The relationship between change and customer experience

One thing we can say for certain is that change, whether in the form of mergers, acquisitions or restructures, are all part of business life. New products and services are launched to satisfy the demands of an increasingly knowledgeable and connected society. Markets will grow and shrink, necessitating companies to do the same.

The shift to a customer focus rather than service or product will also mean change and organisations operating in this dynamic customer led environment have come to expect the pace, whilst others who are new to adopting a customer agenda are only now realising the implication of having to adapt to a constantly evolving environment.

In most cases recognising the need for change has not altered our attitude towards it. Whether streamlining under a financial cloud, responding to a new regulatory directive or becoming part of a bigger organisation, the benefits seem to remain hidden - despite the stated intentions and possible positive outcomes. The same applies to individual departments or functions that are combined or moved to be part of another. The dynamics are similar -the affect on us as individuals, rather than the positive outcome for the majority, seems to dominate. Employee owned or partner organisation.

Working for a weak organisation could be seen as delaying the inevitable with a period of uncertainty - or becoming part of a larger organisation providing stability and opportunity. There would seem to be two issues controlling our own destiny and trust in others, especially for business and political leaders.

How do organisations and individuals look to improve on the status quo? The experience of business leaders particularly during the more recent customer experience aware years, offers an insight into the challenges and the route to removing some of the fear and difficulties associated with change.

Driving change

The accepted view is that a centrally driven change management approach has the best chance of avoiding a car crash of failure. The downside is the perceived lack of control for individuals.

This approach also challenges the communicated /consultative element of change. There are plenty of examples where, from an individual’s perspective, it appears that the lunatics have taken over the asylum or the man from head office says do this but not how or why.

There is also a danger that resource driven project teams will manage resources and not the people.  For example, alignment of details of terms and conditions, bonuses, remuneration and performance measures are important considerations. Unfortunately the priority on timing can be different for individuals and the organisation and the implied agenda set by a new measurement needs to be taken into account. Simply reverting to call handling time measures for the time being can undo the customer experience message overnight. The introduction of sales targets may be necessary and the message retained by balancing them with service targets.

Inevitably a new parent company’s rules will be easier to accept if it has a reputation for being fair and its employee advocacy is good.

As we know, continuity is essential for both internal and external advocacy. Public and private sector organisations have witnessed that a lack of continuity has diminished the passion and pride people feel about their company or the service they provide.

A closer look reveals more advantages than just avoiding the road crash, slow evolution can be wearing, uncoordinated action even more disruptive and no action fatal. In which case swift well planed and decisive change is a good thing - perhaps it just needs to take account of the individual experience. …… continued