"What business are you really in?"
Tis the season when marketers and firm leaders dive deep into excel and power point exercises, as they conduct year-end performance reviews and look ahead towards 2015 planning. I wonder how many will stop for a moment and ask: “what business are we really in?” and take a different approach to short and long term strategy development.
Nearly 55 years ago, Theodore Levitt, a professor at Harvard Business School, articulated the importance of businesses focusing on clients’ needs in an article titled “Marketing Myopia,” which is a Harvard Business Review (HBR) favorite. He posed the question “what business are we really in” and provided a number of case studies, illustrating the peril facing organizations, which have ignored that question. I was recently reminded of this timeless concept not only by re-reading the re-published article, but also because I am beginning to see it more often in professional services firms in the form of marketing officers and firm leadership working together for the benefit of the client. It’s about time, one might say.
Thanks to this “clients first” concept, professional services marketing functions are enjoying a renaissance period. Professional services firms are recognizing the importance of “client centric approach” to their businesses, and thus their business growth strategies, and with that they are changing their historical definitions of marketing to encompass a more strategic and intelligent function. On their end, marketers are doing their part in raising their profiles by utilizing client data and analytics to drive growth and demonstrate their value in terms of dollars and cents. It’s a push - pull process that is leading the way and changing internal growth organizations. This trend is highlighted by the increasing tenure of CMO’s, according to leading executive search firms.
“An industry begins with the customer and his / her needs, not with a patent, a raw material, or a selling skill,” writes Levitt in the aforementioned article. Let that be a reminder that now that the marketing and strategy functions are finally working alongside, it is important to stay focused on what brought them together: the client. While it’s easy to get distracted by budgets, operations and tactics of delivering strategy and business growth plans, put your clients’ agenda first this year.
Consider changing your annual strategic planning process. Facilitate a session to answer the question “what business are we really in,” as well as how have your clients and their needs changed, and whether your business is still in line with them. Put aside the internal political minutiae. Shift your focus from developing new services or re-packaging existing ones to your clients. Expand the scope of the process to include a wider input pool: internal professionals across functions and external industry leaders, and most importantly, your clients. Think innovation, not preservation. Be prepared to reallocate resources in your budgets. And last but not least, make it a dynamic strategic planning / review process that takes place throughout the year.
If all else fails, at least go back through your client satisfaction surveys / interviews and outline just one additional initiative that you are going to undertake in 2015, which will focus on your clients’ needs. It might just help you outpace your competition and re-define your market.
By Mira Ilieva-Leonard
Mira.ilieva-leonard@istile.com
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
Monday, December 8, 2014
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY IN GROWING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
How to make the most out of technology tools
Technology can and should be used to offer leverage and amplify the business growth efforts of professional services firms, both at the firm and individual practice level. As with anything else, before selecting which tools to use it is critical to have clear strategy, defined key performing indicators (KPIs) and realistic expectations in mind. Below is a list of the most popular technology tools with professional services firms (PSFs), some of their features, pros and cons as well as general best practices. Note that each of them might support different or several segments of the sales process (e.g. Lead generation, engagement, etc.) and offer different ROI when evaluated individually.
Email marketing is one of the most well established technologies in the PSF market. E-mail is still a very powerful tool notwithstanding its overuse in the marketplace, and dismissal by many BD professionals. When coupled with analytics, it can be a marketer’s go-to technology platform. However, if not structured properly, email marketing can often provide a one-way communication, with limited opportunities for dialogue with the audience. To make the most out of email marketing, try to launch a dialogue with the readers, strive to have compelling and relevant content, and focus the communication to the right audience with the right packaging.
Blogs have become very popular with PSFs because they offer very easy publication capabilities for individual professionals and content focus (e.g. industry, specific technical point, etc.). A blog can also be viewed as a bit more engaging than the one way broadcasting of emails because it invites feedback through reader comment sections. As such, it might be considered “higher” on the client acquisition value chain. The biggest challenge with blogs is following a diligent and disciplined approach to content creation. To make the most of blogs, the creator must develop a content schedule and distribution strategy regardless of whether the blog is powered by individual technical professional or marketing and knowledge teams.
