Number 75.