This will probably be of no surprise to you, but we will remind you anyway.
In business, your reputation is everything.
Garner a positive reputation, and you can expect more custom to your business. Garner a negative reputation on the other hand
With customers happy to post both good and bad news on social media and business review sites, and with the local press always desperate for a scandalous story, you need to protect the future of your business by safeguarding your reputation. And while this will be obvious to you, it is still important to consider your employees who may or may not have the same understanding.
Here are just a few of the ways that an employee could damage your business reputation.
#1: An employee might deliver bad customer service
A customer might ring your business for advice, but should your employee be tired or busy, they might not give your customer the attention and the help that they need. On the other hand, you might have a complaining customer. Rather than do something to pacify the person, your employee might make the situation worse with a less than friendly response. These are just two examples, but the point is this. Your employees need to deliver excellent customer service, because if they don’t, then the affronted customer might be tempted to share news of the terrible service they have been given.
#2: An employee could cause a health and safety issue
Accidents do happen, and injuries do take place in the workplace. As an employer, you can protect your business from compensation claims by taking out public liability insurance. If you haven’t already, you should probably research public liability insurance brokers for the coverage relevant to you, especially if you are working in a high-risk environment. Still, while insurance will prove useful when protecting your finances, you might suffer damage to your reputation once word gets out about any injury that has taken place on your premises. You need to risk-assess everything, and you also need policies in place with regards to your employees’ responsibilities. If they are accidentally careless in any way, or if they behave in an irresponsible manner, they might cause injury to themselves and/or any customers visiting your business. Therefore, ensure your employees have the relevant health and safety training behind them and get on top of any behaviors that could result in an injury to another.
#3: An employee might behave badly off-premises
It could be one of your delivery personnel driving erratically on the roads. Should the car or van they are driving be branded with your business details, then people are going to associate their behavior with your company. The same applies to those employees on the commute home. Should they do something to offend another while wearing your companies uniform, then that isn’t going to do much for your businesses image. Your employees might post pictures on social media too, or they might be tagged in somebody else’s post. This isn’t an issue if they aren’t doing anything wrong, but if they are snapped in any kind of compromising position, then it might reflect badly on your business. Consider these things then, and meet with your employees to discuss the consequences to them (disciplinary measures) and to your business of such situations.
So, think about your employees today and the damage that they could cause to your business reputation. Take the relevant steps to reduce risk, as your customers and the world at large will then have less reason to look upon your business unfavorably.
