Your Customer [Experience] Is the Star P. 30
We Cover Five Topics That Revolve Around Customer Experience
P. 10
Can Robots Do It Better?
P. 18
The Value of Diversity and Inclusion
P. 56
IoT Devices and Security
SPRING 2019
No business can survive without customers. 2
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
No business can survive without customers. And the old saying “It’s more expensive to find a customer than to keep one” is truer now more than ever. Yet many organizations fail to invest in understanding what makes their customers want to remain customers. Because many companies rely on technology to enable large parts of their business, speed of competition has increased, and consumers have choices of where to spend their money. Chris Reinking
The feature section of this issue of The Jabian Journal aims to get at the heart of groundbreaking customer experience best practices and offers ideas for companies looking to tap into the power of customer loyalty. The authors explain how to build bridges between business units with the customer as the common focus and what really matters when it comes to the voice of the customer. We also look at security from two different perspectives. In “IoT Devices and Security,” the author explains how to protect yourself from the growing security threats of connected
Brian Betkowski
devices when bad actors hack into them. And in “The Cost of Uncertainty,” the fourth in a nine-part series exploring the Jabian Engagement Framework, the authors explain how security is essential to employee engagement. In our feature interview, Lars Minns of Mercedes-Benz talks about bringing the company to Atlanta and the challenges of hiring so many new people into an iconic company culture. He also shares some insight on how focusing on increasing employee value is driving the future of employee engagement. In The Final Word, Mick Larkins of Hi-Rez Studios gives
Nigel Zelcer
us a glimpse into the high-tech world of today’s leading video games and how his company is pioneering the future of eSports. From customer experience to security, to GDRP and robots, this issue of The Jabian Journal covers a lot of ground. As we celebrate opening our fourth office this year, located in Chicago, we look back at the ground we’ve been able to cover. We’re grateful for the clients who put their trust in us to help them address their most complex challenges—and that is an experience we’ll never take for granted. We hope you enjoy this issue of The Jabian Journal, and we welcome your feedback.
Thanks, Chris, Brian, and Nigel—The Jabian Founding Partners
S P R I N G 2 019
3
CONTENTS
3 Welcome
8 Contributors
28 Jabian Conversations Lars Minns Head of HR, U.S., Mexico, and Canada
68 The Final Word Mick Larkins Technical Director Hi-Rez Studios
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5/5
C U S T O M E R E X PE RIE N C E F E AT U RE S E C T I O N
P. 4 8
P. 46
P. 42
Managing the Paradox
P. 38
P. 30
Are You My Customer?
Targeting Customer Experience for Unprecedented Growth
Five CX Lessons from the Five Stripes
Creating Products with Customers in Mind
Your Customer [Experience] Is the Star
F E AT U R E S E C T I O N
BY R O B E R T A M B E R G , A M B E R B A I R D , C L AY A . H O L M E S , V I C T O R I A I N M A N , M I C H A E L O J O, P H. D . , LY D I A S LO T T E N , A N D M AT T S Y R E T T
30
What does every company have in common? Customers. What every company doesn’t have in common is a focus on customer experience. Research tells us very clearly that companies that design their products and services with the customer at the heart of the process are more successful than those that do not. In this section, we explore a variety of customer experience best practices and provide recommendations on how to turn your organization into a customer-focused profit center.
S P R I N G 2 019
5
CONTENTS
22
START HERE
10 Can Robots Do It Better? By Lauren Abraham Mahoney and Lubna Memon Four keys to launching a successful robotic process automation program—from those who have been there.
14 Beyond GDPR By Adam C. Johnson Four steps for business leaders to begin data privacy compliance.
30
18 The Value of Diversity and Inclusion By Ariel Lomax, Michael Ojo, Ph.D., Laura Rodney, and Cordia Simon The true value of Diversity and Inclusion initiatives comes from greater employee engagement and a better chance for financial success.
22
46
56
Lost in the Maze of IT Trends?
Targeting Customer Experience for Unprecedented Growth
IoT Devices and Security
By Jacob Horr and Stefan Sokerov The path to innovation starts with an IT strategy.
30 Creating Products with Customers in Mind By Victoria Inman and Lydia Slotten The most effective product teams partner with customer experience professionals to ensure that the voice of the customer is integrated in each stage of the process.
38 Are You My Customer? By Amber Baird and Clay A. Holmes The value of using segmentation and personas to identify your true customers and stand out in the marketplace.
By Robert Amberg We all know customer experience is important, but is it really the determining factor for customer retention?
48 Five CX Lessons from the Five Stripes By Matt Syrett and Clay A. Holmes How did a soccer club’s focus on customer experience help them become national champions?
By Yosef Beck, CISSP How can you protect yourself from bad actors using web-connected Internet of Things devices against you?
60 The Cost of Uncertainty By Fred Jewell and Tracy Reznik In this fourth piece in a nine-part series, we look at the next section of the Jabian Engagement Framework: how security is essential to employee engagement.
64 Defining Strategy By Don Turner Gain a broader vision of business strategy to avoid seeing only a portion of the story.
42 Managing the Paradox By Michael Ojo, Ph.D. How do business leaders balance privacy concerns with the need for consumer data to provide a personalized customer experience?
S P R I N G 2 019
7
CONTRIBUTORS
Robert Amberg
Clay A. Holmes
Fred Jewell
robert.amberg@jabian.com
clay.holmes@jabian.com
fred.jewell@jabian.com
Robert is the chief
Clay is a senior manager
Fred is a senior strategic
marketing officer at
at Jabian experienced in
advisor at Jabian. He
Jabian, with experience
improving organizations’
spends most of his time
running comprehensive
financial margins. He
consulting with his clients
marketing and communications
is passionate about helping clients
on strategy, transformation, culture,
programs across multiple industries.
overcome their most difficult challenges
engagement, communication, change
He has deep expertise helping clients
no matter their form. From day-to-day
management, and organization design.
achieve success in branding, social
operational issues to strategic decision-
Fred is also an executive and team
media, and digital communications.
making, he understands that all change
coach, speaker, and author of the book
has an impact and interconnectivity
We Can’t Do It Alone: Building Influence
Amber Baird
greater than the change itself. With
with Simple Strategies.
amber.baird@jabian.com
this in mind, he helps organizations
Amber is a senior manager
maximize and realize net new
Adam C. Johnson
at Jabian focused on
improvement from their changes.
adam.johnson@jabian.com Adam is a manager at Jabian
understanding and tailoring the customer experience to the entire customer
who specializes in business
Jacob Horr jacob.horr@jabian.com
strategy development and implementation. He
spectrum. She helps clients keep
Jacob is a senior manager
each customer group in mind during
at Jabian with extensive
has broad experience helping retail
solutioning and development,
experience in business
and pharmaceutical clients address
ensuring that the needs of diverse
strategy, IT strategy,
business- and technology-related
customer groups are not left out.
governance, and change management.
opportunities.
He has a passion for articulating Yosef Beck, CISSP
the big picture, communicating
Ariel Lomax
yosef.beck@jabian.com
complex messages through pictures,
ariel.lomax@jabian.com
Yosef, a senior manager
and connecting the dots within
Ariel is a manager at Jabian
at Jabian, is a strategic
organizations to drive change and
with extensive experience
advisor, consultant, and
efficiency. He also leads Jabian’s
in change management.
speaker on cyber, business,
IT Strategy and Planning Offering,
Her work is primarily
and IT security. Yosef is passionate
which focuses on the assessment of
focused on understanding what is
about helping companies understand,
IT organizations’ maturity and future
changing and why, in order to help
prepare, and respond to cyber and
state strategy.
manage and support change adoption— in short, helping clients effectively get
data security events. He has written extensively on cybersecurity and the
Victoria Inman
Internet of Things (IoT) with expertise
victoria.inman@jabian.com
from the current state to the future state.
in strategy, planning, and business and
Victoria is a senior
Lauren Abraham Mahoney
systems analysis.
manager at Jabian
lauren.mahoney@jabian.com
experienced in end-to-end
Lauren is a director and the
product management,
process lead at Jabian with
and has helped her clients define their product strategy, design
extensive experience in creating and implementing
product organization roles, and
strategic business solutions across
launch consumer product to market.
a variety of industries. Her work is
Her industry experience spans
primarily focused on taking a process
Automotive, Hospitality, FinTech,
approach to operational improvements,
Lottery, and Non-Profit.
bridging business and IT, and driving sustainable change—in other words, making things better, making sure work gets done, and making change stick.
8
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Lubna Memon
Laura Rodney
Stefan Sokerov
lubna.memon@jabian.com
laura.rodney@jabian.com
stefan.sokerov@jabian.com
Lubna is a senior
Laura is a manager at
Stefan is a manager at
manager at Jabian who
Jabian with extensive
Jabian with considerable
is passionate about
experience helping
experience in technology
leading and driving
organizations navigate
strategy and execution. He
strategic results. She helps clients
major change by engaging, training,
is passionate about driving innovation
achieve efficiency and growth
and communicating with their
as fuel for business growth and
by leveraging her experience
employees. She uses her passion and
leveraging his expertise to bring the
in business strategy, business
commitment to change management,
right technology solutions for the best
process improvement, business
along with significant experience
business outcomes.
transformation, program manage-
enabling and supporting clients,
ment, and change management.
to create solutions that are both
Matt Syrett
practical and forward-thinking.
matt.syrett@jabian.com
Michael Ojo, Ph.D.
In her career, Laura has advised
Matt is a manager at Jabian
michael.ojo@jabian.com
clients in a wide array of industries,
with expertise in business
Michael is a manager
including: Government (city/state and
analysis and IT design
at Jabian who holds a
federal), Hospitality, Healthcare, and
Ph.D. in Leadership for
Financial Services.
the Advancement of
and delivery. He has broad experience in product management and process improvement and is
Learning and Service from Cardinal
Cordia Simon
passionate about optimizing customer
Stritch University and MBA and
cordia.simon@jabian.com
experience through strategic process
computer engineering degrees from
Cordia is a consultant
Missouri S&T. He has a wide range
at Jabian with a passion
of industry experiences via his work
for bridging the
in finance transformation solutions
communication gap
and technology design.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
and customer experience strategy.
between business and technology end
Michael is passionate about the
users. Her expertise includes serving
Don Turner
evolution and influence of technology
in various capacities as a deployment
don@turnerworld.com
on customer experiences.
and test practitioner, and large-scale
Don is a nationally known
IT systems implementations.
strategy expert. Author of
Tracy Reznik tracy.reznik@jabian.com Tracy is a director at
the VOGIÂŽ methodology, Lydia Slotten lydia.slotten@jabian.com
he has successfully developed strategy for over a hundred
Jabian with extensive
Lydia is a senior
organizations—launching start-ups,
experience in progressive
manager at Jabian who
directing IPOs, turning around troubled
people strategies,
is passionate about
companies, and providing innovative
improving day-to-day
growth. Adding credibility to his
including change management, leadership development, and
customer and employee experiences.
strategic roles, he has been a chief
organizational development at the
As a consultant, she loves helping her
executive officer in six companies.
organizational, team, and individual
clients strategically plan and enhance
levels. She is passionate about
multichannel experience improvement
coaching and mentoring and bringing
initiatives. She is also active in the
out the best in people.
Atlanta nonprofit and arts community, providing pro bono consulting with her colleagues to local causes through Jabian Cares, and serving as Chair of the TAG CRM & CX society board.
S P R I N G 2 019
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By Lauren Abraham Mahoney and Lubna Memon
10
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Can Robots Do It Better? Four keys to launching a successful robotic process automation program—from those who have been there.
Where Are Organizations on Their Journey?
2 7. 6 %
8.6%
Early planning stages
Reviewing results of pilot programs(s)
obotic process automation (RPA) has been a hot topic for companies looking to reduce costs and gain a competitive advantage. As RPA continues to gain mainstream popularity, many companies still don’t know how or where to get started. Last year, APQC conducted a study 1 and found that slightly more than 50 percent of survey participants had started an RPA program. As consultants—always eager to solve strategic problems—we wanted to dive deeper and look at
18 . 9 %
Not started yet but intend to
24 . 4 %
Piloting a program
20.5%
Evaluating or executing additional programs
barriers to getting started. What differentiated those organizations that had been successful with RPA
Source: A PQC survey “Exploring Process Automation,” 2017.
programs already? We sat down with senior business and technology leaders from vari-
For those who are interested in
crosses organizational teams and
ous Atlanta-based organizations to
RPA for your organization, we sum-
involves multiple stakeholders. It will
discuss their RPA journey. We shared
marized our key takeaways into four
be important to define and appeal to a
our experiences with RPA and asked
categories that can help organizations
well-understood pain point or value-
thought-provoking questions to facili-
get off the starting block to run a
driver with the business case.
tate discussion and foster information
successful RPA program.
sharing with those around the table. As the APCQ survey depicts, many of the organizations we convened had
Although cost savings is a leading rationale behind the interest in RPA, it isn’t the only benefit. The ability
A well-rounded business case
yet to start their RPA journey. In this
to prove cost savings from an RPA program can be challenging, especially
forum, we gained a deeper under-
The business case for RPA must
at first, when savings may be only
standing of why many hadn’t been
appeal to and ultimately gain the
incremental until bots (short for
able to start. We also learned about the
buy-in of the business, technology,
robots) are running at scale. Every
achievements and challenges from
and financial decision-makers. This
business case must make a case for
those that had successfully imple-
is particularly important because
return on investment, but it doesn’t
mented RPA solutions.
a successful RPA implementation
have to be limited to cost savings. S P R I N G 2 019
11
Consider incorporating the follow-
achieve value, think outside the cost-
way to raise the capabilities across the
ing benefits we heard in our discussion
reduction box to build a well-rounded
area where it will be applied.
of the value RPA achieves in different
business case.
companies and use cases. •••
Compliance and consistency: Bots remove human error and always follow the rules as defined. This yields high value, especially in areas such as finance, where
•••
hiccups or unanticipated business Building a case for how RPA will drive
scenarios requiring human interven-
value is foundational. Having an
tion or new rules. Having a senior advocate for the program will help maintain a consis-
Data quality and accuracy: RPA can
to see the return on investment. The
tent level of attention and support for
ensure a single record of truth and
up-front work to develop requirements
delivering the program as required—
can accurately copy data from one
and rules and build the bots will be
so it can be implemented at scale and
source to feed another.
iterative. Initial efficiency gains will
realize expected value.
R isk avoidance/reduction: virtually error-proof way, RPA can reduce or eliminate risk in certain areas, making RPA a high-value investment.
be incremental. Because RPA involves a partnership between IT and the business, top-down support is critical to a priority and retains attention at the working team level. Having leadership oversight and buy-in drives top-down program
can monitor key words across
delivery, establishes ownership
various channels of customer
and supports motivation, reduces
feedback. Analyzing this data can
resistance to change, and facilitates a
drive changes needed to address
willingness to adapt to change. This
issues and improve the customer
support greatly increases the prob-
experience.
ability of program success.
It is also an investment that will create value for an organization in strategic ways. For example, with bots performing manual tasks, employees will have more time for “heads up” activities with a positive impact on customer experience and strategic benefit toward business goals. RPA can raise skill levels and provide human workers more time for high-value activities such as serving the customer, tackling unexpected problems and opportunities, and developing new capabilities for your organization. As you build your qualitative and quantitative case for how RPA will THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Optimized, steady-state use case
ensure that implementation remains
Customer Engagement: Bots
RPA is an investment in efficiency.
12
road—unexpected system integration
important because it may take time
Automating manual efforts in a
•••
stories about the bumps along the Leadership buy-in and support
advocate at a senior level can also be
compliance is mandated. •••
In our roundtable discussions, several organizations shared
Anchor on key pain points to communicate a burning platform that will resonate with leadership and gain their buy-in. Tell the story with different layers to appeal to the “what’s in it for me” of your audience. For example, the CFO will consider the effect on the bottom line, while your operations leadership will focus on improvements to the process itself and changes to how the organization
“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” – Bill Gates
Bill Gates’ quote is paramount when selecting the use case for RPA. You need a strong process and good data for RPA to work well. The exceptions must be known and well defined. These elements will be critical to developing the requirements and rules to operate the bots. Think about these questions to evaluate whether your use case is a good one for RPA. •••
Has the process been optimized?
operates. Beyond the financial and
RPA will provide incremental
operational significance, connect to
gains on an already optimized
leadership at the level of bringing value
process. This capitalizes on the
to employees, their job satisfaction,
work already done and applies
and making an investment in people.
technology as a tool to realize
Think about RPA as a capability—and a
increased value.
