I have worked with people who were hesitant to reveal their birthday to co-workers and others who happily recounted to colleagues every personal crisis. For those amenable to sharing a little of their personal life, an organization can provide support and encouragement to them while improving service to customers or clients.
Grief Support
After losing both of my parents within 10 years and before the age of 50, I sometimes wondered if there were others in my workplace who had experienced the same. It was hard to hear about people 20 years older than me who still had both parents. An internal site could be created for a grief support group where employees can search for others who may have experienced the same kind of loss. If a company is well-financed, a monthly or quarterly session with a professional grief counselor can be an option, but even without professional facilitation, you can make it easy for employees experiencing the same trauma to find each other.
The support you can provide to an employee experiencing trauma is just one part of acknowledging the impact of a life event at work. The other part is encouraging the employees to use such an experience to benefit the company’s products and services.
Is there a product or benefit to customers experiencing grief that could be created? For example, should the company have a more flexible policy around payment or last-minute cancellation of services for those who have experienced the loss of a loved one? How should a customer service agent be trained to speak with a customer who calls to cancel service after losing someone?
What does a person who experiences grief learn that can be applied to how an organization operates and treats customers?
Empty Nesters
I’ll never be an empty nester because cats don’t go to college, but I know that empty nesting is a real thing—that a person who built a good part of their life around a child (or children), who then move out of the house, experiences a life transition. Sometimes the freed-up parent finally has time to do the leisure activities they could never spare a minute for while the kids were still in the house. They might even be able to travel more than they used to. From an emotional standpoint, it isn’t just that they have more time but that they may have a new void in their life they seek to fill.
How many employees in your organization have experienced, or currently are experiencing, the empty-nest phase of their lives? As with grief, you could make it easier for these people to find each other to talk to. You also could train managers to encourage employees who share their empty-nest feelings casually in meetings or while making small talk to bring this experience into their work.
Is this a segment of the market the company has been overlooking or not provided well enough for? An employee experiencing a life phase like this could be a tremendous resource in the development of products and services for a group of consumers who have not had this particular experience adequately addressed.
Pet Projects
As you may have guessed from my comment about cats not going to college, I have never parented a human child, but I’m onto my third cat now. There are many like me who spend significant energy finding ways to make the creatures (furry and otherwise) they live with happy while keeping them healthy and safe. If your organization doesn’t already have affinity groups for cat and dog owners, it’s worth considering doing so.
It’s a great stress reducer to spend a half hour a week (even on company time) sharing humorous stories about the latest mischief a pet has gotten into or discussing a health or safety concern about a pet with people who have the same concerns and may have found solutions.
Like all other life events, pet owners are a key demographic to cater to. It’s a common life experience that many businesses can find ways to accommodate, using their own employees as a sounding board. How about offering dog treats and bowls of water for dogs just outside or inside a store? If your restaurants have outdoor seating, how can you make it easy for dog owners to dine with their dogs while not bothering other guests? Perhaps a “dog seating area” is an option.
Could the boxes and/or packaging you use to deliver your products to customers double as cat toys? As any cat owner will attest, a box alone can provide a cat with entertainment, so putting a little thought and creativity into it could yield an even better cat entertainment device.
Birthday Benefits
Not everyone likes to acknowledge them, but everyone has them. What do your employees like to do on their birthdays? What makes them happy? You could tap those feelings and experiences to offer a birthday benefit that is unique, much appreciated, and memorable, creating customers who keep returning to the company that most understands them as human beings.
Do you tap your employees’ life experiences as learning opportunities on how to better serve your customers or clients?