Year ago, Daniel Steininger CEO of Catholic Knights Insurance wrote: "Would we have to train an employee, who feels very good about their organization and is loyal to it, to smile for customers?"

Mr. Steininger articulates one of those commonsense realities that often seem to escape many businesses and many managers: it’s a lot easier to get great customer service out of people who feel happy, respected, proud, and competent.

Here’s some research showing the bottom line impact this can have:

According to research done with Taco Bell, stores in the top 20th percentile for employee retention were 55% more profitable than those in the bottom 20th percentile.

Clearly, creating the kind of environment where employees want to stay, where they feel respected and empowered to do their jobs well, makes a significant bottom line difference.

So….are you doing the things that create this type of environment?

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