𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝟒 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟎

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 .

No matter how detailed your standards are, 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞
𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. In customer experience, a long wait time or
confusing process outweighs any company’s claim of “best in class.”
Inside the workplace, the same principle applies. 𝐈𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥
𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 , 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 , 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 , 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟
𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 , 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝 .

What makes this tricky is that 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 . People
constantly compare their experience to what they see in competitors,
peers, or even friends’ workplaces. A 2022 Qualtrics study found that
𝟔𝟒 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 . What
counted as “good enough” three years ago no longer meets the
standard today.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬
𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 “𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 ” 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞. Their definition may be different
from yours, and that’s the one that matters.

𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 . If people see better experiences
elsewhere, assume your bar just went up.

𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐩 . When people give feedback, show them what
changed or explain why it didn’t.

Think about technology. A company may claim its systems meet
business needs, but 𝐢𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬
𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 , 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟
𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 . Ignoring that shift doesn’t protect
culture, it erodes it.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 , 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞
𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 . When you recognize that, you can adapt before
frustration turns into turnover.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 ’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 ’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 “𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 ” 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲
𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 ?