AT T HE E ND OF T HE D AY, T HE B E S T P IE C E OF A D V IC E W E H AV E •••
•••
Is the process in steady state? An
Cross-functional RPA teams will
evolving process means develop-
also likely extend to include various
ment changes will be required to
business stakeholders, lines of busi-
operate the robots in the revised
ness, or regions. Like other systems,
process. If you select a use case that
developing RPA will include defining
is already in steady state, you’ll
and documenting processes, require-
limit rework and costly develop-
ments, and rules. Various stakeholders
ment changes.
will likely be engaged to represent the
Does the process have a set process owner? A process without ownership will yield an RPA effort without ownership. Additionally, the process owner will know where exceptions should be programmed and the points at which human intervention are required. This is a critical role both at setup/implementation and for ongoing RPA functionality.
handoffs, data inputs, downstream
functional involvement Successful RPA programs are a great example of business and technology teams working together. Depending on your organization’s structure, different functional teams can take ownership of the RPA program: the business side, the technology side, or a strategic transformation or innovation team. Our view: Regardless of who owns the RPA program, it will require business sponsorship and collaboration across teams to succeed in the long run. Business sponsorship ensures that the bots are integrated as a tool within the process. As the needs of the process change or systems are updated, the business owners will be aware of potential impacts to the bots. Business involvement ensures that changes are identified and implemented to keep the bots functioning and optimized.
UP - F R ON T OB S TA C L E S I S T O JU S T GE T S TA R T E D!
data requirements, and reporting that could be involved in the RPA scenario. Human resources is a stakeholder not to be overlooked. In many organizations, bots must be onboarded through the same process as a new hire to obtain credentials so they have access to data across systems. RPA can serve as a bridge for multiple stakeholders by helping to establish and maintain process standardization.
Business sponsorship with cross-
A B OU T O V E R C OMING
Find the common driver to bolster support from various stakeholders and keep them engaged. Connect on common pain points and opportunities to drive value in a way that integrates them throughout the RPA journey. Thinking of RPA as a journey is significant. At scale, bots working across the organization will provide greater value than a single application, especially given the required start-up investment. A center of excellence (COE) drives long-term success as the RPA program matures. A COE fosters ongoing cross-functional support and participation, and can break down barriers of implementation across departmental lines. It also provides needed governance. Establish and maintain best practices and standards as RPA gains
This advice—based on multiple shared experiences—can get you closer to realizing operational and strategic value with RPA. Can robots do it better? Yes, if you build your program with a well-defined value case, support from leadership, an appropriate use case, and engaged business sponsors. RPA is one stage along the automation journey. As your organization and priorities evolve, you may pursue opportunities in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Define success to align and manage stakeholder expectations, measure the incremental efficiency gains, and keep going to realize value at scale. Lauren Abraham Mahoney lauren.mahoney@jabian.com Lubna Memon lubna.memon@jabian.com
momentum and is applied to new areas across the organization. This, in part, is what drives the increased value that RPA at scale can achieve.
Source: 1 A PQC survey “Exploring Process Automation,” 2017 S P R I N G 2 019
13
Beyond GDPR Four steps for business leaders to begin data privacy compliance.
By Adam C. Johnson
n May 2018, the European Union released an expansive and comprehensive data privacy law
seemingly left in a bind. They face a
known as the General Data Protection
quandary about what data is subject
Regulation, or GDPR.
to which regulation and when.
Since then, the state of California
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THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Business leaders who operate multinational corporations are
U.S. laws such as the Health
passed a substantively different
Insurance Portability and
privacy act, leaving many business
Accountability Act, known as HIPAA,
leaders confused about conflicting
and the Children’s Online Privacy
regulations, guessing about extrater-
Protection Act, or COPPA, when
ritorial jurisdictions, and uncertain
layered onto state- or country-specific
about whether the United States will
regulations, create a sea of compli-
pass a federal data privacy law that
ance issues to navigate and a jungle
may obviate them all.
of incompatible requirements to
untangle, further challenging
Further, data privacy is a funda-
business leaders can be assured that
business leaders. For such reasons,
mental right that is proliferating.
there are some similarities between
data privacy is seldom a pleasant
Through the GDPR and the California
them that can serve as a starting point
conversation topic.
Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA),
for compliance.
So why should companies
both the EU and the state of California
dedicate precious time, personnel,
assert that consumers have the right
and resources toward data privacy
to data privacy—the ability to control
compliance?
their data with certain reasonable
What data does the company collect?
exceptions. The right to data privacy
Business leaders must know what
is indelible.
data their company collects and from
Beside the legal obligations, it’s in the financial and reputational interests of companies to evaluate and address
GDPR and CCPA are two of the
whom they’re collecting it. The type
privacy concerns today rather than
newest laws that affect many U.S.-
and origin of data, in turn, largely
deal with the blowback of incompli-
based companies. And although the
determines data requirements and is a
ance tomorrow.
laws are different in scope and intent,
best starting point for compliance. S P R I N G 2 019
15
(Fig. 1) DAT A T YP E C OM PA R I S O N GDPR
C C PA
Reference:
Data Type:
Reference:
Data Type:
Article 4, (1)
Identification number
1798.140, A
Personal identifier
Article 4, (1)
Any data relating to an identified or identifiable natural person
1798.140, B
Personal information
—
—
1798.140, C
Protected classifications
—
—
1798.140, D
Commercial information
Article 4, (14)
Biometric data
1798.140, E
Biometric information
Article 4, (1)
Online identifiers of identity
1798.140, F
Internet data
Article 4, (1)
Location data
1798.140, G
Geolocation data
—
—
1798.140, H
Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information
—
—
1798.140, I
Professional identifier
—
—
1798.140, J
Educational information
—
—
1798.140, K
Personal preference information (real or inferred)
Article 4, (13)
Genetic data
—
—
Article 4, (15)
Data concerning health
—
—
Article 10
Criminal record data
—
—
Article 9, (1) (2)
Race, political opinion, religion, etc.
—
—
Data type comparison table provides a high-level view of similar data types by regulation. Always consult suitably qualified legal counsel regarding any specific questions on regulations or legal matter.
Data Privacy Initial Focus Areas
(Fig. 2) R I G HT S COM PA R I S ON GDPR R I G HT S
C C PA R I G H T S
R I G H T S S U M M AR Y
Right to Be Informed
Right to Know
Ch 3, Art 12, 13 & 14
1798.100
Rights for informing consumers about data processing and transparency
Right to Access
Right to Port
Right to Access
Ch 3, Art 15
Ch 3, Art 20
1798.115
Rights allowing consumers to view and download their data Right allowing consumers to request erasure of their data
Right Erase
Right to Deletion
Ch 3, Art 17
1798.105
Right to Restrict
Right to Say No to Sale of Personal Info
(67); Ch 3, Art 4(3) & Art 23
Through opting out
Rights allowing consumers to opt out or restrict the use of their data
1798.120
Explicit Consent
Opt Out
Opt In
Ch 3, Art 7
Say no to sale of personal info
For consumers under age 16
1798.120
1798.120 (c) & (d)
Right to Equal Service & Price
—
1798.125
Right to Rectify Ch 3, Art 16
Rights Related to Automated Decision-making & Profiling
—
Rights allowing consumers to give and withdrawal consent
Right ensuring that consumers receive equal treatment of products, services, and price fairness Right allowing consumers to edit or correct their data
—
Right for consumers to know whether a company uses their data for automated decision-making and profiling
—
Right allowing consumers to object to the use of their data
Ch 3, Art 22
Right to Object Ch 3, Art 21
16
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Joint controllers, third parties, and
level of detail to disclose to consumers.
leadership should determine and
processors are all names for entities a
Too little information is uninformative;
codify which data it can associate with
company shares consumer data with
too much can confuse consumers.
specific consumers—and classify it as
or allows access to. As GDPR stipulates,
personally identifiable information
all parties that process consumer data
municating about data processing
(PII). Each regulation outlines types
must jointly determine and formally
practices with clear and plain
of data, standards, and caveats for PII,
record their responsibilities for data
language. Gone should be the days
but as a general rule, if a business can
compliance practices and make the
of legalese printed in 4-point type
associate data directly to a consumer,
agreements public, possibly in each
and packed into obscure or generic
that data may be subject to data
company’s terms of use agreement.
statements. Business leaders should
Of the data a company collects,
Being transparent means com-
privacy regulations.
also establish a regular cadence
[SE E F I G U R E 1 ]
with privacy teams to reevaluate whether updates to consumer-facing Does the company allow consumers
statements are required, so all
consumer data is to collect the least
control of their data?
policies remain consistent with
amount of data necessary to achieve
Providing consumers “rights” will
actual business practices.
an immediate and intended outcome.
likely be a new requirement for most
This “minimalization” strategy
companies, but one that business
equate to CCPA compliance. Because
may reduce exposure, storage
leaders ought to become increasingly
many companies are obligated to
requirements, and the cost of IT
familiar with. GDPR and CCPA both
comply with both, and because por-
infrastructure. It also forces business
outline rights that empower consum-
tions of each law seemingly conflict,
leaders to think intentionally about
ers with functionality to control the
business leaders are turning to trusted
data usage and solution design prior
use of their data.
legal and business advisors to navigate
One best practice for managing
to collecting it: We collect this data
Even though some of the specified
Finally, GDPR compliance doesn’t
data privacy challenges to take their first steps toward compliance.
from these consumers for that
rights aren’t consistent in name or
outcome. In short, it encourages
function, there are several similarities.
responsible data collection and use.
Companies, however, must balance
Adam C. Johnson
consumers’ rights to control their data
adam.johnson@jabian.com
with the intended user experience. Too much control could be onerous and How does the company store and
detract from their product experience.
process consumer data?
[SEE FIGURE 2]
Knowing the type and origin of data is only half the challenge. The other half is understanding where the company stores it and the implications of each
Is the company transparent about
data set for business operations. This
its practices?
is typically achieved by mapping data
Companies should strive to provide
by database down to the attribute level,
reasonable details about their data
ranking data elements by priority, and
processing practices, allowing
categorizing each with corresponding
consumers to make more informed
business outcomes.
decisions about their personal
When possible, business leaders
information. This is what GDPR calls
should seek to de-identify data
the “right to be informed” and CCPA
through pseudonymization to protect
labels as the “right to know.”
consumer data and reduce exposure
To fulfill this right, business and
in the event of a breach. Companies
legal teams must work together to
should also recognize that data stored
document the items outlined in the
in different countries may be subject to
previous steps, then determine what
data localization laws not specified in GDPR or CCPA. S P R I N G 2 019
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The Value of Diversity and Inclusion By Ariel Lomax, Michael Ojo, Ph.D., Laura Rodney, and Cordia Simon
The true value of Diversity and Inclusion initiatives comes from greater employee engagement and a better chance for financial success.
Diversity includes the interrelated
and success. Diversity serves as
dimensions of a person in terms of
a means to achieve a desired
implementing strategic diversity
age, race, ethnicity, religion, ability,
outcome that has been stamped with
initiatives should be palatable to key
nationality, citizenship, socioeco-
credibility and an understanding
decision-makers who have the power
nomic status, and gender. What is
that a variety of experiences contrib-
to mobilize teams and fund projects.
often overlooked when discussing
uted to its success. Its true value
diversity is diversity of thought and
comes from diversity initiatives and
bring value to your organization. Nor
lived experience.
mechanisms that lead to greater
does simply adding a tagline to your
employee engagement and a better
organization’s mission statement.
chance for financial success.
Diversity takes work and buy-in from
Diversity is becoming more and more valued in the world and in the workplace. Diversity has the power
So, what is the cost associated with
to make your organization more
implementing diversity initiatives?
effective, more successful, and more
What is the return on investment?
profitable. It gives your company
With that understanding,
Diversity does not “automagically”
everyone involved and requires a change in the perceptions around it. In the past, many have viewed
First, the investment needed is
diversity strategies simply as a means
access to a greater range of talent and
not a straightforward cost. Given that
of plugging a hole in a wall rather than
can provide insight into the motivation
businesses commonly implement
the basis for designing a castle.
of your customer or client base.
diversity initiatives, it’s likely easier to
Talking about diversity in the
When considering the purpose
estimate the associated costs than to
of diversity and its ability to drive
workplace is important because it
calculate their possible return. These
competitive advantage, one must view
can create a more enjoyable and inclu-
initiatives are often designed to open
it through the lens of strategy and
sive work environment. Discussions
pipelines for underrepresented talent
equity. Diversity, in and of itself, is not
about diversity in the workplace are
groups, create programs to expand
inherently purposeful or profitable if it
often regarded as checking a box
the professional capacity of that same
is not tied to the company’s vision for
in order to market publicly that an
group, or develop partnerships in
the future and coupled with some form
organization has varying backgrounds
the community.
of a “level playing field” of sorts.
and ethnicities. We should shift
Second, while the gains and direct
Merely having a diverse workforce
this discussion to focus instead on
returns from diversity initiatives
without a clearly defined strategy and
inclusivity and belonging.
can be difficult if not impossible to
“equal opportunity” proves only that
measure on a balance sheet, there’s
an organization can hire a diverse
not carry a value the way one would
little doubt that the rising tide of
group of people.
assess value in natural resources,
diversity will lift all boats. Researchers
precious stones, or hard currency.
have evidence that companies with
recognized authority on inclusive
In many ways, diversity is another
diverse senior leadership teams tend to
leadership, champions the following
thoroughfare between opportunity
be more financially successful.
concerning inclusive teams:
Diversity, in and of itself, does
Nika White Consulting, a
S P R I N G 2 019
19
“Winning teams are built through
Out of the 17 companies that
The peer-to-peer ridesharing company
an equitable approach that gives
were studied, those with the highest
faced massive backlash from the public
people what they need, not by treating
percentage of cultural and ethnic
during 2017 because of insensitive
everyone equally.”1
diversity held the top positions
viewpoints and comments from
concerning overall financial
individuals at the highest levels of
clear strategy, along with diversity
performance. Companies that tend
the company.
and inclusion (D&I), into a company’s
to succeed at leveraging D&I to
strategic initiatives not only proves
differentiate themselves in the market
was known as a major proponent
highly beneficial to the bottom line,
have key D&I initiatives that align with
of diversity across all facets of D&I,
but benefits may also include better
their overall business and financial
including, but not limited to, gender,
employee satisfaction and talent
growth strategies.
race, sexual orientation, ability, etc.
Intentionally incorporating a
acquisition, and prominence in the
Aligning D&I initiatives to financial
Prior to the scandal in 2017, Uber
Uber’s mistake was its overall lack of
and growth strategies promotes
strategy and intentionality toward D&I
a sense of ownership and buy-in from
efforts. The scandal resulted in Uber
conducted by McKinsey & Company
various levels within the organization.
losing profit share to Lyft, its chief
states that more diverse companies
Employees get a clear and tangible
competitor, and a sordid reputation in
are better able to attract top talent;
path forward for D&I initiatives and
the public eye.
improve customer orientation,
have a vested interest in how these
employee satisfaction, and decision-
initiatives correlate to the company’s
equity are a few foundational pillars
making; and secure their licenses to
overall growth and performance.
recommended for a successful D&I
operate. Statistics have consistently
Including D&I initiatives in
implementation. Studies show that
company’s respective market. A study of 17 leading companies
Strategy, intentionality, and
illustrated a correlation between a
a company’s various growth
a company that intentionally aligns
company’s strategic implementation
strategies does not automatically
its vision of D&I to its strategic goals,
of D&I and an increase in profit and
equate to financial and performance
while creating an equitable space for
market differentiation.
success. Take Uber, for instance.
employees, is more likely to see an
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THE JABIAN JOURNAL
R E S E A R C H E R S H AV E E VIDENCE THAT COMPANIE S WITH DIVERSE SENIOR LE ADERSHIP TE AMS TEND TO BE M O R E F I N A N C I A L LY SUCCE S SFUL . 5 . E D U C A T E Y O U R L E A D E R S . Make sure
uptick in financial performance and
a memo penned by one of its employees
competitive advantage.
regarding his personal thoughts
they understand the current state
around reasons for gender bias in the
of the organization, what needs
that prove the downside of a hap-
workplace. As recently as November
to change, and why. Then help
hazard D&I implementation and the
2018, thousands of Google staffers
them understand what diversity
resulting effect on a company’s market
participated in a global walkout
is and what it isn’t. Get buy-in on
share and public image.
targeted toward bringing awareness
your goals and plan. Then pilot an
to Google’s issues concerning
initiative with them.
There are also real-world examples
Take technology companies for example. The technology sector has
sexual misconduct against women
a long history of gender and racial
in the workplace.
diversity issues, which can be directly
The push toward transparency and
6 . W O R K Y O U R P L A N . Take small, concrete steps toward your goals.
correlated to several of the scandals
exposure of inappropriate behaviors
coming out of this industry. Oftentimes
among some of the most recognized
technology companies have had to pour
brands in the world illustrates an
conversations. Elicit feedback.
millions of dollars into class action
increased awareness of the need for
Track and measure the success of
lawsuits stemming from discrimina-
more targeted D&I efforts. However,
your initiatives both qualitatively
tory actions on the part of employee
implementation of said efforts is often
and quantitatively.
misbehavior. In recent years, Facebook,
easier said than done.
