With technological advancements the importance of maintaining staff morale for production line workers is a priority that organizations should focus on. Production line work is arguably one of the most physically taxing jobs. Although technology and automation have made it easier, the importance maintaining staff morale in this sector is more important than ever. In fact, the nature of these jobs make it essential for managers to keep their people happy. An article in The Washington Post provides a compelling description of life in the production industry. It chronicles the work of Chris Young – a factory employee who mentions long commutes, irregular hours, difficulty handling childcare and dismal pay. But perhaps the most compelling sign of poor engagement is when he explains management’s lack of interest in his (and others’) welfare: “No one’s really worried about the fact that you’re so exhausted from working seven days a week, you’re dependent on some drug to stay awake, or dependent on some drug to [fall] asleep, or for pain…” Job challenges aside, it would be shocking for management to expect morale to be high in such an environment. Young’s employer is the very antithesis of an employer who understands or values engagement; however, not every organization wants to follow this example. With the right approach, this industry can create a work environment conducive to strong, consistent engagement. Start at the Bottom In the 1957 film, 12 Angry Men, Juror # 6 says “Well, I’m not used to supposin’. I’m just a workin’ man. My boss does all the supposin’.” While this movie has nothing to do with engagement, the line is quite revealing of how companies were once (and in some cases still are) managed. Essentially, the character illustrates how it’s not his job to think or make decisions; that’s his […]
A Play by Play of the Company’s Vision, its Earliest Inception, and a WIP Towards a Continuous Mission in the Technology Space There is always a distinct history behind any organization – how it began, its first steps, important milestones achieved and the people who have worked towards making its initial vision a reality. Our vision which eventually became a reality was Emojot – a company that has grown remarkably over the past few years. So, sip on a cup of coffee (or tea if you like!) as we take you through a stroll down memory lane on how it all began. So, How Did it All Begin? Our company’s vision – to be the global leader in customer experience solutions with our emotion-based customer/employee/audience engagement solutions – was given its roots when our very own CEO, Dr. Shahani Markus was a lecturer at the University of Moratuwa, a top-notch university, that had a reputation for producing some of the most intelligent graduates within the Sri Lankan tech industry. Dr. Markus was an inspirational mentor to her students and was responsible for supervising the university’s final year projects. With her vision of encouraging students to create startups, she bootstrapped a product concept with two of her students – Andun Sameera and Sachintha Rajith in 2014. The founding team also included Dr. Markus’ colleague Manjula Dissanayake, who came with prior experience in the product space. In 2014, Emojot’ magic began with these 4 special and dynamic individuals. Converting Initial Meetings into Positive Proceedings With our founding team at Emojot working hard and overcoming the challenges that came their way, we were fortunate enough to be named as one of the top 3 event technologies at a conference held in Australia in 2015. This was certainly a massive stepping stone for us. Our success […]
In celebration of World Tourism Day, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts presents the second edition of the Cinnamon Future of Tourism Summit on the 26th of September 2017. With an aim to increase the growth and development of travel and tourism in Sri Lanka and Asia, the event will feature the world’s top innovators of the travel & tourism industry. The discussions will be conducted by an elite panel of globally recognized speakers including Rene Massatti (Brand Ambassador, TRENDONE), Dr.Sanjay Nakdarni (Director of Research & Innovation, Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management) and Brekke Fletcher (Executive Editor, Travel for CNN). With a pioneering reputation of providing a platform that leverages the power of emoji’s and transforms engagement with a simple touch, Emojot is honored to participate as the official engagement partner at this event. Emojot will use its transformative crowd-sourced engagement and feedback capabilities for live audience engagement and panel moderation – where they would simply have to access the platform via a URL (instead of the usual apps that require downloading) and send top-of-the-mind questions directly to the respective speaker, then and there. With Emojot’ VOA engagement platform, the Future of Tourism Summit will have the ability to understand crowd perception individually and collectively, increase levels of crowd perceptual sharing and engagement and generate real-time insights on applicable future improvements. We believe that any organization/business should focus on using a platform that humanizes emotions and generates voice of customer/voice of employee/voice of audience insights in real-time. By leveraging the power of emojis on our platform in a futuristic techy world, we are delighted to present an emotion-based, feedback mechanism that converts into real-time engagement. Real-time engagement that can lead to positive business outcomes at every step of the way.
