It's simple, says T-Mobile's Jocelyn Reed: give employees a clear vision and then unleash them to do what they know how to do best. Listen, constantly and create a culture that supports and empowers diverse thinking focused on solving customer needs in the moment.
"Our #1 priority is keeping our customers happy," she says. "And our frontline employees know better than anyone, what customers need and want so it's important that we listen and give them the support to go above and beyond to meet customer needs."
T-Mobile approaches its culture and benefits the same way - by listening to employees. Since the Un-carrier movement began, the company has completely revamped its benefits. As a result, T-Mobile has some of the best benefits and career management for retail and customer care employees anywhere in the country.
Jocelyn talked at our Solutions at Work LIVE conference about how the Un-carrier supports the frontline and some of the unique employee benefits they offer, such as tuition assistance.
Among the takeaways:
Listen to pain points and fix them!
"We'd hear from our employees that our tuition benefit was awesome, but they couldn't afford to pay out of pocket and be reimbursed after the course ended. So, we fixed it! We now pay schools UP FRONT and we've seen a more than 54% increase in the number of employees using the benefit in less than a year."
Make it simple
"When we partnered with EdAssist, they approached us with the idea of direct bill, basically taking the employee out of the equation and removing that additional barrier. That was a big win for us."
Give employees access to resources
"Our employees can call free advisors and say, I don't know what to do. I don't even know how to pick a school; I don't know how to enroll. I don't know anything. Help me.' And that expert counselor can say, ˜You know what? Let's find the right school. What are your passions? What do you want to do?' And help them along the way. That really is what made a difference."
Frontline first
Reed says the Tuition Assistance benefit one that's featured in an emotional company video celebrating employees' success; is the embodiment of the company value that says the frontline is first...because customers are first."I'll keep saying it over and over again," Jocelyn told conference attendees, "our employees, specifically our frontline, are the key to our success; and our job is to do everything we can to support their growth both personally and professionally."
See more of what Jocelyn had to share:
