Technology is proving to be a double edged sword. On the one hand it enables businesses to operate more efficiently than ever before. On the other hand it’s helping to erode the traditional sources of business differentiation.
“It’s never been easier or faster for your competitors to identify and imitate your product features and never more simple for your customers to source any number of alternatives to your solutions from anywhere in the planet,” says Jonathan Hall CEO of online strategy firm The Virtual Works.
“Technology is commoditising market spaces, increasing the intensity of rivalry in markets and flattening margins traditionally derived from product differentiation. Thanks to technology, leaders are now under pressure to find new ways to distinguish their brands in a vastly more competitive market spaces,” says Hall.
Humans: The differentiators of the future
According to Hall, technology has triggered a step change in the way the modern enterprise will need to compete. In his view, to thrive, businesses will need to focus less on what they supply and far more on distinguishing how they do business, to get and keep an advantage in the 21st century.
“The customers and stakeholder’s experience of an organisation are likely to be the key distinguisher in the highly connected and informed world that we operate in today” he says.
“Because an experience distinction relies entirely on people, organisations will need focus significantly more on the alignment, motivation, attitudes and competency of their people, people to realise the potential . Which is why the leverage of humans is showing up as a key priority for CEO”s in organisational priority research across the globe” says Hall
Big opportunity – big threats
“A differentiated experience of an enterprise justifies higher demand and higher margins for products and services,a” continues Hall.
“Global research proves that there are big paybacks to be gained from differentiating enterprise DNA. The 2013 Gallup Group research shows that engaged organisations typically get a whopping 147% better Total Shareholder return than industry rivals, 22% better profitability, up to 65% lower staff turnover and more than 18% improvements in quality and productivity” he reports.
But the same study reveals that over 70% of an average organisation’s people are not connected or aligned to their enterprise objectives, nor motivated to achieve it. The study also shows that 18% of an average workforce are actively disengaged – meaning that a little under a quarter of an ordinary team deliberately work against the aims of their employer.
“This situation presents huge opportunities to organisations that initiate employee alignment and engagement programmes. Studies have shown that as little as a 1% improvement in staff engagement levels impact is as much as a 9% improvement is sales.”
Like herding cats
But getting humans to collectively align and collaborate is challenging because humans have diverse receptors, perceptions, agendas and attitudes. Which is why many employee engagement initiatives have either failed to launch or collapsed early.
“Organisation that fail to structure employee mobilisation programmes on the foundations of human motivation psychology are setting themselves up for disappointment and wasted investment and effort,” says Hall.
“The programmes that work are founded on the key things that motivate employees. Extensive research into what motivates staff to invest discretionary effort in their firm’s success includes the following,” he says.
* Belonging to the enterprise community;
* Understanding the enterprise goal;
* A personal connection to the goal;
* Knowing what’s expected to contribute to success;
* Getting feedback on performance;
* Knowing how the organisation is progressing;
* Having ideas and suggestions heard;
* Being included in conversations and information;
* Getting recognised and appreciated for efforts; and
* Exploiting technology to engage staff effectively.
Leaps in the power of interactive technology and social media have made it far easier to align engage and appreciate staff. The Virtual Works have combined interactive technology, well researched employee motivation psychology and best-practice employee engagement methods into an on-line solution that makes it easy for organisations to establish and run an effective employee engagement programme.
Called iSight (because the application gives every employee a personal role in the organisations strategy and goals) it connects every employee to the enterprise community and its objectives. The system makes it simple for each member to self-track own performance and the impact on the enterprise progress monthly.
iSight gives every employee the tools to network, participate in plans, contribute ideas and link to the organisations information stream. The system also simplifies and legitimises the way employees get recognised and appreciated for their efforts. iSight shares information that pinpoints community success and challenge areas – empowering the whole enterprise community with performance insights.
“It works because it’s built on a deep understanding of how humans function” said Hall.
“iSight has helped Deloitte, PG Group and Centric Group firms to sustain engagement levels of around 80%,” says Hall.
Results achieved for clients earned The Virtual Works an Innovator of the Year Finalist award and a Technology Top 100 ranking.
