I've been reading in Chip Conley's Peak. His interpretation and adoption of Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one worth taking a look at.
At core, he is talking about incorporating "Peak" experiences into the work of any company. He quotes Maslow on peak experiences:
They are moments of ecstasy which cannot be bought, cannot be guaranteed, cannot even be sought ... but one can set up the conditions so that peak experiences are more likely, or one can perversely, set up the conditions so they are less likely.
Conley examines applying the theory first to employee satisfaction and then to customer satisfaction. As I do more reading in this area, I'm convinced that the two must go hand in hand.
I've recently heard leaders of companies in panic mode offer excuses for ignoring the employee experience -- "They just need to hang with us," "They've got too much of a sense of entitlement," "They know what we mean, why should we have to spell it out to them?"
The bit of reasoning that's missing here is the truth that an unhappy employee whose work world seems to offer no chance of peak moments is LESS likely to provide customers with an environment in which peak experiences can happen. And I can't imagine any company that wants to ignore customer satisfaction these days.
Companies need to consider DESIGN in creating the environments for both strong Customer Experiences and strong Employee Experiences. Optimal environments don't just happen.
