Analysis of a Service Organizations Activities - Essay Example

Investigative Report, Requiring an Analysis of a Service Organization’s Activities Executive Summary Change is an important feature in today’s world.This project deals with how effectively communication can be used to change the course of an organization. In the modern era every organization is vying for the top spot and to achieve that it is important that they people in the organization function well. The project puts across ways of improving the service process in an organization like IAG by focusing on people factor and the role of internal communications in helping synchronize the process of internal marketing. IAG group was faced with a difficult situation when the workers at the company went on strike. Having a strong internal marketing program could have helped the company overcome such difficult scenario. The project will discuss about the most important aspect in service marketing which is “People factor”. Given the fact that IAG group has suffered from staff strikes, the need of the hour is internal marketing. This report will throw light on areas of internal marketing that need to be taken care of by the Director of Marketing at IAG. A sound internal marketing campaign will give an edge to the company so that situations like a staff strike do not occur any more. The project will also discuss about giving a boost to the internal marketing campaign of the company by relying on the traditional method of distributing newsletter to the workers. This method will help the company make its employees feel satisfied on their job and motivated to perform well. Table of Content Service Marketing 4 The “People Factor” 4 Internal Marketing 7 Internal Marketing Campaign: Newsletter 10 Recommendations 12 Reference 14 Bibliography 17 Service Marketing Services can be defined as the activities which are intangible and does not necessarily require a product or any tangible goods. Services are mainly for the satisfaction of the customers who wants their needs to be catered in a satisfactory manner. Services can be called an act, also an effort or even a performance. The nature of utility of product is also a determinant for defining service (Mudie & Cottam, 1999, p. 2). Services can be found ubiquitously all around in different industries be it education institute, airline industry, hospitals, tourism industry, etc. (Hoffman & Bateson, 2010, p. 3). A service can also be termed as that intangible activity which requires no tie-up with any tangible good. It can be further stated as an activity which is beneficial to an organization and can be suggested or offered to other organizations The “People Factor” Employees in an organization an especially in service organization can be designated as the ambassador of the company as well as company’s service or product considering the fact that the employees are the people who interacts with the customers at regular basis. Empowerment of employees can have a two way effect on the image of the company; the employees can either bring a good name to the company or can create a negative image in the minds of customers (Peters & Mazdarani, 2008). Different organizations have now adopted different practices to concentrate on the needs of both the employees as well as the customers. It is imperative that every employee be given an equal opportunity to contribute to the development of the organization. It is important for organizations to empower their employees and also engage them in the decision making process of the company. For any service organization such as IAG, which is into the business of airlines depends heavily on its employees for the marketing of the services. Every contact or interaction between the employee and customer can further build a trust for the company in the minds of customers. Regular interactions will also give the employees or the company more opportunity to satisfy the customers and persuade them to avail the IAG’s service. Even with the advent of technology service industry still depends largely on the people factor to draw large number of customers. It can be said that for this very reason companies like IAG need pay more heed to employee training program along with the recruitment process (Lovelock, Wirtz & Chatterjee, 2010, p. 23-24). IAG group needs to understand the fact that the “People Factor” holds a significant place in the organization. Proper handling of staff by the management will lead to better service quality offering by the company. It is often noted that company’s poor performance is directly related to the employees of the organization. But, the fact is that employees performance largely depends on the training and motivational programs inducted by the management of the company. If a company like IAG fails to comprehend the right message to its people who hold the key to success, the service quality can deteriorate at rapid pace (Williams & Buswell, 2003, p. 191). Amongst the 3 P’s of service marketing mix, the most important is the “People”. IAG group as a service organization can be said to be a people oriented organization. As a part of IAG, each and every employee holds the key towards the success of the organization. Any contact of the consumers whether direct or indirect with any employee of IAG will leave an impression on them depending on the influence the employees create through their behavior and service delivery. A mistake from any of the employee can ruin the image of IAG in the airline industry which will eventually affect its market share. On the other hand when employees of IAG are able to provide customers with good and prompt service, the customers are bound to be more loyal. So, an organization like IAG has to keep motivating and encouraging its employees to deliver better services through various activities of marketing (Rao, 2004, p. 64). The employees of a service organization are the most important asset for the company as they are the people who come in contact with the end consumers to generate business for the organization. The employees have a great impact on the organizations rise and fall. The way the employees treat a customer describes the strategies used by the organization in managing their workforce (Kazmi, 2009, p. 596). Employee interaction with customers is also a part of services which are people based rather than being apparatus or equipment based. In an organization which provides people based service is extensively dependent on the people factor. Examples of such organizations can be educational institutions, beauty salons, mechanic workshop, and not to forget the airline industry. In these organizations the person who provides the service is assumed to