Google, and, as mentioned, Uber, have
While many organizations
7. L I S T E N , R E F L E C T , A N D L E A R N . Have
With the right level of commitment,
been involved in several high-profile
understand why to champion diversity
your efforts to build a diverse, inclusive
scandals that resulted in sullied
and inclusion, very few have been
culture will create an environment
public images.
able to figure out how to make D&I
where all employees feel more valued.
Due to an outcry for diversity from
tangible in the workplace. Bringing
several minority groups working in the
diversity and inclusion to life in an
Ariel Lomax
technology sector, 2014 marked a shift
organization requires an investment
ariel.lomax@jabian.com
in approach to inclusion and diversity
in cultural transformation. To build
among major tech companies. Starting
a more diverse, inclusive culture in
Michael Ojo, Ph.D.
in 2014, major tech giants such as
your organization:
michael.ojo@jabian.com
1. A S S E S S A N D U N D E R S T A N D Y O U R C U R R E N T
Laura Rodney
Apple, Facebook, and Google began releasing annual diversity reports to provide transparency into their efforts
C U L T U R E . Understand not only the
regarding D&I. Google’s 2018 Diversity
demographics of your organization,
Report illustrated that the percentage
but how it behaves. Discuss how
Cordia Simon
of women employees grew by 0.3
conflict is managed, how differ-
cordia.simon@jabian.com
percent (30.6 percent to 30.9 percent)
ences are recognized, and your
and black and Hispanic employees
established norms.
laura.rodney@jabian.com
grew by 0.6 percent (1.9 percent to 2.5 percent) and 0.7 percent (2.9 percent to
2 . C O M M I T T O C H A N G E . Understand what
3.6 percent), respectively, over the past
needs to change and why. Agree
four years.2 However well intentioned,
about what you will act on.
these reports have served as proof that many tech companies are not making
3 . S E T S O M E G O A L S . Define what your
Sources: 1 “Equal or Equitable: Mastering Equity for Successful Organizations,” Nika White Consulting, accessed October 18, 2018, https://
much headway in their initiatives to
ideal culture looks like. Decide what
nikawhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/
become more diverse. The resulting
can work for your organization.
Nika_White_Consulting___Mastering_Equity_
effect: a flawed corporate culture that propagates problematic attitudes
4 . CR E AT E A P L A N A ND F OCU S ON BI T E - S I ZE D
in society. In 2017, Google faced
I N I T I A T I V E S . Prioritize. Pick a few
significant public backlash concerning
small initiatives to start out.
for_Successful_Organizations.pdf 2 “Google Diversity Annual Report 2018,” Google LLC, accessed November 20, 2018, https://diversity. google/annual-report/#!#footnote-1 S P R I N G 2 019
21
By Jacob Horr and Stefan Sokerov
Lost in the Maze of IT Trends? START HERE
The path to innovation starts with an IT strategy.
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THESE ARE JUST SOME RECENT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS:
AUTOMATION The linking of disparate systems and software in such a way that they become self-acting or self-regulating, such as robotic process automation (RPA) or ar tificial intelligence (AI)
ADVANCED ANALYTICS Combination and analysis of large data sets that are too large or complex for traditional data processing to reveal patterns, trends, and associations in order to make better decisions
BLOCKCHAIN Incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions, but virtually everything of value
CLOUD Hardware and software services from a provider on the internet, replacing in-house operations, no matter their size or applications
CYBERSECURITY / DATA PRIVACY The body of technologies, processes, and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs, and data from attack, damage, or unauthorized access
DEV / OPS
he pace of technological innovation is faster today than ever before. This is apparent when you compare today’s technology to the turn of the
Set of practices that emphasize the collaboration and communication between development, operations, and testing to enable continuous delivery
century, when barely 5 percent of the global population had an internet connection, when floppy disks were still very much alive, when social networking sites like Facebook were just getting their start, and when smartphones were years away from being in everyone’s hands.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Tr a n s f o r m a t i o n o f b u s in e s s a n d o r g a ni z a t i o n al activities, processes, competencies, and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of a mix of digital technologies
IT innovation today can take many forms. Recent trends range from increasing business insights in order to grow market share, to driving efficiency and cost savings through automation, to predicting customer needs and improving their
INTERNET OF THINGS The network of physical devices embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and c onne c tivit y, which enable s the s e thing s to connect, collect, and exchange data
experience, to transforming employee engagement and organizational interactions. While these trends provide new ways to create more effective and profitable organizations, they also create a risk of distraction from other priorities or wasted investments in unneeded or poorly
SCALING AGILE The scaling of Agile principles and practices to the enterprise, while continuing to deliver on the promises of the Agile development method
implemented initiatives.
S P R I N G 2 019
23
AN IT STRATEGY WILL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Can our strategy support current and future business needs?
Are we making the right technology investments, and do we measure the value created by our technology investments?
How do we provide a better customer experience to our internal and external customers?
Do we effectively and successfully plan, manage, and deliver IT solutions?
Is our technology environment properly managed, maintained, secured, and able to support the clients, and is it cost effective?
business value and assess the organization’s innovation ability through the creation of an IT strategy and roadmap. Not only will this strategy and roadmap help you answer these important questions, but it will also ensure that you answer others that might not have come to mind and are pertinent to determining which trends are relevant and helpful to you and your business.
A t t h e t ur n o f t h e c e n t ur y, barely 5 percent of the global population had an internet connection.
• What are the business needs and true value we are trying to capture? • When are we trying to realize benefits? • Do I have the business alignment and sponsorship to be successful? • Do we have the technological capacity (capabilities, processes, and infrastructure) to execute these initiatives? • What impact will this have on my workforce?
As you hear about and review new trends, you may be asking yourself: • Do we need to innovate to better support the business?
If not, start there. The technology trends that will add the most value to
our business? than a fad? • How much should I invest on technology innovation? The best way to answer these
through the lens of your IT strategy.
DEFINING AN IT STRATEGY An IT strategy sets the vision for the IT organization and ensures that everyone is moving in the same
questions is to answer an even more
direction. It allows the business to
important one first: “Does our IT
identify and enable IT innovation.
strategy clearly support and enable our business strategy?” 24
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
there to success?
your organization will become clear
• Which trends can deliver value to • Which ones are the real deal rather
• What other barriers or risks are
The following steps will help CIOs and technology leaders determine the
APPROACH OVERVIEW IT strategy and planning is the process for defining an IT vision and roadmap that align to and enable business strategy. There should be a conscious decision to define IT’s vision for enabling the business. The process to define an IT strategy occurs across three steps:
Without an understanding of IT’s current capabilities, it is impossible to evaluate trends and
S t e p 1:
Step2:
IDENTIFY THE BUSINESS STRATEGY AND DEFINE IT’S VISION
ASSESS IT’S CAPABILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY NEEDS
What are the business needs? What is the
What is your ability to meet business
justification for investment in technology
needs? Do you have the technological
and innovation?
capacity to innovate? What gaps exist?
According to the Harvey Nash/KPMG
After understanding the business
CIO Survey 2016,1 59 percent of CIOs
strategy and developing IT guiding
and technology leaders report being
principles, you must get a clear picture
held back from innovation because
of IT’s capabilities, the maturity of the
they lack resources or funding.
IT organization and innovation ability,
This statistic brings to light one of the main risks of not building the
and its technology architecture. Without an understanding of IT’s
know the organization’s ability to implement innovation initiatives.
IT Capabilities—How? Evaluate IT’s capabilities across
business foundation and justifica-
current capabilities, it is impos-
IT governance and management,
tion for an IT strategy. Without first
sible to evaluate trends and know the
solutions delivery, operations and
understanding the business strategy
organization’s ability to implement
infrastructure, and common services
and overall business direction, it is
innovation initiatives. For example,
to assess the maturity of the IT organi-
difficult to build alignment with the
the capabilities, process maturity,
zation—including IT functions and
business and create a business case
people, and infrastructure required
roles and responsibilities.
for IT spending.
to implement blockchain are much
While not all business leaders may see IT as a strategic partner, IT leaders should ensure that their organization
Throughout this assessment, use
different from those required to build
a maturity model to review the IT
advanced analytics capabilities.
organization’s ability to innovate and
We believe it is important to assess
assess the balance of capabilities and
has a strong understanding of the
the IT organization across three
investments (spending analysis) to
business strategy. This will begin to
dimensions to provide a holistic view
determine the ability to fund technol-
give the organization insight into
of capabilities across IT:
ogy and innovation initiatives.
support the business and, if so, the
Business Processes—Why?
IT Solutions—What?
biggest opportunities for technology
Develop or use an existing business
Develop an application and infra-
and innovation investment.
process framework or capability
structure view of the organization’s
map to review the business with a
technology solutions to assess the
the organization should define an IT
process lens. This process view of the
current state of technology architecture
mission and vision, along with guiding
organization identifies areas that
and determine whether it optimally
principles that align with the business
would benefit from technology and
supports business processes and
strategy, and provide key directional
innovation investment and serves as
provides the foundation to enable
statements for IT to follow.
the justification for IT.
innovation initiatives.
whether IT needs to innovate to better
Once that understanding is built,
S P R I N G 2 019
25
Additionally, you must identify
Identify true business value of
when the business is looking to realize
initiatives. It identifies and docu-
that value. The implementation of
ments the full set of benefits for
most, if not all, innovation initiatives
the business.
will require up-front investment; benefits are often incremental. An organization also needs to
Prioritize your investments appropriately. It ensures that the
understand how its business will
organization agrees to and delivers
change and what is needed to imple-
on its highest priorities to achieve
ment innovation initiatives. Once
its goals.
again looking at RPA, successful
Step 3: DEVELOP YOUR IT STRATEGY AND ROADMAP How do you prioritize, understand impacts, and measure progress? Once you understand IT’s current capabilities, you can develop an IT strategic plan and roadmap of initiatives that align IT with the business and address the gaps. During this step, identify potential capability improvement and innovation initiatives, then prioritize them based on an analysis of
implementation requires mature busi-
Ensure that you have the capabilities,
ness process definition, as well as new
resources, and technology to deliver
skills to program and manage bots.
the priorities. A strategy evaluates the
Once you’ve prioritized initiatives
to execute IT initiatives—and it
can use those priorities to define a
identifies gaps.
timeline, ownership, and objectives for each initiative, create a high-level
Support the people side. The strategy
implementation roadmap, and develop
considers the effect of change to roles
an IT strategic plan to summarize the
and responsibilities, organizational
roadmap, vision, guiding principles,
design, leadership development, and
and current-state maturity.
culture. It also ensures that resources
It is important that the business
sessions to identify potential capabil-
IT to gain alignment early on. The
leaders take a step back and evaluate
needs and a communication plan
which trends will bring business value
will help enable buy-in and obtain
before making investments, but it will
business sponsorship.
also build credibility and relationships with the business as they put IT
BENEFITS OF THIS APPROACH
initiatives, assess the business value,
A well-defined and well-executed
and estimate effort and cost for each
approach to an IT strategy will:
initiative. At that point, score and prioritize initiatives by complexity and
Align the IT organization. It instills
business value.
a set of guiding principles that align to
Evaluation of business value and
This approach will not only help IT
evaluation of change management
ity improvement and innovation
the benefits of potential initiatives
are aligned to the right priorities.
walks through this journey with
business value and effort versus cost. In order to do that, conduct working
organization’s technological capacity
and output from previous phases, you
initiatives in the context of driving the overall business strategy.
END
Jacob Horr jacob.horr@jabian.com Stefan Sokerov stefan.sokerov@jabian.com
the business strategy and provide key directional statements for IT to follow.
should look past the easy-to-see benefits. For example, when considering robotic
Improve relationships with business
process automation (RPA), cost savings
partners. Tie your IT strategy back to
may jump out as the immediate
the business to provide context and
benefit. But well-implemented RPA
gain alignment between IT spending
can also improve a wide range of
and business capabilities.
areas, including compliance, consistency, accuracy and error reduction,
Ensure organizational alignment
risk avoidance, improved customer
and support. Your strategy will com-
experience, and data security
municate IT’s vision and plan, leading
enhancements. All are powerful
to better buy-in, sponsorship, and
reasons to pursue RPA.
engagement across the organization.
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THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Source: 1 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey 2016, accessed on the web Nov. 17, 2017: https://www.harveynash. com/group/mediacentre/HarveyNashKPMG_ CIOSurvey2016.pdf
THE DIFFERENCE IS
strategy that works.
I love that my work directly impacts the organization in meaningful ways, and isn’t just put on a shelf. At Jabian, we advise our clients on effective business strategy, and then help them achieve it. For more information, visit jabian.com/careers.
THE DIFFERENCE IS
Jabian Conversations
How does adding hundreds of new employees to an iconic brand in a new market impact the culture of the company? What can the addition of an on-site daycare center do to employee retention? How does one of the most recognized brands in the world continue to innovate and lead its industry? We posed these questions to Lars Minns, Mercedes-Benz head of HR for the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Buckle up if you want to keep pace with Mercedes-Benz.
What was your path to Mercedes-Benz? I got into IT recruiting in the midst of the dot-com era, which, I think, if you’re getting involved in IT, is probably the best time to do so. I worked with a few different IT consulting companies in talent acquisition and then with The Home Depot, where I supported their
LARS MINNS Head of HR, U.S., Mexico, and Canada
IT organization. That was a time when they started to get serious about investing in technology and I was happy to help them grow that function.
And then Mercedes-Benz called. Well it’s funny, I felt like I was working with a big name brand already, but the more I looked into Mercedes-Benz, the more I became enamored with the company. They had big plans and this was a chance for me to help them at a critical time. In general, Mercedes-Benz hadn’t typically hired a lot of people because as a great place to work, turnover was incredibly low. But with a major expansion planned, we were looking at hiring 300 people in eight months—and if you’re going to do that, you have to be absolutely sure about the people you’re hiring. And it gave me the chance to be the architect of this change.
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THE JABIAN JOURNAL
WE HAVE SO MUCH DATA FROM THE TIME SOMEONE JOINS UNTIL THEY RETIRE, AND I’M TRYING TO USE IT TO PROVIDE DIFFERENT AND BETTER SERVICE OFFERINGS TO OUR EMPLOYEES.
joins until they retire, and I’m trying to use it to provide different and better service offerings to our employees.
What’s an example of something you’re proud of at Mercedes-Benz? One thing for sure is our commitment
And now you’re leading HR. How did that happen?
How does adding so many new people in a short amount of time impact your brand?
to working parents. We have an on-site daycare called Little Stars Academy where parents can bring their young children while they are at work. In just
I’m currently the head of HR for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. It was a transition
When we had to hire all those people,
the few months since it’s been open,
from helping people find a home at our
Mercedes-Benz was opening in Atlanta
we’re at near capacity, and the feedback
company to helping people understand
in 2015. It definitely impacts the culture
we’ve received has been tremendous.
and grow their value. We have a very
of the company. But in our case it
Just taking that stress off of parents
low unemployment environment right
invigorated it. We hired people from
about finding childcare really works
now, which favors employees because
all disciplines of business and
wonders. We want Mercedes-Benz to be
the market for talent is so tight. At
industry, not just automotive people.
at the intersection of career, company,
Mercedes-Benz we want to make sure
It really helped create a balance in
and lifestyle, and this is one way we
we are communicating to them how
our organization. Employees are a lot
help make that a reality.
they grow their value, their skills.
more vocal, a lot more receptive to new
And it goes beyond communication,
ideas. They push new ideas and new
because you have to have the tangible
perspectives, which really invigorates
tools and programs in place to support
the organization. It also creates certain
them, but by helping them build value,
challenges when you mix people who
they become more marketable for
have been with the company for a long
growth within the company or at other
time and new people who want to make
companies should they decide to leave.
an impact. It’s a good problem to have because everyone loves the brand and
You don’t worry about them leaving? Our philosophy is to develop our
wants it to succeed.
What’s been the best advice you’ve received? I used to think that the harder I worked and the more time I spent on developing my own talents, the more success I would have. But in reality, I got advice from a former mentor who told me to double down on my level of exposure. If you run in certain circles, find a way
What is one of the biggest challenges you’re facing now?
out of them from time-to-time and build new relationships. Find ways to be someone else’s helping hand. When
employees to be the best they can possibly be and give them an environ-
Our industry is constantly changing,
I started at a small company more than
ment at Mercedes-Benz where they
and over the next one to three years
20 years ago I never imagined I’d be
can grow and succeed over their
you will see significant change in the
where I am today and I credit that to
careers. We have a lot of positives that
automotive space. One of my challenges
the great relationships I’ve built along
make working for Mercedes-Benz
is to prepare our workforce for those
the way. It’s been an amazing ride.
highly desirable. We are extremely
upcoming changes and make sure we’re
competitive with our total rewards,
ready to lead the industry. One of the
which includes everything from
things I’m trying to pioneer is better
bonuses to work-life balance, support
use of the data we have to help make
programs, etc. And on top of that, we
better decisions for our people. We have
have an immense pride in the brand.
so much data from the time someone S P R I N G 2 019
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C U S T O M E R E X PE RIE N C E F E AT U RE S E C T I O N
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Creating Products with Customers in Mind By Victoria Inman and Lydia Slotten
The most effective product teams partner with customer experience professionals, ensuring that the voice of the customer is integrated at each stage in the process.
