Empowerment Strategies in the Service Sector: Bank of America Corporation - Case Study Example

? Empowerment Strategies in the Service Sector A Case Study of the Bank of America Corporation Task Introduction Within the human resources field, there is a broad definition in the provision of services. Every company in the service sector always manoeuvres to meet the needs of people via a knowledge base that is interdisciplinary. For instance, the managers of such companies have often focused on preventing and citing problems before they surface up fully, besides carrying out good maintenance of commitment to the improvement of the quality of service from their staff. Professionals in the human services sector often improve systems of service delivery, since the profession addresses the quality of services offered directly, as well as seeks to better the virtues of coordination, accountability and accessibility among the agencies and professionals in the scope of delivering services. Generally, the improvement of services offered to the guests and hosts entirely depend on the efforts of the managers towards maintenance of all issues surrounding service delivery. These issues often revolve around the quality of workforce – with regard to skills, experience, abilities and working conditions – as well as the value of customer satisfaction. Since the continuity of a company is always among the corporate strategies, the value of customer satisfaction is always a key performance factor that calls for tactical strategies in service delivery. Given that, service sector has diverse nature of services, there are some specific empowerment strategies, which specifically apply to some companies, and are not applicable to others. Empowerment in this case refers to the authority and support given to employees by a company, in a bid to ensure that they become successful as they attend to their customers (Sarkar, 2009, 49). However, some basic empowerment strategies are applicable in all companies within the service sector, including the management of internal activities and operations. Case Study The researcher chose Bank of America Corporation to analyse as well as explore the strategies of empowerment that are often employed by companies in the service sector, in a bid to better the quality of services offered to guests and residents. The bank has its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the Unite States (US), and is ranked the second largest holder of assets (Bank of America Corporation, 2012, 1). The clients of the Bank of America come from over 150 countries worldwide. Being one of the largest institutions in the world, which offer financial services, Bank of America offers a full range of services in asset management, investing, and banking to the many customers that it serves; ranging from individuals, to large corporations. The company has a mission of being the best financial service provider in the world market and therefore, focuses much on the betterment of service they deliver to guests and residents. Given that the bank is a company that offers financial and banking services on a multinational platform, the study identifies facets of empowerment strategies that are applicable to a multinational environment. Theoretical Perspectives on the Dimensions of Empowerment Strategies Empowerment strategies within companies in the service sector have a number of dimensions. All these dimensions aim at achieving customer satisfaction, and this is the common factor that connects them. Employee empowerment is a critical issue when the nature of delivering services is considered, specifically the services that are intangible-dominant (Shafiezadehgarousi, 2011, 25). This is because the employees and customers are simultaneously engaged in service delivery. Given the fact that the employees and customers are inseparable when it comes to service delivery, it is necessary for every company to consider empowering these key players. It is up to the companies to select the best ways of executing their services though the approach to empowerment. Empowerment can always occur in two platforms, internal services and external services. Internal Services Internal services of the company are a primary dimension in the empowerment strategies. This area is concerned with the analysis of the company’s activities, processes and operations, which might in one way or another, affect the employees’ behaviour as they conduct their errands. Consequently, the main concern is employee empowerment. All the services at this level influence customer satisfaction indirectly. Such services often include the responsibilities at the managerial position including employee motivation, organisation of communication patterns, styles of management and decision making processes. Strategic planning is one of the strategies at the internal services platform. In most companies including Bank of America Corporation, the control of major issues linked to strategic planning is the responsibility of the senior management team. This is a measure meant to ensure that all activities in the company get their directions from the senior management. Hand in hand, the degree of workforce involvement in decision-making can be minimized greatly, to ensure service delivery has no conflicting issues in the execution of service delivery (Wallace, O'Reilly, Morris, and Deem, 2011, 69). However, from another perspective, this approach to empowering employees focuses on the philosophy of production-line service output, which plays a significant part in weakening the position of companies in the world markets. Similarly, the focus on the quality of the workforce is another strategy of improving service delivery. Many companies in the service sector direct efforts towards improvement of infrastructure and job training. The employees undergo job training periodically as they continue with their normal responsibilities. In the process of executing their tasks, the employees of the Bank of America undergo performance appraisal and they get training on the areas that they are weak. Some companies go a step ahead to send their workforce to foreign companies, so that they can gain more experience in