By BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA
Dear fellow business leader, your organisation is teaching people how to treat people. Your organisation has a service attitude even if you have never formally defined one. People experience it every day. They experience it when they call your office. When they make a complaint. When your employee makes a mistake. When a customer asks an inconvenient question. When a member of staff needs your attention. When you have received their money but have not yet delivered what you promised.
And here is something worth considering:
Your employees cannot consistently give customers an attitude that your organisation does not give its employees. If people are treated as disposable internally, don’t be surprised when the culture eventually becomes transactional externally. If management doesn’t keep its word, employees learn that commitments are negotiable. If leaders tolerate lateness, dishonesty, negligence or rudeness because “he is a good performer,” the organisation has quietly taught everyone what it is prepared to excuse.
This is why service attitude is not simply a frontline employee issue. It is a leadership issue.
Nigeria’s 2024 Customer Service Index recorded an overall customer satisfaction score of 67%, an improvement from 61% in 2023. Yet public services scored 63%, and the figures across sectors remind us that better service is still unfinished work.
But business leaders, I want to take the conversation beyond customer satisfaction. Ask yourself: What does it feel like to work in my organisation? Do people receive respect? Are promises honoured? Are complaints taken seriously? Are standards applied fairly? Does the organisation make it easier for good people to do good work?
Because eventually, organisational culture becomes customer experience. You cannot build a service-minded organisation merely by putting “Customers First” on the wall. You build it by creating a culture where responsibility is expected, excellence is supported, integrity is rewarded and people matter. Your business is not only selling a product or service. Every day, it is also teaching people what your organisation believes about people.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
In all you do, Mind Your Character.
I’m Bosede Olusola-Obasa, Character Development Trainer, Corporate Culture Strategist and Best Service Attitude Advisor.
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