Driven by easy access, low entry cost and an army of young marketing professionals very comfortable with the medium, Social Media has received a lot of attention with PSFs, undeservingly so, some might say. Not all social media tools are created equal. LinkedIn, Twitter, Google +, and others offer different value to marketing and business growth of professional services firms. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of having a clear understanding of the tools and a strategy in place on how to use them. Based on your objective, LinkedIn, for example, can be used in many different ways, e.g. as a mass communication platform, intelligence gathering tool, engagement facilitation portal with existing and prospective connections (note that there’s a difference between connections and contacts), etc. We can apply similar reasoning to Twitter; are you broadcasting or listening, and why? How do you use these tools and why?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become one of the most dreaded three letter words in professional service firms, so much so that some firms have tried to use different acronyms. In many cases CRMs have become synonyms for expensive and often unsuccessful change management exercises. This “infamy” is unfortunate. CRMs offer key functionality for smart business growth such as targeting and segmentation, and have great success stories for collaboration, cross-sell and client service efficiency, as evidenced by the 2013 “Managing Client Relationships” report, produced by the Managing Partners’ Forum and their partners (you can find a copy of the full report here) The challenges presented with CRMs are many. They include data collection, input and upkeep – which can be time consuming and require discipline, adoption and utilization – which require training and firm-wide buy-in, or what typically occurs is the CRM is limited to a few administrative functions which vastly underutilize the capabilities of the system. In order for CRMs to be successful and offer positive ROI they require big percentages of firm wide use. With that in mind, having a clear strategy and reasonable expectations must be at the forefront of CRM implementation projects. This requires cross-functional collaboration between C-level Management, Marketing, IT and HR.
Marketing Automation is the latest trend in technology tools designed to impact the top line. To a big extent, marketing automation ties all of the above-mentioned tools together plus SEO’s and analytics. A few PSFs are venturing and experimenting with this tool, but the jury is still out. The main question to consider is whether PSFs can generate enough relevant content to constantly feed the marketing automation machine and get a reasonable ROI on the investment in the system and its support personnel. Marketing and knowledge teams, assisted by technical professionals, will need to work together to map the client acquisition journey (to use product marketing terminology) and develop appropriate content. They will also need to keep in mind that the decision buying process might be different for different services and clients.
There are of course other technology tools such Websites & Content Management Systems (CMS), Search Engine Optimization, Big Data & Analytics, etc. that I will not cover now because of the questionable nature of their direct impact to business growth, at least as of this writing. Websites & CMS are mainly seen as informative and credibility building tools rather than drivers of business growth. Only a select few firms thus far are undergoing investments in Big Data & Analytics, i.e., mining and analyzing the data available to them to provide data to assist studying buyers’ behavior and for productizing services. And most importantly, even fewer still are taking the next step and acting on the data analysis. The business growth opportunity with Big Data is here, but it is not fully understood by professional services firms yet.
There’s no doubt that technology tools offer business growth leverage at both individual and firm levels. If there’s one key takeaway from this brief piece is that these tools are only as valuable as the strategy of their use. Those who don’t “think it through” before trying to implement these tools may find a lot of frustrated professionals and low adoption rates within their firms. So, before jumping on the next technology trend ask yourself why, what you expect to achieve, how you are going to use it, and if you have the time and resources to dedicate to it.
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
By Mira Ilieva-Leonard Mira.ilieva-leonard@istile.com
Technology can and should be used to offer leverage and amplify the business growth efforts of professional services firms, both at the firm and individual practice level. As with anything else, before selecting which tools to use it is critical to have clear strategy, defined key performing indicators (KPIs) and realistic expectations in mind. Below is a list of the most popular technology tools with professional services firms (PSFs), some of their features, pros and cons as well as general best practices. Note that each of them might support different or several segments of the sales process (e.g. Lead generation, engagement, etc.) and offer different ROI when evaluated individually.
Email marketing is one of the most well established technologies in the PSF market. E-mail is still a very powerful tool notwithstanding its overuse in the marketplace, and dismissal by many BD professionals. When coupled with analytics, it can be a marketer’s go-to technology platform. However, if not structured properly, email marketing can often provide a one-way communication, with limited opportunities for dialogue with the audience. To make the most out of email marketing, try to launch a dialogue with the readers, strive to have compelling and relevant content, and focus the communication to the right audience with the right packaging.
Blogs have become very popular with PSFs because they offer very easy publication capabilities for individual professionals and content focus (e.g. industry, specific technical point, etc.). A blog can also be viewed as a bit more engaging than the one way broadcasting of emails because it invites feedback through reader comment sections. As such, it might be considered “higher” on the client acquisition value chain. The biggest challenge with blogs is following a diligent and disciplined approach to content creation. To make the most of blogs, the creator must develop a content schedule and distribution strategy regardless of whether the blog is powered by individual technical professional or marketing and knowledge teams.
