Trusted Employees Give Better Service
Canada -- Employees who feel trusted will provide better
customer service and increase sales, a new study reveals.
Research from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British
Columbia shows that the feeling of being trusted encourages employees to
accept more responsibility and to work harder in pleasing customers.
The research was carried out at 88 stores of a major retail company,
collecting data from the retail chain’s records measuring sales and customer
service performance for each store and annual employee surveys.
“Much has been written about how management needs to win the trust of its
employees,” says Prof. Sandra Robinson, “but this study is quite different
in that it suggests that management showing trust in their employees -
regardless whether employees trust them - may make the biggest difference.”
The findings that will appear in The Journal of Applied Psychology on May 9,
2008.