Re: Ackoff on SAS

[John <jsdwd@ispwest.com>]

On 9/14/03 12:58 AM, "Alan Meekings" <alan@landmarkconsulting.co.uk> wrote:

> 
> During Jan Carlzon's time in charge, I found all front-line staff in SAS to
> be consistently charming.
> 
> Since then, their response has been no different from that of any of other
> major airline.
> 
> My conclusion is that companies need to put their staff first, their
> customers second, and their shareholders third.
> 
I'd say front-line staff being charming to the customer is putting the
customer first and training staff as to why that's critical to success which
means more jobs, more promotions, better ability to pay benefits and so on.

Too often companies say to employees put the customer first and that will
lead to success, but the success translates into profit for stockholders,
bonuses for managers and not much for staff (insurance benefits that don't
pay claims, retirements plans that get raided by management, hiring freezes
or, worse yet, 'down-sizing', etc.)

Why should staff do anything on behalf of customers that leads to 'success'
if that doesn't improve their lot in life...

Put the customer first, train the staff accordingly  and share the wealth.
Seems simple enough.

John Dowd
jsdwd@ispwest.com