HOW TO DEAL WITH ISSUES IN THE CORPORATE WORLD

HOW TO DEAL WITH ISSUES IN THE CORPORATE WORLD
We often come across issues in our day- to- day lives, which are related to our professional environment and our personal lives. A practical and strategic outlook is imperative while coming up with a methodology which is best suited in resolving an issue. I have given a practical example from my work life in order to demonstrate how an issue can be resolved with minimum fuss and without pressing the panic button.

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLUTION OF AN ISSUE IN A CORPORATE ENVIRONMENT. 1. Identify the problem. 2. Brainstorm along with the departments which are directly affected by the problem. 3. Find the various processes and solutions that can help resolve the problem. 4. Which is the most effective and efficient method of resolving the problem. 5. Applying the process to the problem 6. Assessing the degree to which the problem has been resolved 7. If the problem has not been resolved, the process has to be followed again.

I used to work as a Senior Customer Service Executive for a well known vending machine in India and had to resolve an issue that was affecting the profitability of the company in Pune. I applied the scientific method of resolving the problem as inspired by the “What Makes A Great Science Project Logbook” Joanne Rebbeck, Ph.D.February 24, 2005

Identifying the Problem a.A high frequency of breakdown of vending machines in clients’ site. b.Delay in registering a complaint about the break down. c.Loss to the company as we billed our client by usage. d.Delay in the time taken by the technicians in repairing the vending machines at the clients’ site.

Consequence: The problem was eating into the profits of the company, as we suffered losses on the volume of sales and our reputation also suffered because of the frequency of break down and our competitors were trying to lure our clients, who had been with our company for decades.

A national conference was immediately conducted, when I reported the issue to my immediate superior in India. The concerned departments had a brainstorming session, and various hypotheses were investigated.

Hypothesis i)The quality of the spare parts being used was not of standard quality. ii)Lack of skilled manpower had caused the delay in repair work. iii)Sabotage - by client canteen employees or our own technicians

Investigation on Various Hypotheses i)The quality of spare parts :Our national technical manager decided to conduct a surprise check on various client sites’ all over India.

ii)Lack of skilled manpower:The HR department decided to investigate on the number of site coffee boys present at one time on site and the frequency of servicing done on each department. iii)Sabotage :Number of times a vending machines broke down, against the average breakdown of machines after it has had its scheduled servicing and replacement of parts.

Conclusion of Investigations a)The National Technical Manager reported that the spare parts were of the standard quality being used our company. He also the tested the present technicians on the skill and knowledge for repairing the machines. b)An investigation by our HR departments reported that the clients were not happy about the servicing done by our coffee boys, as one coffee boy was allotted per station, by our company. There were frequent absentees and negligence in scheduled servicing. c)Vending Machine break down was 200 percent higher than the average break down as calculated by our technical department for a properly serviced machine.

I decided to investigate further into the complaints of absenteeism among the coffee boys as reported by the HR department, and the possibility of sabotage.

Further Investigations conducted on the Clients’ Site in order to gather evidence. i)I personally interviewed the sites’ canteen manager and found out that, though the sheets were filled on a timely basis, the machines were not being properly serviced and the coffee boys were often found to be missing from their stations. ii)I supervised the repair work on a vending machine and made sure that new parts were used and the coffee being prepared was of standard quality. iii)I also requested the clients’ management that a CCTV be used, to investigate the possibility of sabotage.

Conclusion on Personal Investigation a)The coffee boys were filling their sheets in advance b)The vending machine that had been serviced was not working properly again. c)One of the client canteen workers was seen tampering with our canteen machine after hours on the CCTV.

Action that was undertaken i)The station in-charge was ordered to conduct surprise visits on client sites as it was the coffee boys who were responsible for reporting, machine break downs to our technicians. ii)Errant coffee boys were sacked. iii)The client site where the damage had been reported was asked to compensate to the full cost of replacing our vending machines. iv)Their canteen department was overhauled completely and they conducted their own investigations into the sabotage.

Our final step was to speak with our client’s management about the conclusions of our investigations and reaffirm our relationship and continued business with them.

Please read How to Deal with a Difficult Customer, where the author explains how to deal in a situation when the client is at fault He says “Call Attention To A Customer’s Mistake Indirectly. If you think that your customer or client has made a mistake. Start with words like “Let’s look at this together.” Being willing to admit that you could be wrong, will make it easier for your customer to admit that he might be wrong, too. Even if you know for a certainty that he’s wrong, begin by using diplomacy so that your customer can ’save face’ if he’s proven wrong. If he feels humiliated, you’ve probably lost any chance for future business with him”. Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of besuccessfulnews.com.

This article was a true inspiration for me, on how to continue our relationship with the client. Our billing with the company has improved; we maintain a profitable business with them.