Davidson
College is ending its program of providing a laundry service for its students.
It was that students could drop off laundry and get it back cleaned
and folded.
It was a real service for students. The College says it is going to use the
approximate $400,000 it spent a year on academic-related things like scholarships,
internships, research, the entrepreneurship program and community-based
learning instead of the
laundry service.
I think the
College may be making an error which will result in lowered student satisfaction
with the College and could affect retention. It has been found that when consumers
are used to getting a service and it is discontinued that the company loses clientele.
People do not like to give up a perk or service they were used to getting. But
Davidson is making the error correctly in the way it is going about dropping
the service and there are lessons to see in its approach that may restrain some
of the negative reactions
Washing
your clothes is not a big thing really and most students just accept it as part
of the collegiate living away from home experience but it was a perk of going
to Davidson. It was a long standing service too going way back to 1925. And it
was a service that students really liked. So giving it up is not something the
students are going to be happy about especially since there will be no downward
adjustment in the approximately $58,000 a year cost of attendance. In fact if Davidson
is like most all schools, the COA will go up as services go down. That is the sort of adjustment that irks the
heck out of consumers, and students are consumers.
If there is
a negative backlash it will come from the students already in attendance
because they are the ones giving up the service. They are the ones who will
have to go from being served to having to do it themselves. It is correct that
as the College President Carol Quillen noted that students do not come to Davidson
for the free laundry but it was a perk of attendance; one which students
realized they were paying for. But students who are on the fence about staying
at Davidson with the COA could very well be pushed over the line and leave
feeling that the cost was not worth it.
Davidson
may be somewhat insulated against too much of a shock effect of the insult of
taking away a perk from students since it has such a strong student loyalty
rate as seen in its 91.5% six-year graduation rate with most students getting through
in four years (87.1%). There appears to
be a great deal of satisfaction in the school.
And the shock
might be lessened by the way the College is implementing the change. They are making
the change in a year; not quickly. The time will give the students a period of
adjustment to the change and allow the laundry workers time to find another
job; hopefully at Davidson if possible. The delay shows a concern for the feelings
of students and staff that will be appreciated.
Too many schools make changes
too quickly and only exacerbate the negative reactions to the change. We are
talking a full calendar year here and not an academic which would have meant
the laundry would close in the Fall of 2014.
The College
also made a very wise move in developing a linkage between the closing of the
laundry to shift funds and a student-backed initiative to keep the library open
all day. The College did not specifically say that the agreement to the 24 hour
opening change of the library was directly linked to the closing of the
laundry, they let the timing of the two announcements do that. As a result, the
students felt they had an immediate gain from the eventual loss of service so
the shock was mitigated a bit. The students felt there was a tradeoff that had
some value.
Also by
tagging the saved funds to specific programs that aided students directly as
opposed to a nebulous cost savings, the students were able to see offsetting
gains to the loss. More scholarships could be very helpful to students and
families. The internships were something students had wanted so that was an
additional gain for the College’s consumers. A new entrepreneurship program may
or may not be a plus for current students who have already chosen majors but
for incoming students this could be an added attraction. Moreover, the College
is putting in new washers and dryers which will be free for students to use. If
it had made the students pay for the machines, there would have been a strong
backlash. And it is worth noting that the College has been as forthcoming as it
could on the change, its why’s and its direct benefits to its customers.
So though Davidson
has taken away a much appreciated service it has made a mistake in the best
way.
It has given
sits customers plenty of time to prep[are for the changes. It gave the students
something they wanted (library hours) in a “trade” for the free laundry service
while keeping doing one’s laundry free. It specified how it was going to use
the recouped funds for programs that would be a direct benefit to students. And
it has given the displaced workers plenty of time to get new jobs. All in all, President
Quillen and her team are making a negative change happen in the best way
possible and we can all learn from that.
Make change
slowly when it comes to taking service(s) away from students.
- Give the consumer plenty of time to adjust to the change.
- Be transparent in the reasons for the change.
- Be certain to tie the loss in service to how it will provide new services for students.
- If at all possible, provide another service for the one taken away so as to mitigate the damage.
- Show concern and real consideration for those affected by the loss in service and changes in work situations.
- And hope for the best.
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