Empowering the Service Employee1. IntroductionCompetitive advantage potential, and the overall decline in customer satisfaction with services, it seems that the potential and opportunities for companies who can excel in services marketing, management, and delivery have never been greater, or more important (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003). However now, some companies are creating and adding value to services through focusing on people as a differentiating factor. In the eyes of the customer the employee is the service. Every employee that comes into contact with the customer has an opportunity to influence that customer’s satisfaction. Therefore it is essential that firms recognise the critical role carried out by the frontline employee. Through empowerment service firms produce better performances from their employees thus improving the service provided and therefore customer satisfaction.
2. ObjectivesTo highlight the importance of the service performer in the service delivery process in relation to 1) the unique characteristics of services and 2) the expanded services marketing mix.
To discuss the critical role-played by the customer contact employee.To introduce the concept of empowerment as a means of enabling the customer contact employee in delivering a superior quality of service.To investigate the what, why, how and when of employee empowerment.3. Research MethodologySecondary research used included a comprehensive study of books and academic journals in the area of Services Marketing.4. LimitationsThe topics covered have not been as thoroughly developed as the authors would have liked due to time constraints and limited page number set out in the guidelines.
Due to the nature of the project primary research was not feasible therefore literature findings could not be verified.5. A Brief Introduction to EmpowermentUnfortunately there is no all-encompassing universal definition of empowerment however many authors agree that it is a vital ingredient in attaining employee satisfaction, thus customer satisfaction and ultimately profits. The main characteristic of empowerment involves allocating discretion during the service delivery to frontline employees. In recent years empowerment has been the hot topic in management circles. This is not surprising as empowerment offers a range of benefits to both the employee and the organisation. However there are some costs associated with this approach and it is identified that the empowerment approach is not suitable for all organisations. These issues of empowerment will be explored further
[Table of Contents] The Impact of Global Empowerment of The Indian Ministry of Labour. http://www.indiemill.gov/eng/welfare-courses/eng.aspx The impact of global empowerment is evident in the following list of key points of the Indian Government’s welfare programme, particularly in rural areas. The list below contains important updates and highlights key changes achieved in both FY16 2013 and 2014, such as increasing staff-to-staff ratio, better performance of IT departments, a better workforce participation and reduction of workforce pay to less qualified employees. As part of the welfare expenditure share, the Indian government also raised the minimum wage to Rs.8 per hour and increased the child benefit amount to a maximum of Rs.10 per hour. The minimum wage was also increased from Rs.15 to Rs.25 per hour for workers in rural areas and Rs.30 per hour in urban areas. This was accompanied by the reduction in the government’s minimum wage and other government changes aimed at reducing low-paying work and increasing the efficiency of the sector. This move is reflected in a significant increase in staff-to-staff ratios for all the agencies. The percentage of Indian workers with a family income of less than Rs.20,000 over FY10, and by FY17 levels of staff and employees who were paid less than Rs.25,000/year by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Investment, was reduced from 20% in FY17 to 18%. This is reflected in the decrease of the minimum wage for employees aged between 24 and 49 from Rs.25 to Rs.25/hour under the Ministry of Information Technology and Information Sciences (ITIS). The increase of the minimum wage for workers on the Indian Government’s labour force participation plan has been accompanied by an increase in the minimum wage target of Rs.7 to Rs.8 per hour in FY16. Also, in the years to FY2015-2020, the target of Rs.8 to Rs.10/hour was increased and the target was increased to Rs.24/hour under the National Employment Standards Scheme. This increase in the minimum wage can be explained in two ways. The increase in the minimum wage would provide a significant increase in the minimum hourly wage of both employers and their members. Another approach which has been advocated for by the Indian Ministers for various policy areas is to increase the salary (or the standard of living of Indian workers) for Indian employees. The minimum wage is a significant factor for maintaining a fair compensation structure. This means that employees earning over Rs.80,000/year pay the same as their employers on the National Employment Standards Report which were not included in the 2011/2012 India Employment Security Survey, and therefore the minimum wage of the Indian workers may be higher too. Such increases in the minimum wage have been shown to generate higher than necessary productivity gains. The Government has been implementing a significant change in the composition of the employment portfolio of private sector firms by increasing the total number of employees at the top level of the workforce (from 2 million to 3 million). These changes have been accompanied by the creation of five new positions of technical experts as well as the beginning of an all-round recruitment process for professional organisations and private sector members. This means that employees on the upper level of the workforce have to work longer and on more flexible schedules. In particular, there are higher pay levels for staff below the managerial and technical level of the firm. The level of the private sector workforce is more sensitive in areas such as technical expertise and education, and is therefore expected to be much higher at the top level of the workforce. In addition, the government