Products are born to address a
the strategy phase, the goal is to
customer need, solve a customer
explore new product or feature ideas.
problem, and create customer delight.
Throughout the product development
Thematically, product innovation
phase, cross-functional teams manage
is all about the customer. Therefore,
product scoping, planning, prioritiza-
to launch, manage, and enhance
tion, build, and preparedness for launch.
products successfully, product teams
The final operations phase enables
must constantly consider their
product delivery and product mainte-
target customers.
nance through product retirement.
We find that the most effective
We view the fourth function,
product teams partner with their
portfolio management, as the wrapper
customer experience (CX) counterparts.
around strategy, development, and
This ensures that best practice CX
operations, or what is commonly
strategies are implemented and that the
referred to as the “product lifecycle.�
voice of the customer (VoC) is integrated
Effective portfolio management
into each stage in the process.
activities occur throughout the entire
At Jabian, we have anchored our
product lifecycle. Those activities
product management methodology
include reporting on and governance
to the four key functions: strategy,
over the entire product catalog.
development, operations, and portfolio management. The first three functions are phases and are described as follows: During
A strong portfolio management discipline effectively incorporates insights (such as customer, product performance, sales, usage, and
S P R I N G 2 019
31
A “PRODUCT” CAN BE V I R T U A L LY A N Y T H I N G — TA N G I B L E C O N S U M E R G O O D S , A D I G I TA L M O B I L E A P P, A S E R V I C E , O R A BLEND.
Functions
1.
2.
Strategy
Development
•
3.
Operations
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT 4.
Portfolio Management
Get to know your customer CUSTOMER-
Communicate with your customer
FOCUSED S T R AT E G I E S
Pivot quickly to address customer feedback
the marketplace, it’s common to review the potential product’s respective competitive landscape and create a business model canvas. While doing so,
Fig. 1
be sure to include target customers as a key consideration. Perform market research on your otherwise) throughout the product
customer-focused strategies may
potential competition, while consider-
development lifecycle, from the
look like across the product manage-
ing their target customers and how
initial product design through future
ment functions.
your product may provide a differentiated journey.
enhancements.
As you get deeper into ideation,
When carrying out each of these four functions, we recommend
P R O D U C T S T R AT E G Y :
consider what a very high-level
leveraging the following customer-
Exploring new product ideas
customer journey might look like; hypothesize your target customer
focused strategies: We start by gaining insights—insights
market segments (distinct sets
1. Get to know your customer
into customer needs, market condi-
of customers, defined by various
2. Communicate with your customer
tions, the competitive landscape,
demographics, lines of business, etc.);
3. Pivot quickly to address customer
and more. We use those insights to
and brainstorm what your customer
define product objectives that will be
personas might be. These are the
realized through product innovation.
fictional archetypes of your target B2C
When they set product direction,
customer or B2B buyer, which includes
the product teams must align to the
segment definitions, but also personal
overall business strategy, the market,
traits, values, motivators, etc.
feedback See Figure 1: Product CX strategy checklist. Finally, before we dive in, let’s pause here to quickly note that a
and customer needs. Pro tip: We recommend reading
Understand your customers’ desires by listening to your customers as a
“product” can be virtually anything—
Inspired: How to Create Products
source for product ideas. For existing
tangible consumer goods, a digital
Customers Love, by Marty Cagan. His
companies, provide an avenue for
mobile app, a service, or a blend. There
newest edition has been adapted
your customers to give suggestions
are many dimensions for defining what
specifically to talk about technology
on enhancements and new products
a “product” can be. For our purposes,
products. One of our favorite Cagan
through direct, voice-of-the-customer
we’d like to simply refer to “products”
questions: “Is my product compelling
feedback loops.
as something that solves a problem
to our target customer?”
This will allow you to meet real-time demands and understand
and brings value to a customer. 1. Get to know your customer
current gaps within your existing
you’re working on, we have found
From the very beginning, customer
products. For a new company, you can
these customer-focused strategies
awareness is key.
interview target customers about your
Regardless of the kind of product
should be considered. Now let’s explore what applying these 32
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
When exploring the value of
brainstormed product offerings. This
introducing a new product idea into
will provide insight into the gaps that
generally exist in the marketplace and
3. Pivot quickly to address
let you know how receptive your target
customer feedback
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:
customers would be to the solution you
Once you’ve obtained feedback from
Building product and prepping for
plan to introduce.
customers, it’s important to have
launch
Test the waters. Obtain direct
a framework for maintaining and
customer insight on your infant ideas.
prioritizing feedback. It may not feel
When you’re ready to progress into
There are a variety of ways to do this,
like it, but rejection at this point is
the development phase, scoping and
and at this stage, you want to limit the
great. This is the stage where you want
planning activities begin to effectively
amount of effort you put into testing
to receive major feedback! There is so
build the product and prepare for
whether your idea is worth further
much value in getting input during
product launch.
development. If possible, we recom-
your early stages of innovation, before
mend creating extreme minimum
product development.
viable products (MVPs) to test the appetite for the new product.
1. Get to know your customer
That being said, keep in mind your
Firm up your prelaunch hypothesized
mission, vision, goals, and target
target customer personas and
customers. Be sure to align new
segments. First, create proposed
on or emails about new products
ideas to the values of your company.
“light” personas, expanding from
from a “coming soon” information
You cannot, and should not, say
your original hypotheses. Stress-test
landing page. You can distribute and
“yes” to everything. You cannot
your assumptions on their motivators
collect data from online surveys.
please everyone, but you should be
and differentiators through target
You can perform light AB testing
pleasing somebody.
customer stakeholder interviews.
For example, you can track clicks
on pricing, concepts, and customer
The products you choose to develop
Outline the skeleton of a product-
willingness to hypothetically purchase
further and the customers you choose
level customer journey, and detail it,
a product described by text or mockup
to target (those who seem to have
as well as the variances by persona, as
visuals only.
promising marketplace potential)
you move in development. (For more
should all align to your overarching
information on the stress-testing
company goals.
process, see “Are You My Customer?”
You can hold focus groups with rudimentary, nonfunctioning demonstration models to answer key questions about your product. At
on page 38.) See Figure 2.
Depending on the kind of product
this stage, it’s crucial to use low-time
Get to know your customers iteratively
you’re offering, you may also need to
and low-effort methods to weed
from product strategy (high-level)
create product personas to represent
through your options and obtain real
through product development (detailed).
the personalities of products that
customer feedback.
You’ll want to have a firm understanding
have communication interfaces with
before you launch in product operations,
customers—from interactive chat bots
2. Communicate with your customer
and later you will revisit these strategy
to AI personal assistants.
Product ideation with selected
and development functions during the
customers through initial focus groups
lifecycle of your product as managed by
more than one highly varied product
or discovery conversations can poten-
portfolio management.
at a time (for example, for a new
Note: If you are conceptualizing
tially serve as some of your initial grassroots marketing, especially for B2B companies. The same goes for any “coming soon” sign-up links.
Fig. 2
At this stage, some companies may choose to start dropping social media hints. For example, a post may mention that you’re “working on a really neat XYZ opportunity with XYZ partner!” Be careful about what
Customer Input and Research
you promise. Don’t commit to your customers that you’re delivering a new product or enhancement that isn’t sure to come.
Customer Segmentation Persona Development and Journey Creation
Because of the level of uncertainty at this point about what product will be released—and what form it will
Product Strategy and Development
take—some companies may choose to keep initial discovery conversations confidential. They’ll perform surveys without revealing their brand and not market at all until they know more.
S P R I N G 2 019
33
company, or new product line release),
final sanity check with your target
audience so they can learn of your
map your hypothesized customers’
customers. You can accomplish this
product and its value.
segments and personas to their
in a variety of ways, including testing
respective products. Work on this in
quality or performance, testing
targeted marketing campaigns,
parallel with the product portfolio
manufactured consumer products, or
leveraging social media, and educating
management function.
customer acceptance testing (CAT) for
the relevant sales force. Failure to build
technology products. For some B2B
excitement and build product aware-
ment, perform product testing along
products, you may actually have to get
ness can result in a “failure to launch.”
the way. Depending on your product
CAT sign-off as part of your contract
type and your industry, the method
arrangements.
During various stages of develop-
Ways to do this include launching
Think about it: If target customers are not aware of your product, they will never have the opportunity to see
for this will vary. We’ve learned that engagement, early and often,
2. Communicate with your customer
its value, and your product will not get
from targeted samples or important
In addition to communication that
traction from the get-go.
customers may expose urgent issues
naturally occurs during customer
just prior to launch or reduce the risk
testing, you should spend time
3. Pivot quickly to address
of surprises just after launch.
strategizing your prelaunch marketing
customer feedback
communications. Get your customers
The further you progress in develop-
the following: same-room focus
in the plane before takeoff, so to speak,
ment, the harder it can be to process
groups, online testers recording their
with “coming soon” communications.
feedback without countering it with
experience as they progress, getting
In the early stages, this can rely
Testing options could include
emotional bias. You may find yourself
reactions to the product packaging
on very subtle social media hints
pretty invested at this point. Major
experience, concierge testing for
and as you progress, fully reveal
feedback can be hard to swallow,
digital products where you do every-
your products with a showcased
especially feedback that would delay
thing manually, showcasing further
release date. You can even get a
a launch.
developed MVPs and product demos
waiting list or contract with clients
at conferences, performing follow-
before you go live. Prepare your
product roadmap is so important. When
up interviews with more detailed
post-go-live launch communication
you make decisions, keep in mind
interview guides, giving first-look
plan, so you’re ready to strike with an
that some feedback can be addressed
tours, providing special tasting events,
end-to-end plan.
through post-launch enhancements.
When introducing new products
or going on pre-sales road shows. The
This is why creating a prioritized
Consider what elements of your
opportunities to test are endless, and
to the market, you must meet your
product, if they’re unchanged, could
the needs vary by product type, but the
target customers where they are.
derail long-term adoption because of,
goal is the same.
Your product, along with your brand
say, negative publicity.
Finally, prior to product launch, we recommend completing one
in general, must be strategically
There’s an art and a science to
positioned to reach your desired
balancing the desire to launch with every single piece of functionality working versus the ability to layer on functionality after an initial release.
Fig. 3
The art and the science depend on your product type and industry. Keep in mind special legal regulations, your competitive marketplace, and your customers’ expectations at
Customer Journey Experience Touch Points
initial launch. Based on feedback, you may find yourself adjusting your customer
Voice of the Customer Measures
personas and segments during development. Again, the excuse of “we
Direct Feedback
just haven’t found the right customer” can only be valid for so long. The closer
Transactional Data Themes
you get to launch, the more you should be simply adjusting personas and segment attributes and exploring the
Product Enabling People, Process, Tools
nuances for their varying journeys versus coming up with entirely new customer bases.
34
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
See Figure 3. The customers’ voice, gathered through direct feedback and indirect transactional
Product Lifecycle
measures, provides feedback to CX and product teams to improve the product,
Introduction
Operating the product and feedback to product idea funnel Ready, set, launch! Now that your product has been introduced to the
Maturity
h
Decline
fr es
P R O D U C T O P E R AT I O N S :
Growth
Sales Revenue / Adoption
enabling people, process, and tools.
Re
sh re Ref Re tire
marketplace, it’s time to continue engaging your customers. This can be a make-or-break moment for your
Time
product, so engaging your customers is vital. Ongoing customer feedback helps prioritize product enhancements
Fig. 4
throughout the remainder of the product lifecycle (growth, maturity, reinvestment, and retirement). See Figure 4.
Once you launch, ensure that you’ve
2. Communicate with your customer
Product lifecycle; the Y-axis represents
operationalized a way to capture the
Congrats! It’s time to implement the
sales/adoption while the X-axis
voice of your customer so you’ll hear
launch marketing and communica-
represents time.
about defects, ideas for enhancements,
tions you’ve already planned. However,
and suggestions for new products (see
keep in mind that customer communi-
the product strategy function).
cation does not stop at product launch.
1. Get to know your customer It’s launch time! But…maybe just a
Most importantly, do something
From enhancements, to sharing events
small launch. Consider using beta
with that captured data. Create an
and sales, to thanking your customers,
releases or piloting with a small
operational feedback loop with
and simply showcasing your brand—
customer set before moving forward
CX and product teams. Determine how
ongoing communications are key to
with a fully public release. This lets you
you will track and use transactional
staying relevant.
leverage the excitement and loyalty of
metrics and the quantitative and
early adopters to smooth out remain-
qualitative feedback you get from
enhancements to the customer early.
ing kinks in your product, before you
survey data.
Follow-on communication should
scale to customers who may not have the same level of patience.
For the product operation function,
even have public-facing roadmaps, like
level. We’ll touch on cross-product
Spotify’s Trello (a web-based Kanban
management in the portfolio manage-
project management) board, which
ment wrapper section.
reveals its new feature pipeline.
IN THE PLANE BEFORE TA K E O F F, S O T O S P E A K , WITH “COMING SOON”
Others do a great job of com-
your persona and journey work. Use
municating the impact and function
your journey framework to categori-
of releases in accessible terms.
cally track feedback against journey
Shootproof, an Atlanta-based
stages. Update your baseline journey
company, clearly has its customers
as needed to account for product
front of mind when releasing new
changes. Plan on revisiting product
features. The company offers photog-
strategy and development steps when
raphers a simple-to-use tool to engage
you need to consider product refreshes.
their clients, originally by simply
This might include revalidating your
offering proofing galleries.
customers, which could reveal shifts •
support adoption. Some companies
we are talking about this at the product
Don’t assume you are done with
G E T YO U R C U S TO M E R S
Communicate major feature
Over time, they expanded their
in your customer base (i.e., changed
product features to invoicing, con-
persona attributes, including their
tracting, online ordering, and more.
demographics, desires, motivators
With each new feature, Shootproof
and expectations), especially for
communicates early when a new
long-term products.
feature is “coming soon,” describes the
C O M M U N I C AT I O N S . S P R I N G 2 019
35
efforts between products within the portfolio, reviewing new product ideas, and ensuring that resources (financial and human capital) are properly Persona
Summary Attributes
Market Segment
Product 1
A
X
B
X
Product 2
aligned to products. Government
Product 3
efforts exist throughout the product life cycle to ensure that products and
1. Name
Short Description
2. Name
Short Description
C
X
3. Name
Short Description
D
X
portfolios are aligned and moving toward the strategic objectives. 1. Get to know your customer At the portfolio level, it’s important
X
to realize that you may be trying to reach different customer personas or segments for each product. At the same time, you must strive to understand your holistic customer view.
Fig. 5
One way to accomplish this is by mapping your customer segments and personas to each product line. This can value the features will bring,
or those who create a social media post
help you understand what cross-
and provides easy-to-understand
entirely about your product, showing it
portfolio product a customer may be
how-to guides.
in a positive light?
interested in hearing about, and what
Treat your customer relationships
customer groups you should cater a
Funnel up into portfolio manage-
product to.
like any other; nurture these
ment higher level considerations like
relationships through ongoing com-
approaching product roadmap and
munications. Don’t overwhelm your
sunset decisions that need to be made
customers, but keep them up to date on
at the portfolio level.
See Figure 5: Perform product to target customer mapping across product lines.
events, flash sales, giveaways, tips, or anything that would bring them joy. Continue to represent your brand appropriately along the way, keeping
Wherever possible—and this can
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT:
be a struggle with legacy systems from
Governing the product catalog
acquired companies, or companies
in mind the customer personas to whom you are trying to speak. What
As mentioned, portfolio management
operating in siloed product arms—you
visuals, messaging, and channels will
is the wrapper around the product life
should create a single view of the
best reach and create positive reactions
cycle. It’s about managing a portfolio
customer across all products. This
from your target customers?
of products through ongoing analysis
helps you understand your customers
of product performance, prioritizing
holistically, across all their touch
3. Pivot quickly to address customer feedback After you launch and throughout the lifetime of your product, check in on
Fig. 6
customer feedback to understand what is going well, what features are not being used, and what is driving
Company Product Catalog Portfolio
frustration. Consider what you can do quickly to solve pressing issues and how you can support an operationally nimble release schedule for providing
Product 1
Product 2
timely product updates. In this day and age, it’s vital to have a plan for addressing public feedback on social media channels. How will you address concerns, not only by showing empathy, but also by providing
CUSTOMER
Name Phone
customer issue-specific solutions or
making customer-wide changes? How
Products Purchased
will your company promote and thank customers who show appreciation in their comments on relevant posts, 36
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Product 3
points with your company. It also sets you up to successfully deliver a consistent experience across your product
Example Product Portfolio
brands when you communicate with your customer.
catalog portfolio. 2. Communicate with your customer If you find you’re targeting clearly differentiated personas per product,
Maturity
h
Decline
fr es
of the customer across its product
Growth
Sales Revenue / Adoption
See Figure 6: Ideally, your company has one view
Introduction
Re
sh re Ref Re tire
consider brand alignment. How are you going to represent your products and branding in the marketplace to best hit
Time
your target customers and stay true to the personas you are trying to target?