be the service and not service provider as in the case of apparatus based services. Here, the service marketer like IAG group has to outsmart the competitors by recruiting, training and encouraging its employees to deliver a better service to the customers. It can also be noted that people factor also plays an important part in maintaining excellence in the services offered to the customers. Services offered and customer contentment is directly proportional to each other. For this reason the people factor dominates over other factors to deliver quality service to the end consumers (Zeithaml et al., 2008, p. 118). Further, it can be noted that employees are the centre around whom the service of an organization revolves. The people factor is also important for the organizations like IAG group as not only business but also the organizational culture is reflected from their attitude towards work. It becomes more important for the organization to have a proper management which can train and motivate these employees to perform at higher levels by being more reliable and trustworthy in building positive image of the company in the market (Botha, Strydom & Brink, 2005, p. 196). Internal Marketing Internal marketing is an important aspect of service industry as it is people-oriented industry. For a service organization like IAG which has faced employee strikes during the peak season of Christmas needs to sort out the problem which lies within the organization through better internal marketing and treating employees as consumers. The satisfaction of employee plays a great role in delivering better and satisfactory services to the end consumers. Internal marketing is process undertaken by the management of an organization and as per the requirement the management needs to emphasize on the “People Factor” by motivating, encouraging, creating opportunities for the employees. The management also needs to make the employees a part of the decision making process to develop the loyal and trust factor amongst the employees (Nwankwo & Gbadamosi, 2011, p. 258). But before knowing the importance of internal marketing it is best to understand the implication of internal marketing. In this competitive world sustenance is the biggest thing and same is the case for IAG. To build a healthy customer-employee relationship IAG has to evaluate its organizational culture and work towards its improvement. Internal communication plays an essential role in analyzing the work culture and finding a solution to the problem through effective training and motivational programs for the employees (Varey & Lewis, 2000, p. 43-46). Internal marketing is made up of certain key components which hold an important place in analyzing the importance of internal marketing. These components are: 1. Motivation and satisfaction of employees: Internal marketing for a company holds the key to employee satisfaction, employee turnover which otherwise helps in enhancing productivity for the company. 2. Consumer satisfaction and orientation: Internal marketing to be a successful tool needs to emphasize on consumer satisfaction and consumer orientation. 3. Integration and inter-functional coordination: The influence of internal marketing is very high on the employees and the organization needs an effective integration and inter-functional coordination amongst the employees for higher productivity. 4. Marketing-like approach: The process of internal marketing treats the internal employees as customers. Internal marketing also caters to the needs and wants of employees just the way they treat the external consumers. 5. Implementation of functional and corporate strategies: For any organization it is important to not only apply certain functional policy but also corporate policies. Executing these strategies will allow better implementation of internal marketing within an organization. Internal marketing is further based on three main aspects, i.e. innovation, consumer factor and process. If IAG plans to be a leader in the airline industries than it has to not only concentrate on consumers but also on its employees and their needs. An effective communication process developed to enhance the relationship between employees and IAG as an organization can yield positive results for the company. IAG can follow the following steps to solve the problem of internal communication: a) Reduce employee retention problem through effective training program to enhance loyalty amongst the employees. b) Showcase the organization’s ethical way of doing business which can be inculcated by the employees. c) A complete knowledge on organization’s goals and objectives and employee’s importance in achieving them. It can also be known that the organizations in like IAG group can no longer divide employees and the organization’s functions into two different entities. An organization can attain growth and success only by amalgamating functions related to services mix and other service marketing strategies. An organization should also have information about its workforce in respect their work related activities and vice versa. This will establish a strong relationship between the management and the employees resulting in higher level of productivity both for the organization and the employees (Egan, 2007, p. 353-356). Through this report it can be proposed that IAG should circulate an internal newsletter which would focus on internal marketing to foster and improve relationship between the management and the employees. The important contents which need to be covered in the letter can be discussed below: Internal Marketing Campaign: Newsletter There are different systems that an organization can use for internal communications. However the most prominent will be the distribution of news letter, which is a traditional method of internal communication that has been widely used in many organizations. The practice of distributing news letters is a tried and tested method and has helped many organizations achieve greater efficiency and productivity. In this particular section it has been explained why a six page news letter can be a vital part of internal marketing campaign and what should be the contents of such a newsletter. Firstly a news letter is a good way of keeping the employees updated about the objectives of the company. When workers are kept well informed about the activities in the company they tend to be more committed to their job as they have greater understanding. Such a measure adopted by the management makes the workers feel that their individual contribution as well as performance in the group is being recognized by the company. Informing workers about the current projects of the company will serve dual