Driven by easy access, low entry cost and an army of young marketing professionals very comfortable with the medium, Social Media has received a lot of attention with PSFs, undeservingly so, some might say. Not all social media tools are created equal. LinkedIn, Twitter, Google +, and others offer different value to marketing and business growth of professional services firms. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of having a clear understanding of the tools and a strategy in place on how to use them. Based on your objective, LinkedIn, for example, can be used in many different ways, e.g. as a mass communication platform, intelligence gathering tool, engagement facilitation portal with existing and prospective connections (note that there’s a difference between connections and contacts), etc. We can apply similar reasoning to Twitter; are you broadcasting or listening, and why? How do you use these tools and why?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become one of the most dreaded three letter words in professional service firms, so much so that some firms have tried to use different acronyms. In many cases CRMs have become synonyms for expensive and often unsuccessful change management exercises. This “infamy” is unfortunate. CRMs offer key functionality for smart business growth such as targeting and segmentation, and have great success stories for collaboration, cross-sell and client service efficiency, as evidenced by the 2013 “Managing Client Relationships” report, produced by the Managing Partners’ Forum and their partners (you can find a copy of the full report here) The challenges presented with CRMs are many. They include data collection, input and upkeep – which can be time consuming and require discipline, adoption and utilization – which require training and firm-wide buy-in, or what typically occurs is the CRM is limited to a few administrative functions which vastly underutilize the capabilities of the system. In order for CRMs to be successful and offer positive ROI they require big percentages of firm wide use. With that in mind, having a clear strategy and reasonable expectations must be at the forefront of CRM implementation projects. This requires cross-functional collaboration between C-level Management, Marketing, IT and HR.
Marketing Automation is the latest trend in technology tools designed to impact the top line. To a big extent, marketing automation ties all of the above-mentioned tools together plus SEO’s and analytics. A few PSFs are venturing and experimenting with this tool, but the jury is still out. The main question to consider is whether PSFs can generate enough relevant content to constantly feed the marketing automation machine and get a reasonable ROI on the investment in the system and its support personnel. Marketing and knowledge teams, assisted by technical professionals, will need to work together to map the client acquisition journey (to use product marketing terminology) and develop appropriate content. They will also need to keep in mind that the decision buying process might be different for different services and clients.
There are of course other technology tools such Websites & Content Management Systems (CMS), Search Engine Optimization, Big Data & Analytics, etc. that I will not cover now because of the questionable nature of their direct impact to business growth, at least as of this writing. Websites & CMS are mainly seen as informative and credibility building tools rather than drivers of business growth. Only a select few firms thus far are undergoing investments in Big Data & Analytics, i.e., mining and analyzing the data available to them to provide data to assist studying buyers’ behavior and for productizing services. And most importantly, even fewer still are taking the next step and acting on the data analysis. The business growth opportunity with Big Data is here, but it is not fully understood by professional services firms yet.
There’s no doubt that technology tools offer business growth leverage at both individual and firm levels. If there’s one key takeaway from this brief piece is that these tools are only as valuable as the strategy of their use. Those who don’t “think it through” before trying to implement these tools may find a lot of frustrated professionals and low adoption rates within their firms. So, before jumping on the next technology trend ask yourself why, what you expect to achieve, how you are going to use it, and if you have the time and resources to dedicate to it.
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
By Mira Ilieva-Leonard Mira.ilieva-leonard@istile.com
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Clients changing the business of law
How are firms dealing with it and what it all means in practice?
I was recently invited to moderate a panel of law firm CFO’s for the Southeastern Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association, titled “The Evolution of Law Firm Finance and Its Impact on Business Development.” The panel considered the following circumstances and how they have impacted the business of law. As a result of the recent recession law firms are undergoing overwhelming change. Many of them are retooling their financial strategies by adopting alternative pricing methods, shifting operational financing, improving vendor management, and most importantly, how they go about attracting, serving, and retaining top clients. In other words, firms are modifying their way of doing business to better align with the demands of corporate America. So what does that mean for the industry in practice?
Below please find some of the key takeaways from the conversation along with my personal observations. A side note: in my experience this trend is not limited to law firms and is evident across the professional services industries. Many of the points brought up during the conversation are applicable to professionals offering consulting, accounting, and other business services.
The fact that clients today are expecting the same high quality services for lower cost worries some professionals, but hasn’t persuaded them to change their pricing model. Some cling to the notion that this is only a fad and “the good old days” of buyers’ flexible budgets will return. If neither are willing to change their thinking, both groups will soon become industry laggards.
