A different kind of customer

Switzerland is one of the many European countries with a growing percentage of elderly people, as the baby boomer generation will be retired in the period 2015 - 2035. This year 2012 is the European Year for Active Aging. To overcome the barriers for an active life for older people, we have to improve our understanding of their most frequent illnesses and raise awareness of their impact on society at large.

Between the ages of 70 to 80 the risk of becoming dement is 5 - 7 %; up to the age of 90, 12 - 15 %; after 90 every third person is dement. Dementia is an illness that first slows down the pace of activities of an older person. Later, in a more severe stage, it makes difficult challenges out of simple activities. Therefore, we need to understand how dement people can have dignified lives and still be an active part of our society. As an example, this implies empowering them as customers.   

Only in recent years have we started to realize that due to the growing number of people with dementia, employees in shops, restaurants, banks etc. are confronted on the job with dement customers. Until now due to a lack of information and training, the employees are often not prepared for this situation, and in particular fail to understand the behavior of dement customers.

To raise awareness for such situations, the Alzheimer Association of Switzerland has published guidelines to support employees, who are in contact with people suffering from dementia (www.alz.ch). Especially employees in the service industry often have contact with dement customers. Hairdressers for instance are quite often persons of trust for elderly people. Due to the guidelines of the Alzheimer Association they learn how to interact with these customers, and even how to help them realize that they might need additional help.

In these guidelines also employees of banks can learn to understand which symptoms might be a sign of dementia. For instance, dement people have troubles with appointments, they have problems to articulate themselves, they show up several times on the same day to get money, they have difficulties filling out documents etc. In each of these cases, it is important to approach these customers with respect and understanding. Sometimes such employees are the only contact they have and they place trust in them. As the illness of dementia progresses, it is important to recognize that these relationships of trust are an opportunity for elderly persons to receive support and understanding.

The guidelines of the Alzheimer Association are first steps to keep dement people better involved in an active life. Based on this, firms should systematically train and support those employees who interact with dement customers. Corporate proactive behavior will reduce costs as transactions will be more successful, but most importantly the quality of life for dement people will be better.

 Sybille Sachs

Dare to care

During a recent conservation with the leaders of various business units in a multinational corporation it became clear how different leaders are used to perceive and treat their employees. One of the participants told the following story: One of his employees was undergoing a difficult personal situation in her family circle. Finally she could no longer carry the burden; so she told to the manager that she was no longer able to perform in her usual manner as she had to unexpectedly take care of a problem in her family. The manger who esteemed this employee and her extraordinary performance decided to support her. Therefore he suggested that she could give priority to her personal problems for a certain time. He restrained from giving her a time limit or any other kind of specifications and restrictions.  

The reaction of the employee was overwhelming. She voluntarily informed him how she resolved her situation step by step and she was obviously even more devoted to her work after this experience than before. The manager himself decided that in the future he would encourage his staff to be open to him regarding their personal situation.

This story is probably not an exception but it confirms important insights we can gain out of studies that are done in the area of “work and care”. People are more motivated to work if they are respected not only as a human resource but as a human being. Doing business is not a purely economic affair but also a human one. And finally, considering employees as human beings provides  not only positive effects in motivation but such employees are more than 30 % in a better physical condition, 25 % have a reduction in stress,  5 % are sleeping better. Due to their improved  work-life balance an increase in productivity of over 30 % could be ascertained  (see for example  Bright Horizon (2010).  Enhanced Employee Health, Well-Being, and Engagement through Dependent Care Supports).

With respect to a systematic approach to motivate employees and other stakeholders to contribute their resources for a firm’s value creation, it is important to keep in mind that stakeholders are ends and not means. This was emphasized by an interviewee as follows: “Employees as stakeholders play an integral role because if you treat employees as interchangeable commodities that can just be switched in and out, you're never going to get the transfer of knowledge; and you're never going to achieve the real efficiency that you can with the development of knowledge and expertise” (see chapter 6 in Sachs, Rühli 2011). Last year the annual meeting of the Academy of Management was guided by the motto “Dare to care” to explore new approaches in the field of strategy and organization. Based on the above stated experiences and studies I suggest that one of the guiding principles for new narratives of leadership should be “Dare to care”.

Sybille Sachs