C O O R D I N AT E S I Z E
Will you be one cohesive company?
CUSTOMER BASE
R E P R E S E N T S R E TA I N E D
Or will you be seen as an umbrella
Fig. 7
company with varying brands, product lines, or sub-companies? How transparent will you be about these performing very well on one product
receive direct feedback, perform
that you can leverage on another
surveys and interviews, conduct
to represent yourself as one company
product? Looking across your portfolio
focus groups, and analyze the story of
with many products, will these be
and considering product relevance
transactional data.
communicated and marketed from one
trends, is it time to introduce a new
website and one social media handle?
product altogether?
product line brand relationships? For example, if you are you going
(beyond strategic interviews and
Or are you going to position yourself in the marketplace as an umbrella
You must communicate and market to your entire base of customers
See Figure 7:
focus groups), with an intentionally
company, perhaps with its own main
Product lifecycle example of a potential
promoted launch, and by nurturing an
site and handle, but also with indi-
disappearing act; coordinate size
ongoing relationship.
vidual websites and social handles for
represents retained customer base.
Decide up front how you will
Finally, you must pivot quickly to your customer’s reactions, sug-
each product line brand? Let’s look at an example company’s
gestions, feedback, ideas, and your
position and represent yourself in the
products, in Figure 7, layered onto
analytical findings from your transac-
marketplace, what product persona
the product lifecycle framework we
tional data. You must be nimble about
you’ll use, and how you will commu-
introduced with Figure 4. Most of the
making and announcing changes to
nicate appropriately to your targeted
products from this organization are
ensure that they’re adopted. Show
customers and consumers across
losing relevance with its customers. It’s
appreciation and respond to individual
your portfolio.
important to understand whether its
issues, while planning customer-wide
core business is part of an overarching
improvements as needed.
3. Pivot quickly to address
decline, or whether its products are not
customer feedback
valuable anymore.
What products are doing well versus
It’s important to leverage these
Keeping your customer in mind at every step of the way, by partnering CX strategy with product, will help
others? During the product lifecyle,
customer insights to guide where to
you create relevant and delightful
it may be time to refresh a product
invest. Launching new products may
products.
or consider sunsetting it. Consider
be vital to existence; if this company is
customer feedback—including com-
not careful, it may end here.
paring transactional feedback, such as
Victoria Inman victoria.inman@jabian.com
declining purchasing or use—across your product portfolio. Also listen to the consistency
From each function of the product
Lydia Slotten
lifecycle, and during portfolio
lydia.slotten@jabian.com
of feedback across your portfolio,
management, we’ve illustrated how
comparing one product to another. Are
important it is to consider the
customers generally frustrated with
customer. You must get to know your
lack of consistency across products?
customer. Research customers exter-
Is a product or product feature
nally, review their data internally, S P R I N G 2 019
37
2/5
C U S T O M E R E X PE RIE N C E F E AT U RE S E C T I O N
Are You My Customer? By Amber Baird and Clay A. Holmes
THIS IS NOT THE CUSTOMER.
The need to serve internal or external customers is one of the universal truths of business. Many companies fail to clearly differentiate themselves in terms of competitive market offerings. How can you stand out in this crowded marketplace?
Price differences, marketing cam-
customers’ satisfaction. But you may
paigns, promotions, and company
find that overall, the initiatives were
“buzz” can drive short-term interest.
not as successful in driving customer
However, establishing positive feelings
experience as you had hoped.
among customers is the foundation for
In our experience, this happens
exclusive loyalty in your individual cus-
more than you would expect. We are
tomer base. Delivering an exceptional
eager to get started and see results,
customer experience (CX) is one way
so we don’t take the time to determine
to gain this loyalty. You’ll set yourself
what customers value. In order to
apart from the competition, ensuring
deliver that value and to provide an
that your customers continue to work
exceptional experience, it is vital to
with you and tell others about you.
truly understand your customer.
Like many good business leaders,
Instead of jumping straight into
you probably have a hypothesis of
the CX initiatives, we propose start-
who your customers are. You may
ing with foundational CX activities:
have used techniques to improve
developing personas or segments. This
CX based on those assumptions.
will help you answer the following
Perhaps you brainstormed CX drivers
questions about your customers:
that align with your vision of your customer, and then allocated budget
• What are your key customer types?
and resources to roll out CX initia-
• What are the key traits and drivers
tives. But what if your vision of your customers and assumptions about their defining attributes were not
reasonably exclusive—in other
completely correct?
words, they don’t overlap much?
Good news! Your efforts were not
38
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
(attributes) of these customers? • Are your defined customer types
Are they exhaustive—that is,
necessarily wasted. You likely ended
they include most of the key traits
up increasing some component of your
and drivers?
evidence—surveys and interviews with
between being reactive and pre-
your customers, do you see clearly
customers or employees—to provide
planning, put her in one bucket. This
differentiated approaches you
insight into those attributes. It is not,
will help you stress-test (discussed
must deploy to deliver an improved
however, as easy as simply picking
shortly), and you may find that you
customer experience for each
attributes. There is a process to follow.
need to move her into the other end of
• When you step back and look at
customer type?
Keep a running list of all potential
the range, which only helps solidify
attributes identified and honed
your final outcomes. There will be gray
through the process, regardless of
areas, but in this phase, it helps to be
overwhelmed with the process of
their presence in the final personas
decisive. The goal is to have clearly dif-
performing customer segmentation and
and segments. These will be important
ferentiated customer populations, so
identifying customer personas. That can
when sharing the final personas inter-
you can develop tailored CX initiatives.
lead to the dreaded “analysis paralysis.”
nally. They can also help with future
Sometimes, organizations become
If this paralysis would delay meet-
refinements, and in providing context
ing your deployment timetable, or you
for stakeholders who didn’t participate
are missing data or perspectives on the
in the development process.
customer journey, we propose starting
Whether defining personas or
with a “lite” version of segmenta-
segments, ensure that the customer’s
tion and personas to help you begin
defining attributes are appropriately
the process of understanding your
identified. The attributes are what
customers. These are “lite” alternatives
makes one “customer” (term used
to the full-scope version using the data/
generally and applied to segments,
information that is already available, or
personas, or individuals) different
by performing preliminary studies. The
from another. These differences should
entire point here is to get started and
not be subtle! The differentiation
begin experiencing the process from
should be as binary as possible,
beginning to end instead of getting
meaning the subject falls into one
stuck on the starting blocks. Using a
end of the spectrum or the other.
structured method for segmenting and
As an example, let’s establish a
defining personas can help jump-start
potential attribute of your customers.
an organization’s entry into improved
Our hypothesis is that there is a notable
customer experience. It can also help
difference in how our customers
define content strategies that directly
handle an approach to decision-
appeal to different customer groups.
making. Our spectrum could then be
There are three key goals for either
bookended by “pre-planning” and
the lite or full-scope exercise: knowing
“reactive” (i.e., no planning). As you
your customer, empathizing with your
think through the range, exaggerate
customer, and delighting your customer.
the definitions. Let’s use a customer, Anna, to understand this attribute. If Anna is a “pre-planner,” all her deci-
Know your customer:
sions are made far in advance. If she’s “reactive,” she never has a plan, and
Determine what differentiates your
does everything last-minute (the “all”
customers.
and “never” are used intentionally). As you are gathering data you will most
The first step to develop effective
likely find that customers fall some-
customer personas or segments is
where on the spectrum versus at the
to understand your customers’ key
ends of the range. Challenge yourself
attributes. Once you have identified
and dig in and understand why Anna
the attributes, the personas and
may make a plan or do everything
segments allow you to understand key
last-minute to decide which end of
traits within each customer group.
the spectrum she falls into. Even if
Use quantitative and qualitative
it seems like Anna is split equally
Using a structured method for segmenting and defining personas can help jumpstart an organization’s entry into improved customer experience. S P R I N G 2 019
39
As you continue identifying attributes, you could find the customer does not look the way you expected. This is the time to continue to brainstorm potential attributes that separate your customers into distinct groups (including demographic profiles, mindsets, preferences, etc.). For that matter, even if it seems all of the original attributes are correct, the advice remains. Include those items that may not seem relevant, those that may seem redundant, and those that seem too obvious, to make the list comprehensive. The attributes will be shaped during the stress testing process. An important “guiding principle” to consider: don’t be too attached to your hypothesized list of attributes, as they will (and should) change. Reviewing and removing weaker attributes (those that do not truly differentiate the customer types) strengthens those that remain. to work the process to determine
spectrum. This will help you
developing and defining the customer
if it is a viable differentiator. If you
determine if the attributes are
journey, additional attributes will
find an attribute that has only a
indeed different from another lens.
come to light that were not included
few customers in one end of the
If you establish two attributes but
on your list. You will discover them
spectrum, it doesn’t mean that it is
discuss CX initiatives that would
during working sessions with
not a good attribute. Rather, look
be the same for both, then you may
stakeholders, interviews, or through
at the big picture, and you may find
not have a good differentiator. A
a preliminary survey. As you gather
that the attribute really is the only
question to ask yourself is “For
more information, begin the process
defining feature, or most important,
customers that fall into this end
of stress-testing the attributes.
for those customer types.
of the attribute spectrum, what
Throughout the process of
are we going to do to help improve
Evaluate each attribute and determine whether it “holds up.” Because this is a
3. Identify and combine attributes
their customer experience that the others would not find important?”
time-consuming process, it is easy to
that are not truly differentiated.
take the first output as the “correct”
You know you are really into the
answer. However, it can be an energiz-
“stress-test” mode when you take
ing and exciting evolution as customer
two attributes that seem to have
be carried out on a whiteboard. Put the
types become focused and clearly
no relation and find that they are
attribute spectrum on the whiteboard
defined. How do you do it?
indeed connected as it relates to
and write the identifier for the customer
your customers.
data point under the end of the range you are bucketing them in. Be sure to
1. For each attribute, place each customer data point on one end of
4. Create new attributes that organi-
place each customer data point within an attribute.
the spectrum and discuss (based
cally come out of the discussion
on the information you have) if that
to fill gaps. As you discuss, you’ll
customer really belongs there. If
find yourself saying things like
ously defined attribute of approach
not, move them.
“We didn’t talk about this before,
to decision-making. Throughout the
but it seems like this is something
stress-test process, you may find
that some of our customers have in
that there is a correlation between
common.”
your customer, Anna, falling in the
2. Determine whether the attribute remains a viable differentiator of customers, based on the data. If
As an example, take our previ-
“pre-planning” bucket and another
and is true for a significant portion
40
We recommend that this process
5. Discuss the future CX initiatives
attribute: her employment status of
an attribute has all of the customer
you would take if a customer falls
“career-driven.” As you continue to
data points on one end, continue
on either end of the attribute
iterate with the stress-testing and as
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
the attributes mature, you may find that neither the pre-planning nor career status matters consistently as a differentiator as compared to her family relationship status of “single, no children.” What we are now left with is an attribute of “family status” with a range of “single” and “married,” “no children,” and “children.” This is an example of useful customer typing (specific and unique): • Anna, aged 32 • Single, no children • Technology-savvy • Lives in an urban area • Willing to spend extra for items with cachet • Career-driven, but very tied to her friends and family • Interested in new trends Non-useful customer typing (overly broad and vague): • Female, aged 18–40 • Likes digital goods, but prefers analog • Enjoys television The next step to creating a comprehensive persona is to understand how Anna thinks and acts through empathy.
Delight your customer: Map customer types versus current state and goal experience.
Maintain the customer’s perspective. One of the most effective uses of
• Organize the website with a clear, user-friendly roadmap. • Provide a FAQ document that will answer most questions.
One result of highly refined personas or segments is the data and
• Explore using a chatbot for virtual assistance.
insight you gain on each customer type. It can influence your market
Empathize with your customer:
Resulting change:
Now comes the most important
direction and guide how you interact
step: put your findings into action.
with customers. This information can
Once you have determined who your
overcome challenges that limit your
customers are and what drives their
customers’ satisfaction. It can create a
decision-making, you will be in a better
more positive customer experience.
position to determine how to deliver an
Once you understand what Anna
excellent customer experience. You’re still not done! You must
customer identification is to put yourself
wants, it will be easier to determine
in your customers’ shoes. Visualize what
how to get the most out of each
periodically revisit this exercise to
customers think, feel, and need when
advertisement, event, and marketing
keep the segment and/or personas
they interact with you. As an example,
dollar. Ensure that your marketing
fresh and accurate. Evaluate how they
our colleague Michael Ojo was recently
expenditures and website development
match the evolution of your offerings.
featured in the Fall 2018 issue of the
are geared toward the customers who
Each time we look in the mirror, we
Jabian Journal in an excellent article
bring the most revenue, or who match
are a little bit different. The same is
called “The Value of Compassion.”
your goals for growth.
true of your customers and their needs. By recognizing this and adapting
The piece focuses on the very topic of customer empathy, which
Example finding:
your approach, you will help build an
was explored in depth. We will sum-
• Anna likes to do internet research,
improved customer experience.
marize his findings with this: When
but will get busy and abandon the
you make decisions that will affect
product if it takes too long to find
Amber Baird
your customers, anchor yourself to one
what she needs.
amber.baird@jabian.com
persona or segment and ask, “What
• If she must call to get the informa-
would Anna do, and what would make
tion she needs, she’s unlikely to
Clay A. Holmes
her happy?”
work with that company.
clay.holmes@jabian.com S P R I N G 2 019
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3/5
C U S T O M E R E X PE RIE N C E F E AT U RE S E C T I O N
Managing the Paradox By Michael Ojo, Ph.D.
Company leaders must consider a few key issues as they balance privacy concerns with the need for consumer data to provide a personalized customer experience.
As companies in the United States come to terms with their questionable methods of collecting and handling data, they are beginning to confront the paradox created around providing dynamic, personalized user experiences. Many products and services that require an enormous river of consumer data are quickly being choked by social pressures, consumer behavior, and government regulations, all of which are a response to data privacy concerns.1 In particular, global social networks such as Facebook have moved quickly to comply with the European Union’s regulation around consumer data (General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR), which provides guidelines on the procurement and use of consumer data by companies operating in the EU or processing data from EU consumers (see article on page 14). That said, can companies continue to provide the user experience—or more broadly, the customer experience—that made their brands unique? For starters, the personalization/privacy paradox speaks to the contradictory behaviors exhibited by consumers around their desire for tailored services and their increased sensitivity to sharing personal data. Ideally, as more data is made available and used by companies to tailor experiences, the expectation is for greater user adoption and positive satisfaction from the customer. However, if consumers’ sensitivities around privacy are aroused, they are likely to limit or reduce the exposure of their personal data, thereby reducing adoption rates and exhibiting negative satisfaction.
Personalization
We define personalization as the ability to proactively tailor products and product purchasing experiences to the “tastes of individual consumers based upon their personal and preference information.”2 Personalization gives customers exactly what they want and need without being distracted by irrelevant materials. It requires the customer to share identifiable and behavioral information, like browsing history and location, information they would not otherwise want shared publicly. Moreover, companies are financially incentivized to find the right level of personalization that appeals to a broader scope of customers than the individual. Therefore, collecting large amounts of data, allowing companies to infer behavioral patterns, becomes a driving force in the organization.
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Privacy
In general terms, “privacy is the right to be left alone.”3 It includes the right to not have one’s identity engaged in third-party transaction. In a digital sense, it can mean the right to not have your personal data leveraged for business activities. This is especially challenging when most if not all aspects of daily life require an email address, phone number, and some other form of identifiable information. Consumers profess that privacy is a valuable part of their user experience, but personal data continually flows to the internet, thereby creating a paradox. Eventually, this paradoxical behavior between personalization and privacy may cause customers to abandon the brand or service as a result of their frustration and confusion over how their data is being used.
A path forward
The common thread emerging from studying the personalization/privacy paradox is trust. Consumers are making important decisions about their data based on the assumption of trust in a business. As more and more revelations about the mishandling and violation of consumer data come to light, the paradox will only become a bigger problem for businesses seeking to grow their brand and customers seeking a tailored user experience. Now more than ever, companies need to find ways to reengage consumers and build lasting trust.
Be clear that you’re collecting data
What data are you collecting and how? Transparency is critical for cultivating trust among your customers. They need to know your organization is collecting data about them, and they need assurance that they can opt in or out at any time. Furthermore, your customers need to be informed about the kinds of data being collected and the manner in which it is being collected. Doing so can empower them to make informed decisions around the treatment of their identity. This may also discourage a company from acting subversively about collecting data.