We are all about the notion in believing the customer is king and what not! It’s true, isn’t it? As a brand, although we start the engine, the customer is in the driving seat- steering us all the way. He/she will decide where we are headed and it’s up to us to ensure that our engines are oiled and ready for the joy ride ahead. If you get this notion right, you’re good to go! If you don’t, prepare yourself for some heavy repairs that consume lots of time and energy – that could have been saved if you only understood what was wrong. Listen up. The Voice of the Customer is what’s going to save your brand and your peace of mind (phew!). To make your life easier, let me take you through a couple of essential steps to start your Voice of Customer Program. Listen Up! Everyone loves to give their two cents on everything. It’s a part of being human. Listening, however, is something that should be practiced over time. It’s an acquired skill. Especially true, when it comes to nurturing a good relationship with a significant other. Believe me, when I say, most people never listen and don’t even realize the value of it. In this context, however, listening to your customers adds onto your learning curve to steer your brand in the right direction. Yes, improving their experience is supposed to be on top of the list for most organizations. But, the starting point of improving their experience begins as soon as you take the time to listen to them. Listening will enlighten you on how you can get a lifetime commitment from your customers. It’s just around the corner. So, it’s high time for you to listen. Listen to them and show them that […]
This is a given. Having emotionally intelligent employees will help any organization dive into the great divide of providing a spectacular customer experience, at any given point in time. Are you aware that 90% of top performers in various businesses have ‘Emotional Intelligence’ in common? Their levels of self-awareness and self-management get them ahead and may even outrank their colleagues who have elevated levels of IQ – because IQ is simply not enough – when trying to satisfy your end customers. Now you must wonder what ‘Emotional Intelligence’ really is. It is simply the ability for an individual to recognize their own emotion alongside other people’s emotions, distinguish between different feelings and label them correctly, use emotional information to guide their thinking and behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve their goals. In the business world, high EQ levels in leaders will certainly foster stronger emotional connections with employees. But, do keep in mind that it’s also important to encourage your employees to utilize an EQ approach in their day-to-day responsibilities, especially, in terms of nurturing meaningful customer experiences to increase brand loyalty and to increase your customer base – because you can never get enough of an increasing, loyal army of followers. Emotional Intelligence is for Everyone EQ is for everyone – starting from your front-line managers to your front-line executives. There is no difference there. If you look at your front-line customer executives, they have to deal with various customers who are indifferent, hostile and simply difficult and it can be a nightmare for them. And it is obvious that situations of this nature can wear out these executives down, reduce a positive attitude towards their work and result in low levels of employee engagement. You wouldn’t want that, now would you? When […]
Do you remember the good old days when you were bossed around by your parents, teachers and even siblings who think they are know-it-alls? As kids growing up, we had all sorts of rules and regulations, right? Do your homework, be at the dinner table when you are told, don’t eat too much of chocolates, do your chores…the list goes on. Similarly, we have guidelines at our workplaces (advanced versions obviously). Guidelines such as getting to meetings on time, making sure we meet our work deadlines and so on. As your good, mediocre or bad working days go by, I am sure you wonder if you can have a better say in things that happen at the workplace. Are you able to voice out (or even croak) how you really feel about a certain situation? Are you entitled to make decisions that could possibly influence your job or work environment? Or, do you just hold back and keep your opinions to yourself? As an employee, most of us want to be heard (for obvious reasons). I certainly do. I want my employer to hear me out when I come up with a solution to an existing problem or figure out an improvised technique to finish up a task at hand. I want to be able to tell my manager how I feel about something – good or bad – and not be judged for it. Sadly, this isn’t a reality for some of us. Because, for some of us, our voices are restrained – and we are forced to keep our mouths shut and simply go with the flow (sigh). If you encourage a culture that enforces this, your employees will take 10 steps behind, never feel comfortable about voicing how they feel, and will leave your company behind. I […]
A customer walks into a restaurant chain branch, she orders her usual tuna sandwich as she does every other day. Since she is a frequent visitor, there shouldn’t be any surprises during this specific experience. But there is a difference, she is in a restaurant branch which she hasn’t visited before. She receives her sandwich and settles down in one of the booths. Her first bite is the decision maker. Immediately her taste buds tell her that something is not right. The bread is stale, the filling is all wrong. She’s pissed. Naturally, the initial reaction is to complain – so she turns to Social Media. Two days later, the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the restaurant chain in question gets a call from his wife who tells him about a Facebook post which went viral (over 500 shares) and has now reached news publications as well. The restaurant chain’s brand image is compromised. Any strategic move by the CEO and his company will cause the PR situation to worsen – more fuel to the fire. “If only I could have known that she was unhappy two days ago, I could have apologized and made amends,” says the CEO. Let’s look at this situation with the introduction of Emojot. The customer is unhappy. She sees a card on the table where she is sitting saying “Tell us how you feel”. She’s intrigued and visits the link. With the ability to immediately express how she feels – her negative sentiments are received through the restaurant’s Emotion Sensor®. Immediately, the CEO and the CXO (Chief Experience Officer) of the restaurant chain are alerted via WhatsApp and Email – they view the analytics on the cloud-based dashboard and acknowledges: the problem with the quality of the sandwich (as the customer has given open […]
