By Chip Bell
The SHRM website makes a sweeping declaration about its vision: “Our vision is to be a preeminent and globally recognized authority whose leadership, perspective, resources and expertise are sought and utilized to address the most pressing, current and emerging human resource management issues.” The ATD website has a similar mission pronouncement: “Our mission is to empower professionals to develop knowledge and skills successfully.”
I added the underlines to highlight the memorable superlatives that express organizational identity rather than association tasks. And, I picked SHRM because they are arguably the best-known association for HR professionals; ATD (formerly ASTD) since they are the best-known association for HRD pros. As such, they set the standards for their respective members and professions. But, this piece is not about SHRM or ATD. It is about your mission and providing a service experience congruent with that mission/vision.
HR/HRD professionals focus on maximizing, mobilizing, and developing talent. They stand up for ensuring organizations cultivate cultures that are egalitarian, fair, empowering, and supportive. They create policies, programs, and practices that ensure human potential is always valued and nurtured. They champion vital causes like worker safety, compensation, diversity, morale, growth, recognition, labor law and countless other factors that help ensure a work world that works for all.
“Preeminent” and “recognized authority” are words we might use to characterize Nordstrom, USAA, Ritz-Carlton, Disney World or Zappos–organizations consistently ranked among the best service providers on the planet. “Empower successfully” is how the airline industry characterizes Southwest Airlines and JetBlue; or, the automobile industry describes Mercedes-Benz and Tesla. “Leadership” is the label associated with disruptors like Google, Apple, and even Uber and Airbnb. How does your service experience compare to these brands?
If the colleagues you serve were asked to characterize their experiences in dealing with your unit, what words would they choose? All customers compare all service providers to the best they experience, fair or not. You do not get a pass because you are highly regulated, have a limited budget, or are understaffed. They want a website as easy as Amazon, responsiveness as rapid and thorough as FedEx and UPS, an interpersonal connection as happy as Disney World, employees as passionate as Southwest Airlines and attention to detail as meticulous as a Four Seasons Hotel.
What are the superlatives contained in your department’s mission or vision statement? If those sentiments were the lens through which those you serve evaluated your service experiences, what grade would your unit get?
This article was reprinted with permission from the author.
Chip Bell and HRDQ-U are hosting a webinar February 15th at 2pm ET. Save your seat here!
Chip R. Bell is a renowned keynote speaker and the author of several best-selling books including Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers, Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service, Wired and Dangerous: How Your Customers Have Changed and What to do About it, and Sprinkles: Creating Awesome Experiences Through Innovative Service. His newest book, Enchanting Customers: The Heart of Innovative Service will be released in early 2017. Global Gurus has ranked him among the top three customer service speakers in the world for the last three years. HR.com ranked him among the top 30 thought leaders in North America. He has appeared live on CNBC, CNN, Fox Business, ABC, NPR, and Bloomberg TV, and his work has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc. Magazine, CEO Magazine, Fast Company, and Businessweek.