Be clear about your intentions
What are you going to do with the data? A strong argument could be made that most consumers don’t read the “terms and conditions agreement” before signing up for any online social or commerce platform. And for those very few who do read the terms agreement, there is a good chance it’s done without a complete understanding of the implications, resulting in blind acceptance of the service.
I have read and understand the terms and conditions.
Lie
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THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Decline
Companies owe it to customers who patronize their service to clearly explain how their data will be used. What that means is translating legal jargon in the terms agreement into brief statements or images that make it very obvious what will happen with customer data.
Be purposeful in delivery
What feature are you trying to deliver? So, now that customers know data is being collected from them and you’ve explained your company’s intentions, how will you show your commitment to deliver? Your customers have shared their personal information and their digital identity under the condition that your brand or business will deliver on its promise. Adhere to your commitment to customers and do not deviate from the plan. Use their data as intended. Be cautious about retaining data that does not support product delivery.
Implications for customer experience
Fostering a relationship of trust is not an easy feat. Given the climate of account hacking, data privacy regulation, and the expanding Internet of Things economy, there is no avoiding customer sensitivities on privacy. That said, businesses cannot afford to dismiss customers’ desire for personalized and tailored experiences. Doing so will leave any company trailing behind its competitors and out of favor with consumers. Innovations in artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain, could be the avenue for seriously managing the paradox. By designing infrastructures for smart computing and decentralized data management, consumers may grow to feel empowered and in control of their digital selves. However, corporate leaders must make a concerted effort to build trust between the customer and the company. Customer experience is the culmination of interactions between a customer and product, brand, or organization.4 Therefore, the design and alignment of interactions into a robust customer journey must consider engagement opportunities that leave the customer feeling a sense of trust and accountability. Whatever new product or service is going to market, if leveraging customer data is key to providing personalized experiences, building a relationship of trust must be a part of that journey to manage the paradox. Michael Ojo, Ph.D. michael.ojo@jabian.com
Sources: 1 Tal Z. Zarsky, “Incompatible: The GDPR in the Age of Big Data,” Seton Hall L. Rev. 47 (2016): 995 2 Ramnath K. Chellappa and Raymond G. Sin, “Personalization versus Privacy: An Empirical Examination of the Online Consumer’s Dilemma,” Information Technology and Management 6, no. 2–3 (2005): 181 3 J. Alberto Castañeda and Francisco J. Montoro, “The Effect of Internet General Privacy Concern on Customer Behavior,” Electronic Commerce Research 7, no. 2 (2007): 3 4 Peter C. Verhoef et al., “Customer Experience Creation: Determinants, Dynamics and Management Strategies,” Journal of Retailing 85, no. 1 (2009): 31–41, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2008.11.001
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4/5
C U S T O M E R E X PE RIE N C E F E AT U RE S E C T I O N
By Robert Amberg
The future will be won or lost on customer experience. Companies committed to customer centricity will win long-term.
If you ask people what the single
Targeting Customer Experience for Unprecedented Growth nugget of information. Without it, the company is simply guessing. A focus on customer experience
So if you book travel for minors often, every time you book, you have to say who you are, who the minors are,
isn’t a new concept, but the way
what payment you want to use, etc. The
companies implement it across
process usually takes more than 15 to
their organizations as a competitive
20 minutes, assuming you can speak
advantage is still being realized.
with an agent immediately, which is
Consider this example from the airline
never certain.
industry: To make a standard reserva-
Now consider the experience at
tion on Delta Air Lines, you can either
Southwest Airlines. You can book by
book online, through an app, or over
phone, or you can book the same travel
the phone.
entirely though the website or through
However, to book a reservation for
the mobile app. If you are a member
most important thing is a CEO can do
an unaccompanied minor, you must
of the Southwest rewards program,
for their business, you’ll usually get
call a special number. The information
your information will be pulled up as
answers such as improving the stock
gathered by the agent is no different
well as the information on the minors,
price, being a good spokesperson for
than the information you would
assuming you agreed to save it. The
the company, being a good leader, and
provide online, yet you must speak to
entire experience takes less than 5
so on.
two different agents. Delta does not
minutes—with no waiting on an agent.
save any of the minor’s information,
Plus, you can make changes without
true first duty—understanding the
your payment information, or the
talking to a human and without a fee.
customer and the customer experi-
destination information, regardless
ence. Everything a CEO can affect in
of whether you are a frequent flyer or
is clearly superior and is one of the
the business comes from that one
rewards member.
reasons the airline is consistently
All that pales in comparison to their
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THE JABIAN JOURNAL
The experience with Southwest
voted tops for customer service.
brand strength, competitive
stores. After launching a pilot pro-
It is also interesting to note that
advantage, recruiting, etc., will all
gram, Kroger implemented a food
Southwest, while branded as a “low
be affected.
delivery service after significantly upgrading its app. Kroger listened to
cost” carrier, isn’t always the lowest price. In fact, on many routes between Delta and Southwest, the latter is more
2
what customers wanted on the app. Its team added things like automatic coupons and deleted things like
expensive—yet it consistently has The next step is to audit existing
deal alerts, which often resulted
customer journeys. This evaluation
in a bad experience because of
found that by 2020, customer experi-
must include what the customer
inventory issues.
ence will overtake price and product as
experiences as well as the back-end
Kroger also replaced nearly
a key brand differentiator. No matter
business and operational processes
50 percent of the checkout aisles
your industry, you’re likely to face
required to facilitate the journey.
with additional self-checkout
competitors with lower prices, more
Often you will find duplicative
stations capable of handling
product features, or both. However,
processes, or handoffs between
small to medium-sized loads.
the perceived value through customer
departments that could otherwise
Additionally, the stores have piloted
experience can negate both.
be consolidated. The resulting
a self-scanning program that allows
efficiency is both more profitable for
you to bypass the checkout lanes
such as Amazon, Uber, or Apple and
the company and more satisfying
altogether. Simply use one of the
say they’ve managed the customer
for the customer.
provided handheld scanners as you
higher booking capacities. A recent Walker research study
Many people look at companies
add items to your cart. You can use
experience very well, largely through digital channels, so all hope is lost for older, traditional companies
3
Kroger’s bags or bring your own. When you’re done shopping, you swipe your card on the scanner to
looking to compete. However, any company can start a focus on customer
The third step is empowering the
pay and walk out. You can see your
experience and become more competi-
organization to change and making
running total expense and it syncs
tive, regardless of its industry or its
customer-centricity central in all
automatically to your app.
digital maturity.
areas of the company. It isn’t easy
The result: Customer shopping
to move an organization formerly
trips and average cost per checkout
studies that increases in customer
focused entirely on financials to one
have gone up.
satisfaction translate to increases in
focused primarily on customers.
customer loyalty. The cost to acquire
Rewards, compensation, job func-
a customer can be seven to 20 times
tions, communications, marketing,
on customer experience. That is
the cost to keep one, so good customer
etc., will all be affected. A successful
where companies will differentiate
satisfaction can drive revenue and
transition depends on the leader-
themselves. Companies committed to
lower customer service expense,
ship to manage expectations and set
customer centricity will win long-
meaning it’s always a good time to
the tone for the new direction.
term, even in the face of lower prices or
We already know through countless
more product features.
start focusing on the customer. Let’s suppose you’re a CEO and you realize you’re losing competitiveness
The future will be won or lost
4
Creating a customer-centric company starts with truly understanding the customer. It’s an ongoing
to other companies that are more customer-centric. How do you go about
The final step is communicating
experience. The old saying might have
redesigning the customer experience
to the organization and to your
been “The customer is always right,”
journey? What are the building blocks?
customers. You need to create
but the new saying is “The customer
a feedback loop that allows the com-
experience is everything.”
1 It starts with a vision driven from
pany to listen to the customer, to experience the journey with them,
Robert Amberg
and constantly adjust.
robert.amberg@jabian.com
Consider what’s being done by
the top of the organization to be a
Kroger, a large grocery store chain.
more customer-centric company—
Faced with increased competition
and to communicate the value of
from Publix (higher-end stores) and
doing so. Cost-cutting and efficiency
Whole Foods/Amazon (upscale and
might be ancillary benefits, but
delivery), Kroger radically changed
greater customer loyalty, growth,
how customers can shop at its S P R I N G 2 019
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5/5
C U S T O M E R E X PE RIE N C E F E AT U RE S E C T I O N
Five CX Lessons from the Five Stripes By Matt Syrett and Clay A. Holmes
How a soccer club’s focus on customer experience helped drive them to success.
Atlanta United FC is one of the most successful expansion franchises in American sports. The attendance, growth, and success they have experienced in their first two years are the envy of sports organizations nationwide. The team led the league in attendance in 2017, their inaugural season, and
START WITH A GOAL
has done so again in 2018, drawing 26 percent more spectators than the next closest club. The team’s 50,000-plus fans per game is the
Start with a goal and put your customer at the core of it. For Atlanta United and owner Arthur Blank,
highest average for any professional sports team
that goal was, “A world-class club. A global force in
in North America that’s not in the NFL. They’ve
soccer. A dynamic, sustainable brand. Stewards of
sold more season tickets than most MLS stadiums
the community. Winners.” Yes, they would need a
have seats. Midway through their 2017 season, the
great team to do so, but their customers, the fans,
team accounted for 25 percent of the entire league’s
remained central to that goal. The organization
merchandise sales on the MLS on-line store.
recognized that both winning and winning with
And they’re good. Really good. After finishing fourth last year, the Five Stripes, as they’re known locally, won the city of Atlanta’s first championship since 1995. How have they been so successful, deep in the
an appealing brand of soccer were important to their fans. The team spent the next several years leading up to the first kick—building an experience, a club, and a stadium focused on just that. They made
south where college football reigns? There is a myriad
splashy, strategic international signings, bringing
of explanations, but one principle lies at the core of
on young, offensively gifted players. They inked
them all: an organizational focus and commitment
an offensive-minded head coach to maximize the
to customer experience. Here are five lessons the
team’s potential. Those two tactics alone have
Five Stripes have embodied, and how their focus on
resulted in one of the league’s most potent goal-
customer experience has driven them to success.
scoring attacks.
< P H O T O : Jamie Lamor Thompson / Shutterstock.com
S P R I N G 2 019
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Ownership spared no expense on a $1.2 billion stadium tailored to the fans’ experience. There are few places in the stadium where you can’t see the game. If you leave your seat, the sightlines from the mezzanines around the stadium to the field are largely unobstructed. And if you happen to lose sight of the field, you’ll find the game on a TV nearby, restrooms included. The results so far? United is a championship favorite, whose average attendance ranks in the top 20 in the world. This success, both on and off the field, has already garnered the attention of clubs worldwide. Several European club executives visited Atlanta to see what’s behind it all, and other international clubs are attempting to poach United’s players and staff. In retrospect it may seem like common sense: If the team is good, fans will show up. Though true to an extent, this thinking is shortsighted and not the recipe for sustained success. The Five Stripes did not fall victim to the “If you build it, they will come” line of thought that often
ESTABLISH A CUSTOMER-FIRST CULTURE
traps organizations. Atlanta United recognized that delivering
and achievements enables an organization’s leaders
component of their success and an important step
to make decisions that consider the customers’ best
to accomplish their lofty goal of competing on the
interest. It’s equally important to reduce the degrees
world stage. The five stripe branding in their logo
of separation from leaders to your customers.
embodies this ethos of success and customer focus.
Reducing this distance encourages an emotional
Each stripe represents a pillar of character—unity,
connection with customers, allowing leaders to not
determination, community, excellence, innova-
only preach, but practice a customer-first culture.
tion—and serves as a reference point for the
A customer-first culture starts with leadership,
entire organization. Consider your organization:
then permeates the organization. Atlanta United
What is the winning team you need to accomplish
President Darren Eales eliminated the distance
your goals? What are the key touch points, products,
between his office and customers by spending time
and experiences that will capture your customer?
directly with fans in pubs throughout the city prior
Do key decisions align to customer considerations
to the inaugural season.
and organizational values and objectives? Be
United demonstrated their commitment to
intentional about the organization’s goals for where
a customer-first culture at the club’s inception,
you want to be tomorrow and five, 10, or 15 years
inviting fans to choose the team’s name and colors.
down the road.
This commitment is also reflected in their market-
Establish goals and recognize that your custom-
ing. The slogan now ubiquitous with the club, “Unite
ers are the ultimate driver of success from the onset.
and Conquer,” always depicts fans with the word
The goals and recognition will serve as a valuable
“unite,” embodying one of owner Arthur Blank’s six
reference point as you progress, ensuring that key
core values: “Put people first.”
decisions remain aligned to the goals and customers for the duration of your initiatives. 50
Putting the customer at the center of goal setting
the optimal fan experience would be a critical
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Counterintuitively, a customer-first culture’s sole focus should not be the customer alone. Regardless
of intention, the culture won’t stick if the people
a mechanism to capture employee feedback? Do you
responsible for a customer’s experience are not
consider all employees partners in the customer
informed, involved, or empowered to provide input.
experience journey? Do their incentives align with
Spoiler alert: Everyone in the organization is
instruction and communication from leadership?
responsible for the customer experience. A customer’s journey rarely starts and ends
Establish a customer-first culture to delight customers at every point in their journey.
with a single touch point. It includes numerous touch points, spanning organizational functions and groups, and roles and responsibilities. Success depends on these integrated groups, like a soccer team depends on all 11 players on the pitch. Soccer is unique in that a single individual cannot singlehandedly carry an otherwise lackluster team to the top. It is more dependent on teamwork than other sports and exemplifies the idea of being only as strong as your weakest link. In a business, a customer may have 99 out of 100 great interactions within their journey. However, if just one results in a poor experience—long concession lines, not enough bathrooms, inaccessible stadium, terrible parking—they will remember the negative experience as much as, if not more than, the good ones. Even if their team wins, they will carry the negative experiences with them. Communicate the importance of putting the customer first to all levels of the organization. Make employees stakeholders in the delivery of a delightful customer experience by involving them in voice-of-customer readouts and inviting input on customer experience challenges. Reward them for contributing positively to a customer’s experience. An engaged workforce will deliver higher levels of customer experience, regardless of role or function. A security employee changed companies from his previous security agency to the one that would service the new stadium—following United to its
GAIN CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
new home. He was quickly embraced by fans at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium after he was seen
It is well known in the United States that the
celebrating exuberantly with fans following a
popularity of soccer is highest in metropolitan
United goal. In a position normally associated with
areas, particularly in urban centers. Atlanta United
stoicism and detachment, this employee’s passion
plays in an ethnically diverse core, surrounded by a
improved the experience for those around him, and
metropolitan sprawl of transplants. The organiza-
his company rewarded him, saying the supporter’s
tion recognized the appeal their roster and team
section would be his from then on.
would have to fans in the area, especially Latin
Consider the ways you put your customers
Americans and Millennials.
first. Do you lead by example? At what point in the
United’s stars hail predominantly from South
decision tree does the customer enter? Do you have
America, and their coach, an Argentine, coached the S P R I N G 2 019
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likes of Lionel Messi for the storied FC Barcelona.
Data gathered from activities like conducting
What did United do with this information? They
surveys and focus groups, analyzing market and
seemed to consider the personas of their fans and
demographic information, defining customer
fans in other established soccer cultures to provide
segments and personas, examining web and mobile
authentic, tailored experiences to them.
application behavior, and SWOT analyses will help
Rather than force a manufactured game-day experience, United relied on the fans and their passion to create the experience organically, building
formulate customer needs you can address through the delivery of their experience. The data should also be treated as an asset with
on a culture already successful in Latin America and
the potential to be leveraged by possible vendors and
Europe, and appealing to their fans’ desire for self-
other third parties looking to market and sell their
expression. United did their part to remove barriers
goods and services to allow for a more cohesive and
that would impede the experience, encouraging
immersive customer experience. An advertisement
the use of drums and fan artwork during pre-game
for baby food while shopping for baby clothes is a
festivities and the match.
friendly reminder, while the same advertisement on
The result? A true spectacle on game days, unique to any sporting event in the city. United also utilized surveys and focus groups to
an LED board at a United match would be confusing and distracting. If you can create, store, and provide an accurate, insightful representation of
gather input from their earliest supporters on the
your customers, your customers will receive more
team name. Instead of predefining team names for
relevant advertising across the various touch points
selection, they asked questions regarding percep-
of their journey, enhancing their overall experience.
tions of the city of Atlanta and how the team should
How does your organization make decisions? Are
be represented. They also used Likert scale ques-
you gathering insights from a variety of sources?
tions to judge favorability of elements and words
When and how are you capturing customer insights?
associated with the team. These non-prescriptive
How are you leveraging these insights to improve
methods resulted in an organic name, Atlanta
the experience of your customers? The importance
United FC, that President Darren Eales said reflected
of gaining insights on your customers cannot be
the views of the team’s supporters.
overstated. Use these insights to make data-driven
Too often, a decision is made on gut instinct, tribal knowledge, or assumptions from previous
decisions and deliver an experience that exceeds customer expectations.
experience. As valuable as instinct and experience may be, this method of decision-making leads to gaps between the experience delivered and the customer’s actual expectation.