This shift from a revenue- to a cost- based law firm business, where “profit” is the name of the game is clear. It presents many opportunities for firms ready to improve performance and leverage efficiency. However, the transition is not easy, which makes the hesitation of the above-mentioned laggards understandable. It necessitates a “one size fits none” mentality, where firms must take a segmented positioning attitude for various practices and partners, and learn both the consultative and commodity approaches of selling legal services. It requires applying new staffing and project management models, such as “the pyramid” staffing model for consulting and other deep expertise services, and / or “the diamond” model for highly leveraged, packaged services. It also calls for new skill sets: project management, financial understanding, change management, collaborative skills; and new tools: financial dashboards, collaborative index, etc.
Marketers and Billable Professionals: CFOs are your new best friends. In order to succeed in this environment, marketers and billable professionals will need to understand the business of the firm and the various individual practices. In addition to joining forces on addressing RFP’s, they will need to work with CFO’s to package services: define how to sell and deliver them in order to keep healthy profit margins, and create business models to stay competitive and win business. They will need to communicate often to identify where the systems and processes can be improved to serve clients better. They will need to track Marketing/BD spending and measure ROI, to better evaluate business growth initiatives and create more accurate budgets. Ultimately, they need to align their agendas to champion change to create and employ the supporting systems, skills and processes.
The CFO’s sitting next to me for this session might be some of the most progressive ones I’ve encountered. I was delighted to hear them speak about changing behavior, collaboration, and building a different type of organizational culture. They understood what it would take to make the transition: to meet their clients’ expectations and remain relevant.
The bottom line: change is upon us and instead of wasting time and energy fighting it, embrace it. Accept that with the new business model new compensation structures are afoot and necessary to change behavior and overall firm culture. Adopt new KPI’s (key performing indicators) such as team profitability, cross selling, and collaboration. Understand that "not all clients are created equal;” approach them and structure delivery accordingly.
It is indeed a transformative period for the legal and other business services industries. Progressive firms that will act upon this shift quickly, and put the wheels of change in motion, will stand out. Will you join them? At iStile, we work with firms to help them take advantage of such opportunities by structuring and implementing the necessary systems and equipping the management team and professionals with the necessary skills.
By Mira Ilieva-Leonard Mira.ilieva-leonard@istile.com
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
I was recently invited to moderate a panel of law firm CFO’s for the Southeastern Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association, titled “The Evolution of Law Firm Finance and Its Impact on Business Development.” The panel considered the following circumstances and how they have impacted the business of law. As a result of the recent recession law firms are undergoing overwhelming change. Many of them are retooling their financial strategies by adopting alternative pricing methods, shifting operational financing, improving vendor management, and most importantly, how they go about attracting, serving, and retaining top clients. In other words, firms are modifying their way of doing business to better align with the demands of corporate America. So what does that mean for the industry in practice?
Below please find some of the key takeaways from the conversation along with my personal observations. A side note: in my experience this trend is not limited to law firms and is evident across the professional services industries. Many of the points brought up during the conversation are applicable to professionals offering consulting, accounting, and other business services.
The fact that clients today are expecting the same high quality services for lower cost worries some professionals, but hasn’t persuaded them to change their pricing model. Some cling to the notion that this is only a fad and “the good old days” of buyers’ flexible budgets will return. If neither are willing to change their thinking, both groups will soon become industry laggards.
This shift from a revenue- to a cost- based law firm business, where “profit” is the name of the game is clear. It presents many opportunities for firms ready to improve performance and leverage efficiency. However, the transition is not easy, which makes the hesitation of the above-mentioned laggards understandable. It necessitates a “one size fits none” mentality, where firms must take a segmented positioning attitude for various practices and partners, and learn both the consultative and commodity approaches of selling legal services. It requires applying new staffing and project management models, such as “the pyramid” staffing model for consulting and other deep expertise services, and / or “the diamond” model for highly leveraged, packaged services. It also calls for new skill sets: project management, financial understanding, change management, collaborative skills; and new tools: financial dashboards, collaborative index, etc.
Marketers and Billable Professionals: CFOs are your new best friends. In order to succeed in this environment, marketers and billable professionals will need to understand the business of the firm and the various individual practices. In addition to joining forces on addressing RFP’s, they will need to work with CFO’s to package services: define how to sell and deliver them in order to keep healthy profit margins, and create business models to stay competitive and win business. They will need to communicate often to identify where the systems and processes can be improved to serve clients better. They will need to track Marketing/BD spending and measure ROI, to better evaluate business growth initiatives and create more accurate budgets. Ultimately, they need to align their agendas to champion change to create and employ the supporting systems, skills and processes.
The CFO’s sitting next to me for this session might be some of the most progressive ones I’ve encountered. I was delighted to hear them speak about changing behavior, collaboration, and building a different type of organizational culture. They understood what it would take to make the transition: to meet their clients’ expectations and remain relevant.
