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W. Warner Burke, from Columbia University, is an expert in organizational change. Burke’s work with a variety of organizations indicates that for a true change initiative to be successful, focus and change must occur at multiple levels:
Through our work at ServiceElements, we have seen many aviation-related companies struggling to breathe life into customer service initiatives, hoping that they will become “part and parcel” of their culture. But it takes more than hope. Inevitably their initiatives failed because they were not addressing all levels of their companies.
So, what within these levels can change?
System Level – The system level includes mission, strategy, service culture, and leadership. Is customer service an explicit strategy that the leadership of the organization agrees upon? Does the overall culture reflect this strategy as a priority?
Work Level – The work-unit level includes standard operating procedures, management practices, reward systems, and strength of teamwork.
Individual Level – The individual level includes training programs for employees, managers, and leaders, and whether the right people are in the right jobs.
The bottom line? Hiring a company to do a one-day workshop on customer service (which means change is being initiated at the individual level only) is doomed to failure. It must be accompanied by critical analysis of the company’s system and work-unit levels. Clearly, the training will do little good if, for example, customer service is not a part of the company’s mission and leadership does not address work-unit level activities such as developing standard operating procedures and reward structures that reinforce the training and the mission.
Sure, training is a natural part of any customer service initiative – but so is assessment. Leaders must be bold enough to assess their organization at all three levels. Companies must understand where they are at now, in terms of customer service, and compare that to where they want to go in the future. It can’t be done without a comprehensive service audit. If service is truly going to differentiate your company, then you must embark on a total solution. Those who address only one of Burke’s levels without addressing the others will never do anything more than just talk the talk…or maybe even worse.
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Christopher Crum Joins ServiceElements as New Business Developer and Strategist
Scottsdale, Ariz. (XXXX) –ServiceElements, dedicated to helping companies gain a competitive advantage through improved levels of customer service, announced today that business aviation veteran Christopher R. Crum has joined the company as a business developer and strategist.
“For more than 25 years, Chris has been passionate about providing outstanding customer service for numerous organizations in the business aviation industry,” said ServiceElements President Bob Hobbi. “In more than one assignment Chris has led his organization to quickly double its sales by focusing on its service. We are fortunate to have another person with this caliber of expertise joining our team.”
Most recently, he was president and chief executive officer of Royal Jet Group, LLC, an international charter and aviation services company based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. While in the Middle East, Crum was a founding board member of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) and primary sponsor of the first MEBA conference.
Crum also was president and chief operating officer of the Stevens Aviation FBO chain and vice president/general manager of Garrett Aviation. While with Allied Signal Engines, now Honeywell, Crum spearheaded the creation and delivery of a division-wide customer service training program and, while living in Germany, he revamped and directed their service and support organization in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Crum has been a military officer and has an MBA degree from Arizona State University.
About ServiceElements
ServiceElements, an organizational and behavioral culture enhancement company, awakens the power of excellent service within companies as well as their individual divisions, departments and other organizational groups. Some of the company’s tools for re-focusing service culture and sharpening service delivery skills include, stimulating, highly interactive workshops, seminars and keynote speeches. Clients benefit from ServiceElements’ more than 20 years of experience in business, technical training, service excellence, Six Sigma, ISO 9000, quality management processes, Customer Relationship Management programs and process re-engineering. For additional information on ServiceElements, visit www.serviceelements.com.