#323 Alexander Kjerulf Chief Happiness Officer at Woohoo Inc. - Stop Putting the Customer First
In this episode, Michael interviews Alexander Kjerulf, a former tech entrepreneur who founded a company in 2003 focused on happiness at work and has delivered talks and workshops in over 50 countries for clients including Microsoft, IKEA, IBM, Hilton, and Shell.
They discuss research linking workplace happiness to higher productivity, creativity, retention, lower absenteeism, and stronger company results including profitability, growth, employer brand, and stock performance, alongside an ethical responsibility for leaders.
A central theme is improving customer experience by putting employees first and rejecting “the customer is always right,” which can betray staff and reward abusive customers; examples include a hotel manager enforcing rules, Southwest Airlines “we will miss you” letter, and buying a rude passenger a competitor ticket.
Practical practices include training and culture immersion (Zappos), celebrating great service stories, giving frontline autonomy (Nordstrom, Middelfart Sparekasse), measuring care over efficiency, hiring carefully, and using weekly feedback tools like Heartcount.
Connect with Alexander:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefhappinessofficer/
Books:
Everybody Matters - Bob Chapman
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8596/9780241975411
Hug your customers - Jack Mitchell
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8596/9781401398040
Hug your people - Jack Mitchell
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8596/9780553820089
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