Is your community aligned with your organisation’s values?

Most industries have noticed a shift in customer behaviour recently – be it impatience at the supermarket checkout, the ease of leaving a bad review, or rising tensions during everyday interactions with frontline staff.  

A survey by SDA found 88% of respondents (retail and food workers) had experienced verbal abuse in the past 12 months. 25% had experienced physical violence, twice the rate reported in the 2023 survey and three times the rate reported in   2021.

This shift is also happening in sectors such as not-for-profit and education, with the likes of nurses, community health staff, teachers and principals expressing growing concerns about conduct towards workers. This has even led state governments to consider new laws and policies, such as landmark reforms in NSW and Victoria that allow school leaders to ban unruly parents from entering school grounds for extended time periods.  

In a number of elite schools, parents were asked to sign agreements acknowledging their support for certain school decisions, or risk de-enrolment of their child. This followed incidents where students had seriously breached the school's behavioural expectations, followed by some parents vigorously challenging the chosen disciplinary action.   

A growing disconnect between consumers and providers

"The customer is always right" appears to have drifted well beyond its original intent, influencing the way many consumers view their relationship with service providers and the expectations that accompany it.

This is not to say customers aren't entitled to feel frustrated or impatient. Consumers across the board have expressed resentment towards declining customer service coupled with steep price increases, leaving many with few avenues through which to voice their disappointment.

However, as this gap between customer expectation and service provision widens, one is left wondering: where will all of this lead? Should the onus be on service providers to pick up their game in an increasingly difficult environment, or do customers need to calmly and patiently accept new standards of service regardless of circumstance?

The answer, most likely, is both. Service providers need to understand the very real frustrations experienced by customers, and customers need to recognise the responsibilities that come with engaging with a service. 

Promoting values alignment between provider and customer

A business that promises affordable products and exceptional service is likely to create frustration if prices increase and service levels decline. Similarly, a school that promotes an environment built on respect and excellence that then disregards poor student behaviour is likely to suffer reputational damage. A local football club that preaches love of sport will quickly be derailed if internal politics take centre stage, while a not-for-profit that promises personalised attention but delivers a cookie-cutter experience will no doubt struggle to maintain trust.

This misalignment between values and actions is an important place to start. By reviewing internal decisions and how they are communicated externally, organisations can start to close the gap between intention and perception. 

Some of the steps an organisation could take include:

• Revisiting the organisation’s values and assessing whether internal behaviours and external actions reflect those values.  
• Considering how consistently the values are communicated to customers and if they are being understood.
• Being transparent when decisions or actions may appear inconsistent with organisational values, and explaining why.
• Establishing a clear response when organisational values and customer behaviour become misaligned.

Good governance is also essential, as it provides the framework through which these values are embedded into everyday practices and experienced by customers.

It is by no means an easy time to be a service provider, or necessarily a consumer, in today’s volatile environment. But by staying connected to their values and being intentional about how they operate and communicate, organisations can continue cultivating customer relationships built on respect and shared expectations.

If your organisation is struggling with values alignment or declining customer relationships or engagement, we can help. RSM’s experienced business advisers can support you through critical junctures in your business lifecycle, and assist in areas such as:

• Internal audit and culture reviews
• Pricing and communications strategies
• Workplace assurance
• Business process improvements
• Strategy development
• People and change services 

Our restructuring and recovery team can also provide advice where the situation has become more dire, and work with your internal stakeholders to determine the best way forward.  

To learn more, please contact RSM Not for Profit & Charity Team or your local RSM office.