In the first installment, we discussed establishing a service culture as one leg in the stool of building a service foundation. An essential second leg is having clear and consistent policies and procedures governing the delivery of member service.
Team members come and go, and we expect new people to know and understand the policies put in place long before they get there. They weren’t there when developed and may not understand the rationale for existence. And when was the last time you pulled that dusty policy binder off the shelf and really reviewed it?
Ideally, policies and procedures should be reviewed annually. Events will happen changing your operation. Did you consider 5 years ago a policy relating to a pandemic? Or what about working remotely from home?
Teams need a policy baseline to work with, which is easily understood and accessible, empowering them when that moment of service occurs. Before we talk about how to accomplish this, let’s review the benefits of having clear and consistent policies in place. They include:
Consistency. Rules that change on a whim, depending on which person or office is applying them, only serve to create dysfunction. Policies and procedures help ensure services are delivered in a consistent and standardized manner, regardless of who is providing the service.
Clarity. Anyone picking up the document should be able to explain it to others. Clear policies provide clear guidelines and expectations for everyone involved in the service delivery process, reducing confusion and misunderstandings.
Efficiency. Providing these to new employees can reduce the time and resources required to complete tasks by having a well-defined process in place. The result would be streamlined service delivery and improved efficiency.
Accountability. Policies and procedures help establish accountability by clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and expectations for everyone involved in the service delivery process. There are added benefits for both the employee and management when it comes to performance evaluations, taking the activity from subjective to objective.
Member satisfaction. Members like consistency. The success of McDonalds is that whichever one you go to, you can expect the same service. Consistent and high-quality service delivery leads to increased customer satisfaction, which is essential for building and maintaining a positive reputation.
It's important to step back from the day-to-day if you want to be sure you are implementing clear and consistent policies and procedures. Here are some suggestions:
Conduct a thorough review of current practices and identify areas for improvement. Pull together a team, gather your existing policies, and delegate to individuals to review them for accuracy, clarity, and relevance. Perhaps even taking the time in a regular staff meeting to review them individually with the whole team. This will encourage group understanding and input from others who may not have direct involvement in those specific policies but have good ideas.
Nobody knows better what works and what doesn’t than those responsible for implementation. Be sure to involve all relevant stakeholders in the review and development of policies and procedures to ensure they are practical and aligned with the higher-level needs of the organization.
Run your policies and procedures by people with no direct involvement to make sure they are written in a clear and concise manner and are easily accessible to all relevant parties. Just having that discussion has the added value of better understanding.
And of course, make it a priority to provide regular training and support so everyone involved in service delivery is aware of, and understands, the policies and procedures.
By following these steps, you can establish clear and consistent policies and procedures helping to ensure consistent and high-quality service delivery. The third and final installment of our series will address ways to fostering a team environment.
(Written by Pete Manfredo, President, Manfredo & Associates, advising credit unions and non-profits with strategic planning and consulting since 1982. For more information, visit at www.manfredoassociates.com, or contact pete@manfredoassociates.com)