I had a major problem with my book wholesaler the other day (when you have so many books published, you buy copies from wholesalers to resell, a very nice arrangement). A clerk informed me of an onerous and clearly inappropriate new policy while I was traveling to visit clients.
“Let me talk to your manager,” I said. “Sorry, she’s unavailable, but I’ll see what I can do during the morning,” she responded.
Later that morning, a supervisor called, who merely reiterated the policy and its inflexibility. Knowing that I hadn’t the time nor inclination to track this through the ranks, I found the president’s office (with great difficulty) and left a message with his administrative assistant, instructing her to inform the heads of both credit and operations of my problem and outrage.
Within two hours I had apologies from the CFO, the manager who became suddenly available again, and the president’s office. I knew that the higher I escalated the complaint, the more certain it was to be resolved in my favor.
Customers know this, and 90% of the time, escalated complaints are resolved in the customer’s favor and lower decisions adversely affecting the customer are reversed. The great organizations, such as Ritz-Carlton and FedEx, empower people at front line positions to make the right call the first time, thereby saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the spot.
HR needs to have the same mentality. Fix things in real time, respond and resolve customers’ requests at the front line, and never rely on “policy” or “procedure” to explain away a real or imagined problem.
Most people don’t expect the organization to do a back flip. They just want to be sympathetically heard.

© Alan Weiss 2002 All rights reserved.

Alan Weiss, Ph.D., CMC is the author of 20 books, including the seminal Million Dollar Consulting, revised for 2002 (McGraw-Hill) and his newest, The Ultimate Consultant Series, seven books forming a consulting library (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer). You can reach him at Alan@summitconsulting.com. Visit his web site, http://www.summitconsulting.com to subscribe to his free monthly newsletter, Balancing Act: Blending Life, Work, and Relationships.