Social networking can be a valuable part of a company’s employment strategy. But some businesses are still coming to terms with its darker aspects, with Tesco just the latest to discover how nasty online staff exchanges can become, according to a news posting on Brand Republic.
Tesco staff who set up a Facebook group called “Tesco employees could rule the world” used it to vent about the chain’s customers, who are characterised as pestering, smelly and cheap in a series of complaints.
When being asked by a customer where to find a product, one employee’s instinct was to say: “Give me your shopping list, you senile old cow, and I’ll do your shopping for you. Just leave me alone.”
“I wish these f******s would just stay at home and shop online!” added another member of the group, which carried the gripes of some 60 Tesco employees.
Last year, Virgin Atlantic’s staff had the same urges and 13 found themselves facing the sack after they contributed to a group that speculated as to the airline’s safety record and called passengers “chavs”.
It’s a reminder of how far we have to go when it comes to service in the UK. According to this online complaints test, bad service is one of the top three complaints (among those who’ve done the survey.)
Grumpy, unwelcoming service and (another in the top three) high costs threaten to put visitors off Britain, according to an interview of VisitBritain’s chairman, Christopher Rodrigues.
But according to research by the Institute of Customer Service, customer service is improving across the UK — with retail leading the way. So are the likes of Tesco and Virgin isolated? It’s unlikely.
“This is not the first time a major UK company has been embarrassed by some of its staff on a social networking site, when frustrations with customers have caused offence,” says Duncan Baker of the Institute of Customer Service.
Nor is the first time shop staff — or anyone customer-facing — have ‘gathered’ to have a good old gripe about their customers.
But the problem for Tesco is that its unhappy employees have broadcast their dissatisfaction across the internet. Worse, perhaps, may be the fact that forum contributors are siding with the staff — why shouldn’t they have a rant, asks one, while another points out how “atrocious” some customers can be.
Few people can love their job 24/7, and maybe retail jobs, which are often minimum wage, will always be worthy of a bit more griping. But there seems to be a lot of bile in the Tesco group commentary — is this really “just letting off steam”?
Its employees should’ve known better than to post their frustrations online for all to see. But the retailer, which adapted Kaplan and Norton’s “Balanced Scorecard” to create a service-oriented “Steering Wheel” that specifically encourages employee empowerment, might want to look behind the comments at what’s making its staff so angry.
(Photo: yummiec00kies, cc2.0)
