Customer first — it’s a phrase that’s been around forever but more often than not forgotten by decision makers and it ends up as nothing more than fuel for the funeral pyre of failed organizations.
Remember these: Citizen First, an initiative of the provincial government to guide its decision making? Or, Patient First when Tony Dagnone was asked to offer some insights that would improve our health care system? Noble ideas lost.
Putting the customer first is the secret to success any endeavor. Giving primacy to employees or shareholders is a ticket to Problemville.
This notion raises interesting questions in the latest dispute between teachers and whoever it is they are negotiating with. Just who is the education system’s customer?
It is the student? The parents? Is it the government? The easiest answer is: the customer buys your output.
Students are the product – they come in one end of the system, teachers add value and then they’re dispatched to the world to be hired by employers. The customer is a voice unheard in this dispute that is speeding to Problemville.