purpose. Apart from giving recognition to the work of those involved in the project it will encourage other workers to contribute their ideas for the project. To add on to the aforementioned idea it is important that all or most of the employees should be asked to contribute to the newsletter. To make this happen IAG should ensure that the newsletter contains information relevant to all tiers of the organization. Only then can the newsletter be made a universal publication. In essence the purpose of the newsletter should be to feature different opinions and suggestions of employees in the company. The employees giving creative ideas and valuable suggestions should also be given rewards to further their satisfaction levels. Moreover if a group of employees have performed well or demonstrated exceptional commitment levels, they should be thanked in the newsletter. Acknowledging the work done by the employees will make them continue working well on their job. Secondly the nature of the content of the newsletter should be effective enough to be able to engage the employees. The style of the news letter should be such that it should be able to strike the right balance between exciting and encouraging employees. To make the newsletter interesting and fun, IAG can include jokes, interesting stories and interesting facts in it. By making the newsletter about six pages in length the company can comfortably include all these facts and along with that it can include articles and ideas contributed by the employees. Again, when employees are contributing to the newsletter they will want to see their contributions given equal weight in the newsletter. Finally the newsletter can serve as an important tool for exercising internal quality control. The employees need to be held accountable for the work done by them. When employees know that they will be recognized for the work done, they are bound to be motivated to perform well. Motivated employees are more committed to their job and serve customers in the best possible manner by providing quality service to them. To make the most out of this situation the company should encourage employees via the newsletter to obtain valuable feedback from the customers. A page in the newsletter should be dedicated to getting the feedback and suggestions from the customers. The management can draft a ‘feedback form’ and ask the employees to get it filled by customers. This will help the company know if the customers have been satisfied with the services provided by the company and the same time the company should welcome the suggestions and maintain their services in line with the expectations of the customers. Organizations also are taking views of their employees before deciding on to a marketing plan. Based on the views put forth by large workforce the decision is made. This helps in building trust and loyalty and the employee’s retention factor is also minimized. Employee retention factor is also major issues in today’s business scenario and to overcome this problem organization are shifting towards creating a good communication structure through motivational and training programs designed especially to help foster internal communication (Guffey & Almonte, 2009, p. 86). The purpose of the internal communications letter should be to establish a relationship that will benefit the employees as well as the organization and to make the employees participate in the activities of the organization. Organizations like IAG who look forward to creating a communication related strategy for the betterment of the company needs to keep in mind that the purpose of internal communication should be: Improving the understanding of the employees about the company’s objective. Recognizing the issues related to communication and the ways to handle them. Transparency should be created between the employees and management. Boosting the communication between employees and the end consumers. Recommendations Organizations in service industry are part of fragile business world as they provide intangible goods which cannot be owned by anyone. For any organization the biggest strength is its workforce and in context to service industry it is even more important. Companies which deal with tangible goods have the leverage of branding their products and promoting it through different media. But, service industry relies heavily on the employee or to be more precise “the people factor”. The people factor for the service industry is the key of success. The people are responsible to market the goods of a service industry which is rather intangible in nature. The question may then arise why so much emphasis on people factor? Why can’t service industry also market its product or service the way other industries do? The answer is simple as the people or the employees are the ones which come in contact with the consumers in a service industry. Employees are the face of an organization like IAG, as they are the ones providing hospitality to the passengers. Employees can create or destroy the brand value of the organization. To create and retain loyal customers IAG needs the employees to stay focused on their job and perform well. The company needs to focus on involving more employees in the decision making process. Involvement of the employee in decision making will enhance their job satisfaction. Satisfied employees are bound to perform better and they will in turn provide better services to the customers. A positive relationship exists between satisfaction of the customer from the services provided by the company and the willingness of the customer to continue the relationship by being loyal to the company (Grönroos, 2007, p. 144). If an organization wants its objectives to be adopted by the employees of the company, it has to ensure that these should be communicated well to the employees. Also internal communication will help the company in achieving desired behavior from employees and gain competitive advantage over its rivals. Internal communications lays stress on open culture which is reflected through the newsletter (Dunmore, 2002, p. 133-134). Reference Botha, J, Strydom, J & Brink, A. (2005). Introduction to Marketing. Cape Town: Juta and Company Ltd. Dunmore, M. (2002). Inside-Out Marketing: How to Create an Internal Marketing Strategy. London: Kogan Page. Egan, J. (2007). Marketing communications. USA: Cengage Learning. Grönroos, C. (2007). Service Management and Marketing: Customer Management in Service Competition. (Ed.3). USA: John Wiley & Sons. Guffey, M. E, Almonte, R. (2009). Essentials of Business Communication. USA: Cengage Learning. Hoffman, K. D & Bateson, J. E. G. (2010). 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