delivering services in different environments. In addition, creation of jobs (Jiang, Li-Yun and Law, 2011, 680) is another strategy for improving the quality of services in companies within the service sector. Professionals, who are highly qualified with good experience in various areas of operation (banking services in the case of the Bank of America), are identified and recruited into the company’s workforce. However, in the case of companies located in marginal areas, this strategy does not apply in the platform of the residents, for there is inadequacy of the high level of skills needed by the company. This implies that most of the residents can only fit in the slots that have very low wages, and can therefore not advance their careers. Another strategy in the scope of internal services includes the introduction of incentive packages. Incentives can range in a diverse spectrum. They can be in the form of financial gains, employee support services and promotions. For instance, the introduction of day cares for working mothers is an incentive that improves service delivery in the Bank of America. The time, which those women would otherwise spend at their homes, is usually utilised by this incentive. For employees who may not be in a position to work from the company premises, working from home incentive works well for them. Other incentives may also include rewards for compliance, salary increment and the provision of recreation facilities and transport facilities. All the above incentives contribute positively to the overall improvement of service delivery. However, from a critical perspective, such strategies often entail more spending financially (Shafiezadehgarousi, 2011, 32), thus, if the provision of such incentives are not planned for carefully, the companies may end up incurring losses, contrary to the initial aim of fostering proper service delivery. External Services This dimension is concerned with the external value regarding to customer value and service provision. This dimension focuses on strategic marketing of services, and they include service encounter, direct service delivery and the market mix. Such services affect customer satisfaction directly. At the same time, customer perceived service quality is a major consideration in this area (Mukhtar, and Ali, 2011, 117). The essence of service quality comes to the surface by the way customers perceive the service component of the company’s product. This virtue is comes about through experience, whereby, the customers’ perception of the services offered to them is the main concern, as opposed to any objective criteria that is predetermined for the nature of services. Assurance, responsiveness, reliability, tangibles and empathy from the company’s service delivery always determines customers’ perceptions, as they all lead to customer satisfaction. As the employees attend to the customers, courtesy and attentiveness are virtues that employees deserve. In the case of the Bank of America, the employees have these virtues. Advertisements can be significant in ensuring customer empowerment. For customers most often get undecided on the services that they acquire (consultations on asset management, making withdrawals and depositing money in the case of the Bank of America), the interactions between the employees and customers will dictate the choice of the customers. For instance, if the employees convincingly advice the customers on the quality of the company’s services, the customers will opt for those services. Such campaigns are significant in the acquisition of residents, majorly the customers at the local level. Furthermore, incentives for customers are vital for improvement in the quality of service delivery. Revising of the taxes levied for account maintenance and the rates of interests earned are a practice by the Bank of America, as a strategy of empowering the customers. Moreover, improvement of services such as extended banking hours for executive members is also another strategy of customer empowerment. These services also come with good customer care, which ensures customer queries are attended to within the shortest time possible. They include both online and face-to-face customer services. Conclusion Since empowerment strategies in the companies within the service sector are powerful tools of enhancing service delivery, careful decision-making is a critical when citing the appropriate strategies for specific companies. It is logical to assert that empowerment practices propel the influence that employees give to customers, with regard to how they perceive the quality of services positively. In support is the fact that, customer satisfaction is realised when the employees gain control over the process of delivering services – free communication flow prevails in the circle of service delivery and the process gains excellence. Several approaches are applicable to the services of the companies, and the environments in which such companies operate will determine them all. Therefore, the company managers in the service sector must always consider laying out appropriate empowerment strategies to better eminence of services offered to both the guests and residents. Reference List Bank of America Corporation, 2012. “Corporate profile.” [Online] Available from: . Accessed 12 January 2012. Jiang, J., Li-Yun S. and Law, K., 2011. Job satisfaction and organization structure as moderators of the effects of empowerment on organizational citizenship behaviour: A self-consistency and social exchange perspective, International Journal of Management, 28(3), pp.675-693. Mukhtar, R. and Ali, N., 2011. Quality governance of human aspects of quality initiatives in the public service sector, Current Issues of Business & Law, 6(1), pp.111-128. Sarkar, S., 2009. Employee empowerment in the banking sector, IUP Journal of Management Research, 8(9), pp.48-66. Shafiezadehgarousi, R., 2011. The empowerment, ongoing limits and consequences in financial services, Review of Management Innovation & Creativity, 4(11), pp.21-39. Wallace, M., O'Reilly, D., Morris, J. and Deem, R., 2011. Public service leaders as 'change agents' - for whom? Public Management Review, 13(1), pp.65-93. Read More