Hostile employees may drive customers away

Tuesday, 20 September 2011 16:00

News - Workplace Stress

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

Rudeness in the workplace may be a bigger problem than managers think, as a new survey reveals that one third of customers have been served by a worker so hostile that they would likely not return to the business, but respondents said they rarely make a complaint.

Moreover, the volunteers told the University of Southern California and Georgetown University researchers that they encounter this kind of service experience about once every month.

Authors of the study said that this kind of behavior is likely to have a significant impact on a business' bottom line, especially in retail shops and restaurants.

"Regardless of the perpetrator or the reason, witnessing incivility scalds customer relationships and depletes the bottom line," wrote the corresponding authors.

The researchers said the best remedy for this problem may be training to promote civility and anger management.

Since anger is sometimes the result of intense stress, especially in the workplace, results of this survey suggest that employee wellness programs may help administrators create a more productive, happier staff, not to mention improve a company's bottom line.