ARTICLE 9

EMPATHY AND EFFICIENCY

CEO-IT journal (Asia)

Two keys tools to add to any CEO's tool-kit are 'AEV' (adding emotional value) and 'EM' (empathy measures)

Why is it that a small island with a population of approximately four million people has the best airline in the world as well as the best airport? The answer goes beyond efficiency into the deep psychological reaches of people's hearts.

You expect Singapore to be efficient and there is no question that Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport are incredibly efficient. Every time I arrive in Singapore I set a little test. How long will it take me to reach my hotel in Marina Square from the moment the plane's wheels touch down on the runway - and that includes the time spent at immigration, waiting at the carousel for my luggage and the taxi journey to my hotel downtown On my last flight from London this transit time was a phenomenally short thirty-five minutes. The average time is forty-five minutes. I know no other airport in the world that gets even close to this incredibly high standard.

Singapore achieves levels of efficiency which many other countries strive to emulate but consistently fail to achieve. However a focus on efficiency is not enough. No company (or country) has ever sustained long term prosperity by relying on efficiency alone.

For a business to succeed it must have more than efficiency, it must have genuine empathy with both its employees and its customers. Thus the reason that Singapore Airlines is the number one airline in the world is not just because of its undoubted efficiency, nor just because of its attractive products and services. In my opinion the reason the airline is number one is because of all the great people at the heart of its business.

I started writing this article yesterday on a SIA flight back to London from Singapore. I was in Raffles Class and the three flight attendants serving this cabin were wonderful. I have no other words to describe them. Fong Jit Jian the Chief Steward and his two team-mates Koh Siew Ling and Ten Chui Heong took genuine delight in attending to customers, in helping them and establishing warm friendly relationships. They initiated conversations with passengers and their eyes sparkled as they did so.

In my chats with the crew each stressed to me the importance of doing things for customers from the bottom of their heart. They believed in going beyond the routine to 'add emotional value' ('AEV') to their work. As a result they knew they would be able to delight customers.

However it was not just the flight crew who were able to develop this empathy with customers by adding emotional value to their service. The person who checked me in at Row 4 of Changi's Terminal 2 yesterday was equally warm and friendly. He was from SATS (Singapore Airlines Terminal Service). This approach of 'AEV' also extends to the CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) who have a team of immigration officers for whom two key performance measures are 'smiling' and 'courtesy'. These are what I call empathy ('EM') measures. By working in partnership the CAAS, SATS, SIA and other business partners are able to provide a total customer service experience at Changi that is exceptionally positive and based on adding emotional value to efficiency.

To achieve this it is equally important that senior executives, middle managers and supervisors demonstrate a similar 'genuine heart-felt' empathy for their various teams of employees.

When you have a senior boss who feels 'warm' about his or her people and whom they, in turn, feel warm about then an organisation will develop a 'warm' culture (as opposed to a 'cold' one). All the progressive organisations I have studied around the world in the research for my various books are now moving towards a 'warm' culture based on empathy. They are going beyond efficiency to 'add emotional value' ('AEV') in all their dealings with employees, customers and suppliers alike.

PROGRESSIVE COMPANIES ARE GOING BEYOND EFFICIENCY TO 'ADD EMOTIONAL VALUE' ('AEV') IN ALL THEIR DEALINGS WITH EMPLOYEES, CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS ALIKE

Coincidentally, one of my fellow passengers on my flight with SIA back to London yesterday was Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. He is the arch-exponent of 'empathy'. His employees love him and he loves them. We had met before when I interviewed him for my book 'THE STIMULUS FACTOR'. On that occasion he told me that his top priority in the Virgin Group was his people, his employees. "If you get the people thing right then the profit will follow" he had said. Now I was able to have another chat with him on the long thirteen hour flight. When we arrived at Heathrow's Terminal Three he joined me as we walked off the aircraft. I noticed that there had been no one to greet him, which surprised me given that Virgin also operate out of Terminal 3. He was just like any other passenger. At the luggage carousel he waited patiently with me for his case and then lifted it himself onto the trolley. So I challenged him "Somehow I was expecting you to be met at the door of the aircraft by someone from your team at Terminal 3". He smiled and replied "Our staff have more important things to do than meet me off an aircraft" with which he shook my hand, wished me good luck with my travels to Singapore and with my books and pushed his trolley, along with everyone else, through customs. Other Chairmen receive expect the red carpet treatment. Sir Richard Branson acts like a normal human being. He is humble and wears no airs and graces and in no way attempts to be 'superior'. In that way he can relate to most people and achieve 'empathy'. As soon as you allow yourself to be elevated to the ivory tower and act out a role of being important (or even a VVIP) then you are in danger of being divorced from reality. When this happens the empathy disappears and it is difficult to 'add emotional value' to your relationships with customers and employees alike.

Thus to get the people thing right requires empathy, an emotional connection between two or more people's hearts. Progressive organisations like the CAAS, SATS, SIA as well as Virgin place a lot of store on empathy measures. One such measure is the 'compliments to complaints ratio'. Thus SIA receives many more compliments than complaints. Another measure can relate to 'courtesy' and 'smiles' which, as mentioned above, the CAAS measures on a monthly basis for all its front-line people.

In summary, two essential tools which must be added to the tool-kit of any CEO is 'AEV' (adding emotional value) and 'EM' (empathy measures).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: DR DAVID FREEMANTLE

Dr David Freemantle is one of the world's leading experts on customer service and motivation. He has written fourteen best-selling business books including the widely acclaimed "What customers like about you" and more recently "The Stimulus Factor", "The BUZZ" and "The BIZ". These books are based on his extensive research worldwide. His book THE EIGHT SUNS OF ASIAN SERVICE was published in Singapore in November 2002.

He spends much of his time touring the world running both public and in-house seminars.

He is based in Windsor UK where he lives with his Venezuelan wife Mechi and two children Ruth-Elena and Linnet. He welcomes contact by e-mail from readers (e-mail address as above).

ARTICLE COPYRIGHT © Dr David Freemantle