Is Your Service As Good As Your Mission?

How Do You Characterize Your Organization?

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 how 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?