Giving Employees Authority:What rules and regulations in your company have the potential for offending your customers? Certainly, it is necessary to establish policy and regulations to help your business run efficiently. But are these rules so rigid they have no exceptions? When there is a need for an exception, your employees should not only be authorized but encouraged to use their judgment in each situation. But employees will never bypass company rules, even knowing that doing so would better serve their customer, if they fear criticism or reprisal from management. The fear of management criticism can paralyze your employees. Make sure your associates feel assured they can, and shou ld, make
decisions one-by-one to solve a customer’s problem.
Involve your employees in the decision making process as much as possible. Why? Because those who are charged with implementing policy must also have a voice in making that policy. The employee handbook of Nordstrom, the Seattle-based store group, consists of a central rule:
Rule #1: Use your good judgment in all situations. There are no additional rules.