LEAGUE ATTENDANCE LEADER
2017, 2018 26 percent more than next closest club
PERCENT OF LEAGUE ON-LINE MERCHANDISE SALES
25 %
GAME ATTENDANCE AVERAGE
53,000 Highest average for any professional sports team in North America that’s not in the NFL
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Midway through their 2017 season, the team accounted for 25 percent of the entire league’s merchandise sales on the MLS on-line store.
INVOLVE THE CUSTOMER EARLY AND OFTEN
If there is a breakdown in customer experience, acknowledge it, address it, then communicate the improvement. The two-way communication lets the customer know you’re listening. Gather voice-of-the-customer information and communicate changes and successes back to your customers. Remove barriers in feedback loops. Don’t provide a 100-question survey when a few questions will capture what you need. Acknowledge faults and promote your successes and positive changes.
When owner Arthur Blank and President Darren
Customers may not recognize a change, but they’ll
Eales were interviewed prior to the debut of Atlanta
appreciate it once it is communicated.
United, reporters inquired about the team’s name
Continuously involving the customer is just
and colors. What would they be? The two responded
one part of the equation. The other is the perspective
consistently and emphatically: They wanted the
of your organization’s employees. Employees
fans’ input. They involved their customer almost
can provide insights into customers and their
from day one.
experiences as they interact with the customers
It was a simple gesture that established trust
both directly and indirectly, throughout the
amongst fans and created a sense of fan owner-
customer journey. Atlanta United employs a
ship. When customers feel like stakeholders, they
mechanism to capture customer feedback straight
are more likely to be loyal and advocate for your
from their employees.
brand. Additionally, the mentality of obtaining
After each game, members from every aspect of
voice-of-customer data from the start permeates
the game-day staff meet to discuss what went well,
the organization and sets the tone for continuous
what did not, and what needs to be improved for the
improvement and the direct incorporation of
next game, like Agile standups, where blockers and
feedback into initiatives.
challenges are discussed daily.
It is important to hear directly from custom-
In each instance, it’s critical to have the right
ers, inviting their input whenever and wherever
people in the meetings. Involve those who can
possible—through suggestion boxes, dedicated
interact directly with customers and those can
phone lines, surveys, panel discussions, focus
provide guidance and make decisions to relieve
groups, social media engagement, and monitoring
bottlenecks and resolve issues.
online forums, to name a few tactics. However,
When do you engage customers for input? How
the communication between customers and the
do you acknowledge their feedback? Do your treat
organization should not be a one-way street.
your customers as stakeholders? How do you involve
Organizations must communicate back to the
employees in the customer experience improvement
customer, acknowledging receipt, thanking them
process? Engage your customers early and often and
for their feedback, and highlighting the incorpora-
leverage the frontline knowledge of your employees
tion of previous suggestions. Celebrate, promote,
to build customer loyalty and close the gap between
and implement great ideas from your customers.
expectation and delivery. S P R I N G 2 019
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BE CONSISTENT
facility in the suburbs. But the arrival of the team bus drew hundreds of fans who greeted the players as they made their way into the stadium. Both players and fans enjoyed the routine so much that the tradition continued at Mercedes-Benz. Sort of. Instead of commuting from the suburbs, the team now boards the bus at Mercedes-Benz, then drives
Consistency is king in the world of customer
around the block to the front gate, where the fans
experience, and customers now expect it regardless
wait to greet them. United turned what developed
of the brand, the industry, or the medium. It is a
naturally out of necessity into a tradition that
challenge for organizations to maintain consistency
carried over to the new stadium.
across the various channels through which a customer may interact. The Atlanta United experience spans multiple
experience at Bobby Dodd so memorable for the first
channels. Think of a customer journey on a match
nine games that fans worried the charm would be
day: check the starting 11 on the team website, pick
lost in the new stadium.
out a jersey and scarf, reference the team mobile
Those concerns were quickly alleviated after a
application for parking and stadium informa-
70,000-plus opening day sellout in the Benz, with
tion, watch the game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium,
the same team arrival, the same hammering of the
purchase a jersey from the team store, check Twitter
spike, the same A-T-L Viking clap, the same newly
for in-game insights. Then after the victory, browse
minted traditions that made the experience so
the various social media feeds for highlights and
endearing to fans.
post-game updates. Creating consistency across the customer jour-
Customers expect a consistent experience with a brand or product, no matter where they are. United
ney is more than simply branding each touch point.
delivered this consistency by transitioning the
Consider the consistency of experiences delivered,
traditions and experiences most critical to the fan
messaging communicated, and emotions evoked as
experience from one stadium to another.
you evaluate the overall customer experience. The inaugural season approached with
Also consider consistency within messaging. Customers can actively engage with an organiza-
anticipation, but there was a small problem. The
tionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;following it on social media, for exampleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or
construction of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the $1.2
engage passively, seeing a mural or billboard while
billion behemoth, was behind schedule. United
on a walk. The challenge for organizations is
would have to open the season in Bobby Dodd
delivering clear, consistent messaging across
Stadium, a relic compared to the glistening metal
these media on both active and passive points
and halo LED displays of Mercedes-Benz.
of engagement.
The news could have discouraged the organiza-
54
The match day rituals, rowdy sold-out crowds of 40,000-plus, and stadium-wide chants made the
Atlanta United has leveraged its bold five-stripe
tion. The infrastructure of Bobby Dodd presented its
color scheme, logo, and mottos to do just that.
challenges. For example, the team was forced to bus
Unitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core customers live and spend their time in
to their games at Bobby Dodd from their training
and around the city and generally prefer to engage
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
CONSISTENCY IS KING IN THE WORLD OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, AND CUSTOMERS NOW EXPECT IT REGARDLESS OF THE BRAND, THE INDUSTRY, OR THE MEDIUM.
with brands digitally. Their messaging and marketing meet the customers at these touch points. Throughout the city, you’ll find the familiar black
From the inception of the club, Blank and the team’s leadership wanted to give fans input into naming the team. That act alone established an
and red five stripes on train car wraps, bus stop
emotional connection, conveying their willingness
signs, Beltline murals, highway billboards. “Unite
to trust and listen to their customers.
and Conquer,” the aforementioned slogan, appears
The organization recognized that their fans’
on these media as well. The themes used on static
experience extended well beyond match day. They
media, the passive points of engagement, are used
evoked emotions of trust and inclusiveness with
consistently within United’s digital presence as
social support initiatives, technology design, and fan
well, the active points of engagement.
engagement, uniting fans around a collective pride for
Their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn profiles all have the same profile picture— the red and black five stripes and the gold “A.” The
the team and the city. This has resulted in one of the strongest supporting fanbases in Major League Soccer. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. As they
content of their social media posts is also consistent
move along the journey from touch point to touch
and frequently the same, featuring players, fans,
point, is their experience consistent? Are they inter-
highlights, and soccer updates. United’s own mobile
preting your messaging through passive and active
application loads with the same logo featured in
channels as you intend them to do? Are your points
their digital profile pictures, then opens to the
of engagement fostering an emotional connection?
familiar red, black, and gold color scheme.
Establish consistency in these areas to emphasize
The use of color, branding, and “Unite and Conquer” imagery across media and engagement points emphasizes the boldness, energy, and passion of the organization. Establishing an emotional connection is a critical
the core values of an experience or product, leaving no doubt how it should be interpreted. What have we learned from Atlanta United FC? Align initiatives and key decisions to goals established at the start. Create a customer-first culture by empow-
step in establishing trust. Customers who trust
ering employees and leading by example. Leverage
brands or organizations are more like to be loyal and
customer insights to make data-driven decisions.
advocate for it. United sponsored 2018’s Pride Parade
Involve your customers early and often to quickly
and continued to sell Pride-themed United mer-
incorporate feedback into experiences that will exceed
chandise afterward, creating a connection through
expectations. Be consistent and deliver a cohesive and
inclusivity and self-expression at matches that fans
memorable experience to your customers.
and the community could bond over. Within their mobile application, United created an automated concierge persona called Arthur,
Consider these five lessons as you evaluate your organization’s customer experience capabilities, and you too may experience success like the Five Stripes.
complete with a Bitmoji-esque rendering of team owner Arthur Blank. The fans and organization
Matt Syrett
affectionately refer to him as Arthur and Uncle
matt.syrett@jabian.com
Arthur. This subtle inclusion in the app indirectly brings fans closer to the man at the top and rein-
Clay A. Holmes
forces Blank’s desire to listen and respond.
clay.holmes@jabian.com S P R I N G 2 019
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IoT Devices and Security By Yosef Beck, CISSP
How can you protect yourself from bad actors using web-connected “Internet of Things” devices against you?
et’s start with a funny
connecting a device to the internet.
When you buy a car, you consider
story. A few years ago, I was shopping
Consider the message of a recent pre-
factors such as reliability and safety.
at my local big box hardware store for a
sentation at the 2018 Usenix Security
As the owner, you’re responsible
new whole-house hot water heater. The
conference in Baltimore by Princeton
for the general maintenance of the
sales associate tried to convince me to
University’s Saleh Soltan, Prateek
vehicle—either through scheduled
upgrade to an internet-connected hot
Mittal, and H. Vincent Poor. The
maintenance with a dealer or local
water heater for an extra $50.
researchers showed how an “Internet
mechanic, or by doing the mainte-
of Things” botnet attack on only a
nance yourself.
I asked why I would want it
When you buy a new computer
connected to the internet. Would it
small percentage of high-wattage
send an alert if it started to leak? No.
devices (such as 5,000-watt electric
for your house, you are responsible
The answer? So, I could adjust the
hot water heaters) can cause major
for installing the typical antivirus pro-
temperature of the hot water heater
disruptions to the power grid—the
grams, practicing safe web-browsing
on my phone.
power grid so much of our modern-day
habits, and maintaining software and
lives depend on.
firmware patches.
As a homeowner, I laughed and said thank you, but no thank you. Have
What is an “Internet of Things”
The same types of factors and
you ever changed the temperature of
(IoT) device? Also known as
maintenance apply when you buy
your home’s hot water heater after it
“smart” devices, IoT devices are
an IoT device. As an end consumer,
was installed? I know I never have,
anything that communicates over
you are responsible for doing your
and I certainly don’t need a dedicated
the internet to send or receive data.
research, ensuring that you’re buying
smartphone app to allow me to do so.
IoT devices include wearables such
a safe and reputable brand, and
To be fair, if I owned a rental property
as the Fitbit and Apple Watch; smart
maintaining the device through
that was inconvenient to visit regu-
home electronics such as internet-
software and firmware updates.
larly, I could see an argument for this
connected thermostats and door
remote temperature control.
locks; smart appliances such as
device manufacturers are incentiv-
The problem is twofold. First, IoT
clothes dryers, refrigerators, robotic
ized to get to market. They are not
shuddered at how few people weigh
vacuums, and even internet-connected
incentivized to ensure that their device
the convenience versus the risk of
coffee makers.
is secure. Second, most consumers
As a security practitioner, I
S P R I N G 2 019
57
Evaluate convenience versus risk.
Change default usernames
Update!
Do you need the device to be connected
and passwords.
Set up scheduled reminders (boots
to the internet? What is the risk if it
Start with your router, your Wi-Fi
versus sandals season) to check
gets compromised? Can you use the
printer, your thermostat, etc.
whether device manufacturers have
device without connecting it to the
released updates to software, drivers,
internet? For example, does a hot water
or firmware—and apply any available
heater really need to be connected to
security updates.
the internet?
Assess your home network.
Use a password manager.
Use a virtual private network.
Understand what devices are on your
These tools will help you create unique,
Use a VPN when you’re away from
network and ensure that they are
complex, and (ideally) randomized
the house, especially if you’re com-
legitimate. If your router supports it,
passwords to secure your devices.
municating back to an IoT device at
set up different networks for differ-
home. A VPN will reduce the risk of
ent types of devices. Set up a guest
someone stealing your credentials
network so guests cannot access your
while you’re using public Wi-Fi. VPN
personal computers. Set up a network
software is available for all computers
for only IoT devices so they can access
and smartphones. Do your research
the internet, but not talk directly to
to ensure that you’re using a trusted
your local computers, etc.
VPN solution.
Use encrypted communications.
Add a layer of protection.
Don’t get phished!
Validate that a company’s product
Turn on multi-factor authentication
Learn how to spot phishing emails.
uses a modern, industry-accepted
or two-factor authentication
This is the No. 1 way bad actors gain
encryption standard for all internet
everywhere it’s offered—devices and
access to your network and devices.
communications.
controllers, banks, 401(k) sites, and shopping websites.
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do not understand or have the skill to
denial-of-service attacks against
research and maintain their
major corporations. They use IoT
IoT devices.
devices to gain access to other devices
I know someone who spent a
(e.g., your laptop or tablet) in your
month on the phone with Google
home, or at your office, to steal credit
trying to get details on the encryption
card information, send forged money
used for his new Nest thermostat
wiring instructions, etc.
before he was willing to allow it
The typical consumer considers IoT
access to the internet. While that
devices to be innocent and does not
may be a bit extreme for most
recognize the potential threats and
people, I strongly urge you to do
vulnerabilities. While the common
your research and not be swayed by
individual is not a typical target,
marketing when it comes to security.
hackers choose targets for both ease
Unsecured devices are very easy to compromise. Free websites such as Shodan.io provide a familiar search
of attack and to gain access to specific individuals and corporations. For example, the CEO of a small
engine interface that will allow you to
widget supplier may not seem like a
find unsecured devicesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;everything
large target. However, a hacker may
from IP-enabled baby cameras, game
choose to target the CEO in order
servers, thermostats, and robotic
to infiltrate a large, multinational
vacuums to home assistants like Alexa
corporation or political organization
and Google Home. It will even identify
that they supply.
critical computer-controlled utility
Security is a complex and multifac-
infrastructure devices for electrical,
eted concept that most people do not
gas, or water supplies.
understand or want to deal with. As a
The majority of these exposed IoT
consumer, or in your business role, you
devices can be hacked. Sure, hackers
must figure out what you are willing
could use these devices to spy on
and able to do given your interests and
you. But hackers are more interested
risk tolerance.
in using the devices to conduct
Consider the major inconveniences that can occur when something bad happens. Security is big business these days. There are lots of tools and credible organizations that can help you manage your risk and exposure. The list on page 58 is not intended to be fully comprehensive or prescriptive, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great place to start researching and implementing best practices for you, as a consumer, to protect yourself and your IoT devices. A quick internet search on any of these items will unearth a trove of educational and instructive materials. Yosef Beck, CISSP yosef.beck@jabian.com
S P R I N G 2 019
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The Cost of Uncertainty In this fourth piece in a nine-part series, we look at the next section of the Jabian Engagement Framework: How security is essential to employee engagement.
By Fred Jewell and Tracy Reznik
What happens when we are uncertain about the future? What happens when we feel vulnerable or unsafe? When our future is uncertain, or our security is threatened, we become distracted and have difficulty focusing on the here and now. Any time we shift our attention to an uncertain future, playing out the “whatifs” and imagining the unfavorable scenarios that could develop, our engagement is affected. In fact, our engagement can decrease to the point of unproductivity and inefficiency. On the flip side, when our future is predictable and seems like a sure thing, we can shift our focus to growth and accomplishment, to improving relationships, to improving processes and reducing tedium. Security is the fourth engagement driver we cover in this series on the Jabian Engagement Framework. Security is about certainty, clarity, and safety. Our need for security, like the other engagement drivers, varies by individual. Some people are very comfortable with ambiguity and an unclear future. Others want to know exactly what’s going to happen next in their lives. Once we get to a comfortable level of security, however, more of whatever it was that made us more secure (e.g., clarity, safety, money) doesn’t increase our security further. Security has a limited upside once we get to “secure enough.” It is up to individuals to determine what “secure enough” means to them. Insecurity, on the other hand, has an unlimited downside. In fact, its downside is perhaps the most distracting and even the most paralyzing of all the engagement drivers in our framework. Security is covered in the foundational layers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. First we need food and shelter. Then we need to be healthy and safe. After that, anything that makes life more predictable and certain enables the top layers of Maslow’s hierarchy, which focus on things related to autonomy, growth, and relationships. Luckily, there are lots of ways we can improve our security. Anything we can do to make our outlook more predictable and comfortable will help. We outline some of those ideas here.
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Clear Purpose and Goals: Understand the ‘Why’ Without clarity around what we’re striving to accomplish in our work and in our life, we lose focus and wallow in the ambiguity that comes with ill-defined purpose and goals. Leaders who provide their teams with clear purpose in their work—setting clear, achievable goals—are more
THE MORE FREQUENT AND CLEARER WE CAN BE ABOUT OUR INTERNAL COMMUNICATION, THE MORE WE CAN TAKE INSECURITY OFF THE TABLE.
likely to ensure that their people will stay focused on their work and secure in their roles. Similarly, individuals who take the time to plan and manage their time to focus on what’s most important will create for themselves a sense of security that allows them to grow, get things done, and build relationships that enhance their overall engagement. Role Clarity Lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities will affect security. Over time, the changing needs of the business or organization will necessarily drive changes to the documented and communicated role descriptions
As a leader, if your people are feeling insecure, assessing how well and how often you’re communicating is a great place to start.
within the organization. The changes often creep into the roles across teams within the larger organization, muddying any clarity that differentiated the functions of each role or team and its contribution to the success of the department or organization. Without role clarity, work that is critical but less interesting and engaging will always be set aside for more interesting tasks. This leads to conflict between people and teams about accountability and who is responsible for what, creating stress and anxiety. If people are saying things like “That’s not my job” or “It didn’t get done because I didn’t want to step on any toes,” there is probably a problem with role clarity. We can help everyone feel more secure by stepping back to review the organizational design and role descriptions. S P R I N G 2 019
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The stress we feel is natural and
with their manager. Note, however,
Satisfaction with internal communi-
normal, but it still generates insecurity
that the engagement risk with dis-
cation consistently ranks toward the
as we become more adept at new skills.
tributing that decision-making shifts
bottom of virtually every employee
Classroom training and certifications
to fairness, the engagement driver we
engagement survey. This is a mani-
can always help, but simple things
will cover in our next article.
festation of the security engagement
like reading books and articles or
driver. People rank communication low
watching online videos that cover the
Live in the Moment
because they have a sense of insecurity
topics we’re insecure about can help
Mark Twain once said, “I have lived
that results from not being “in the
supply the background knowledge
through some terrible things in my life,
know,” not knowing what’s coming,
and language that allow us to build
many of which actually happened.”
or not understanding where leadership
the skills and confidence we need to
We often make ourselves miserable
is headed.
perform at the next level.
thinking too much about what might
Transparent Communication
happen, and our bodies physically react
What feels like over-communication to executives will still feel like too
Clear Policies
the same just imaging a bad outcome as
little to employees, but the more
Every organization has mavericks who
they would if we actually lived through
frequent and clearer we can be about
are happy to break rules to get things
that negative experience.
our internal communication, the more
done or make their work more engag-
we can take insecurity off the table and
ing, but every organization has a high
ried ourselves sick only to have things
drive engagement. As a leader, if your
number of compliant rule-followers
turn out perfectly fine? One strategy is
people are feeling insecure, assessing
who just want to be told exactly what
to prepare and overprepare (without
how well and how often you’re com-
they must and must not do to stay out
stressing yourself out!). Although that
municating is a great place to start.
of trouble.
approach is simple, preparation is
High-compliance people prefer
But how many times have we wor-
only half the battle; anticipating the
Skill and Knowledge
specific guidelines and prescrip-
reactions and questions to your big
Tremendous insecurity can result
tive policies. Leaders must balance
presentation will make you feel less
when we feel like we don’t have
specificity with flexibility and align
anxious and more secure in the work
the requisite knowledge or skill to
that balance with the desired culture
you present.
perform our roles. Even when our peers
of the organization. Either way, clarity
and bosses think we have the skills
is necessary.
we need, we still often suffer from
For example, organizations often
Another strategy is to develop the skills required to “live in the moment,” focusing on the here and now, not
“impostor syndrome,” the feeling we
choose not to have a prescriptive
worrying too much about things that
get when we feel like we’re having to
work-at-home policy, preferring to
might happen. Practicing meditation,
pretend we know more than we do to
leave the decision on the appropriate-
learning not to catastrophize, and
perform our jobs.
ness of working from home up to each
training ourselves to have a positive and
manager. To address the insecurity
optimistic outlook can do great things to
and strive, we’re stretching to step into
associated with a lack of policy, a
improve our feelings of security.
something we have never done before.
briefly worded policy that says working
In fact, though, anytime we grow
SEE THE SPRING 2015 JABIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE ON PREPARING YOUR EMPLOYEES FOR STRETCH ASSESSMENTS: “CREATING SUPERHEROES IN YOUR ORGANIZATION”. 62
THE JABIAN JOURNAL
from home will be handled on a case-
Trust
by-case basis with the decision lying
Trust is an interpersonal quality
with each manager in the organiza-
that is highly dependent upon
tion. That clarity provides a framework
security; in fact, it’s a combination
for the discussion each employee who
of the relationship, security, and
wants to work from home can have
fairness engagement drivers. Trust
is an outcome of accountability and predictability; you are more likely to trust people when they follow through in their actions and when you can predict what they will say or do. Trust also requires a relationship, or at least a relationship by association (e.g., I trust Susan, and Susan trusts Steve, therefore I trust Steve, even if I don’t have a direct relationship with Steve). Benefits of Security Providing an environment where your employees and loved ones are secure creates loyalty, which precedes engagement. Employee retention can affect bottom-line numbers and is more likely to be stable if employees understand the “why”; have role clarity; receive frequent, substantive communication; and have the support to gain the skills and knowledge they need to grow. By eliminating the distraction caused by insecurity, we can drive higher engagement through growth, relationships, and well-being, the drivers with unlimited upside for improving engagement. In our next article, we’ll address fairness, an engagement driver that can distract us from virtually everything else. Fred Jewell fred.jewell@jabian.com Tracy Reznik tracy.reznik@jabian.com
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Defining Strategy Get a broader vision of business strategy to avoid seeing only a portion of the story.
By Don Turner
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“Blind monks examining an elephant,” an 1888 ukiyo-e print by Hanabusa Itchō.
Let’s address several key questions regarding business strategy: • How is strategy defined today? • Why is strategy difficult to define? • What is strategic goodness? • What are the stages of strategic thinking within a company? • What does strategy involve? Our objective is to provide an effective definition of business strategy.
elephant is a like a wall. For another, the wriggling of the trunk compels him to declare it is like a snake. You get the idea. In every case, the blind men are correct in their individual descriptions, but totally wrong in their conclusion as a whole. Much like the story of the blind men describing that elephant, the “strategic definitions” you receive from executives will likely have as many
Defining strategy: It all depends on your perspective
variations as the number of executives you ask. The marketing executive will describe the strategy in terms of
Ask any executive what strategy is and
markets and pricing. The development
you will definitely get an answer. The
executive will offer you technology
problem is, you will rarely get the same
as the basis for the strategy. The sales
answer. Even if the answer sounds the
executive might propose the strategy
same at the 100,000-foot level, the
in terms of market share and revenue
definitions rapidly diverge as you delve
growth. The CFO will talk about stock
a bit deeper.
price and shareholder value.
In fact, hearing executives define
It is the responsibility of the chief
The General’s Art The word “strategy” comes from the Latin term “stratego,” meaning “the general’s art.” It refers to military conflict before planes, satellites, and instantaneous communication. Then, the general had to study the landscape where the battle was to take place. The general had to “envision” how the battle would evolve and create appropriate plans involving terrain and resources. It involved anticipation, action, and adaptation over and over throughout the battle. The “science” was in the military methods; the “art” was in seeing future events.
Why we have problems defining strategy
strategy is akin to the story of the
executive officer—who, by definition,
Why is defining strategy so difficult?
blind men describing an elephant, each
should also serve the role of chief
It is a function of several factors:
based on their individual perspective.
strategy officer—to aggregate and
In the story, one blind man feels the
assimilate these different perspectives
Functional perspective. As with the
sharp features of the tusk and says
into the company business strategy.
example of the blind men and the
the elephant is like a spear. Another
How often this actually happens is a
elephant, many executives’ view on
feels the strong flat side and says the
different subject altogether.
strategy is heavily influenced by their S P R I N G 2 019
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IMPLEMENTABLE
Strategic Goodness
functional perspective. They tend to see through a lens crafted over years and years of looking at business in a SUSTAINABLE
particular way, influenced by the role that they play within the organization.
COMPETITIVE
Experience. Experience also plays a major role in how an executive defines strategy. This includes what strategic methodologies an executive has been
organizations that died because they
something else. In the context of
exposed to in previous organizations.
couldn’t find that one home run and
business strategy, this type of strategic
In some organizations, strategy just
they ignored strategy.
analysis requires four components: market, customers, competitors,
sort of happens. In others, it’s a rigid process with little deviation.
Defining strategic ‘Goodness’
and solution offering (e.g., product, services, technology). Any successful
Training. Finally, the reality is
In defining strategy, another approach
strategy must be defined in terms of
that “strategy” is seldom taught in
is to ask executives to define “good-
these factors.
any formalized manner. Starting
ness” when it comes to business
with virtually every MBA program
strategy. In their response, you will
Implementable. Obviously, the great-
to ongoing executive education
typically hear performance metrics
est strategic direction for a company
programs, strategy is “touched” in
such as:
various classes, but rarely addressed as a “thought process,” much less a formal discipline. In fact, it is simply assumed that when an executive reaches a certain level in the organization, or has been assigned a particular
• Increases revenue and profitability • Increases market share • Successfully moves the company toward a long-range target These are all admirable and
has no value if it cannot be implemented. A strategy may define a clearly attractive marketplace position, but the company may simply be incapable of achieving it for various reasons: capital, human resources (capacity, capability, and/or commitment),
title, he or she already knows how to
certainly desirable results of a good
technological prowess, organizational
“do strategy.”
strategy. But that is all they are: the
processes, time frame, etc. In an
results or effects of a good strategy. We
economic environment with decreas-
return to the question of what makes a
ing availability of capital, the old adage
tant as strategy is to an organization,
good strategy—i.e., the “causes” that
of “play the best you can with the cards
it is often the result of an amalgama-
“effect” those desired results.
you were given” takes on a whole new
Consequently, as critically impor-
meaning. Additionally, for a strategy
tion of functional bias, eclectic thoughts, inconsistent processes, and personalities. Any survey would reveal a broad range of strategic approaches and, not surprisingly, different levels of strategic success. In other words, when
There are three common characteristics of good strategies: • They are competitive • They are implementable • They are sustainable
to be effectively implemented, it must be capable of being communicated in a manner that allows the organization to understand it, rally behind it, and act on it at all levels.
All three need to be optimized for
Sustainable. In order for a strategy
you’ve seen one business strategy—
the business strategy to be truly effec-
to be sustainable, there are two key
you’ve seen one business strategy.
tive. Though seemingly simple, the
requirements. First, the market must
implications of these three character-
be sustainable for a period of time
istics are specific and profound:
sufficient to make the company suc-
it comes to business strategy, once
Finally, in this day and age of “high-tech home runs” where an
cessful. There are plenty of examples of
organization develops one unique product or service and has a successful
Competitive. For a strategy to be
companies that were successful briefly,
run, strategy has been ignored. There
competitive, it needs to be measured
only to have their marketplace shift.
are valid cases of “no-strategy
against a baseline. In other words,
The key is appropriate marketplace
successes,” but the business high-
saying your company is “competitive”
segmentation. Second, and equally
way is littered with thousands of
implies it is being measured against
important, is the need for effective
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THE JABIAN JOURNAL
Effectiveness
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIC PLANNING
STRATEGIC PLANNING
STRATEGIC VISION
STRATEGIC VISION
STRATEGIC VISION
STRATEGIC THOUGHTS
STRATEGIC THOUGHTS
STRATEGIC THOUGHTS
Business strategy consists of the defined organization vision, processes, and resources that form the basis of
STRATEGIC THOUGHTS
Time/Evolution
successful competition within both current and future marketplaces. Finally, in actually developing an effective business strategy, the following elements need to be defined and integrated into an ongoing “strategic management process”:
processes and intellectual bandwidth
strategy within a company, this
to constantly examine the strategy
stage is characterized by quantifiable
and make corrections as required.
strategic objectives and goals. There is
Vision. This is the future state of the
Assumptions are a necessary part of
also a process for allocating resources
marketplace, successful strategy based
business. If they gravitate to being
based on strategy.
on the ability to see “over the horizon.”
number one reason for failure among
Strategic management. This is the
Mission. A clear understanding of
historically successful businesses.
stage where successful companies want
how the company will compete in that
to be. Strategy is part of a day-to-day
future marketplace.
sacrosanct, however, they are also the
As one can imagine, there are trade-offs in addressing these strate-
comprehensive management process in
gic elements. That is, a less competitive
which strategic information is identi-
Values. The operating guidelines of the
strategy is easier to implement, but
fied and stored for later processing;
organization.
may not be as sustainable. This “bal-
strategy addresses cultural require-
ance” must be optimized for a truly
ments; resource allocation is directly
Objectives. Major strategic aspirations
effective and successful strategy.
linked to the ROI of objectives and
that create competitiveness.
goals; and the practice of challenging Evolution of strategic thinking
assumptions is institutionalized within
Processes. To continually manage,
the organization.
challenge, and refine the strategy.
In developing a working definition of strategy, we must also consider the
Achieving the fourth stage
various levels of “strategic sophistica-
isn’t easy. It requires an integrated
tion” that can exist in an organization.
program of processes, education, and
We can view this sophistication in
training—particularly in develop-
essentially four “evolutionary stages”
ing executives and managers to be
of strategic thinking:
“strategic thinkers.”
Communications. Internal and external communiqués. Financial. Performance modeling. This article has been about
There is a vast gulf in the ability to
“defining” strategy. The next logical
Strategic thoughts. In this stage,
create and deploy successful business
step for the executive is now to learn
there are general impressions about
strategy between those executives
how to “develop” and then eventually
the future of the market and products/
who can execute the “mechanics” of
“manage” strategy.
services. They are not well articulated
strategy versus those who also have
and there are only informal linkages,
the ability to “think strategically.”
multi-dimensional subject that is
at best, to major company initiatives.
That is why great strategies are a
critically important for any successful
blend of science and art, analytics and
organization. It would seem the need
Strategic vision. In this stage, the
insight, right brain and left brain. This
to provide more regimented attention
company has an articulated vision of
is not a trivial distinction.
is more important today than ever before.
the future that addresses markets, products, customers, and competitors. However, linkages between strategy and major initiatives are still informal.
Business strategy is a complex,
Modern day business strategy definition
Don Turner don@turnerworld.com
So now we return to the question Strategic planning. Traditionally
“What is business strategy?” A simple
thought of as the desired state of
definition is: S P R I N G 2 019
67
The Final Word
Conversations with Business and Technology Leaders
Creating today’s video games requires technical expertise and art direction that rival most Hollywood blockbusters. Your son or daughter (or yourself if you’re like more than 60 percent of us) probably spends more time than you know within the brainchild of Mick Larkins, technical director at Hi-Rez Studios. We caught up with Mick to learn about what it takes to create the hottest technology, the future of eSports, and how you
MICK LARKINS
can make millions playing video games.
Tell me how you got connected to
Speaking of competing, how is Hi-Rez
Hi-Rez Studios.
into eSports?
I’ve been at Hi-Rez since it was founded
We’re in our sixth season of profes-
back in 2005. I now serve as the technical director, but as you can imagine, over the years I’ve worn a lot of hats. I come from a background in computer science and then got my Master of Fine Arts from Clemson, which helped me build the art team and be that connection to the technical side. What’s made Hi-Rez so successful? It took us five years to release our first game, Global Agenda, which is a long time for a start-up, but we were really
“ More people watch eSports than the Super Bowl and World Cup. ”
sional play. We host our own global tournament, and at our first one in 2015, the purse was more than $2.6 million. Today it’s quite a bit higher. eSports has started to mature, with other celebrities and athletes getting involved. Shaquille O’Neal owns a team that plays one of our games. The Utah Jazz organization owns a team. More people watch eSports than the Super Bowl and World Cup. Is that the future?
building the studio infrastructure,
We think it is only in its infancy in
proprietary back-end technology, and
terms of maturity. In fact, under a
architecture for what became an indus-
What’s new with your latest game?
try standard of play that we pioneered.
subsidiary company we created called Skillshot, we recently built the first-of-
When we started out, World of Warcraft
Our most recent game is called Realm
its-kind eSports arena in Alpharetta,
was the big online game, but it and
Royale, and with this game we’ve
Georgia complete with streaming,
others like it were on a subscription
introduced cross-play, meaning
analyst desks, stadium seating, etc.
model, which means you had to pay.
someone on a PC can play against
We modeled it after an ESPN studio.
This limited their growth because
someone on an Xbox and so on. This
We’re not only making games, but we’re
players would only subscribe to one or
was previously not available in the
also building what will be the future
two games, and so their market shrunk.
industry and is a significant technology
of eSports.
We pioneered the free-to-play model
lift on the back end, but allows for a
that allows you to purchase things like
much broader audience to enjoy and
character skins (appearances) or dif-
compete. Realm Royale combines the
ferent branded weapons, but nothing
best of first-player perspective and
that impacts game play.
multi-player environments.
68
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