The bottom line: change is upon us and instead of wasting time and energy fighting it, embrace it. Accept that with the new business model new compensation structures are afoot and necessary to change behavior and overall firm culture. Adopt new KPI’s (key performing indicators) such as team profitability, cross selling, and collaboration. Understand that "not all clients are created equal;” approach them and structure delivery accordingly.
It is indeed a transformative period for the legal and other business services industries. Progressive firms that will act upon this shift quickly, and put the wheels of change in motion, will stand out. Will you join them? At iStile, we work with firms to help them take advantage of such opportunities by structuring and implementing the necessary systems and equipping the management team and professionals with the necessary skills.
By Mira Ilieva-Leonard Mira.ilieva-leonard@istile.com
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
Friday, June 13, 2014
GOT CHANGE?
Practical tips on introducing and successfully implementing new ideas, processes, etc…
For the past several years I’ve spent the majority of my time in Europe, which I discovered uses an extraordinary amount of change (coins). “Change” –whether used to mean “coins” or “transition” - is not popular nor convenient (it is heavy and bulky); it is necessary (from the most trivial to the most unexpected activities), and it is everywhere, and ultimately becomes part of one’s normal life. In many respects, Europeans pride themselves on their resistance to change through preservation of culture and traditions – and they continue to use coins for most transactions. Yet, Europe is also a symbol of political and economic change as it seeks to break down national borders and create a single currency. . . Notwithstanding the images of 1000 year old castles, and clinging to traditions, in many respects they are much more advanced than the “innovators” on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. I can’t help but think that if Europeans can resist change, and at the same time embrace it as political and economic borders begin to erode, then we need to carefully identify why some change can take hold, while other is impossible to implement.
Why is it so difficult for some kinds of behavior change to take hold? How do we reduce the amount of time fighting change and ensure high adoption rates?
In my function I often act as a change agent (I have mixed feelings about the term) and while I personally enjoy change (I thrive on it really), I am puzzled by how others behave when they are exposed to it. Because of that I’ve spent a good bit of time reading and studying change: behavioral change, change management, how to present change to increase its adoption rate, why it’s hard to change people, how to reset your brain, the latter two coming from articles and books such as: “Change or Die”, Alan Deutschman (#changeordie) and “Driving Change”, Mike Brewster (#drivingchange). They all explain that change and the perceived discomfort and the uncertainty it brings are scary for most people.
“Sixty percent of change initiatives result in failure. Change is always very hard, so choose your battles and focus your efforts…lawyers are typically more resistant to change than most,” claims a recent article in Managing Partner, a UK based publication catering to the legal industry, June 2014. I am not surprised with this number. In fact, my anecdotal research would claim that the number of failed change activities is even higher and closer to seventy-five percent across professional services organizations (law, accounting, advisory, etc.), my field of expertise.
Is it necessary to change? And, why are we trying so hard and over and over again to change people? For organizations to evolve, do we need to change? Should we just adopt the Darwin’s model and let organizations prone to change survive and let others become obsolete? Change is good and necessary. Placidity is stifling and brings conformity. The real question in my opinion is what are we really changing when we talk about altering organizations: people or their behavior? An article in the June, 2014 issue of Scientific American, titled “Good Habits, Bad Habits” talks about the complex process of building and re-programming habitual behavior. It turns out, what it appears to be a simple act of automatic behavior is not as simple after all. Multiple parts of the human brain are involved when building habits and almost as many once the habit is imprinted and is processed. Given that the majority of our daily existence is a series of habitual acts, which once laid down employ chunks of neural activity, it’s no surprise it’s so difficult to change human behavior.
All of the materials I’ve come across on the subject also talk about how to go about managing change –the traditional model of denial, the one of co-creation...There are some great frameworks to assist you in the process. Before you evaluate them and select which ones to employ I would suggest you gauge the adaptability of the organization / people. You can do so by looking at past performance, use structured assessment tests, etc. From my practical experience, openness to change equals desire to learn, so that’s usually my first clue. The organizations and professionals I’ve worked with and have had the highest rate of change management success are ones with obvious and exemplary attitude towards learning. I am referring to general curiosity and aptitude to absorb knowledge: industry and technically related, or even just generic (including pop culture, sports, etc.).
Once you have a sense of how challenging your change management task might be, multiply it by two as well as the project time and resources, and the chances are that you’ll still underestimate its complexity. Here are a few practical pointers to keep in mind through the process:
- Break the project down to small, digestible work streams.
- Articulate benefits – overall and individual (mind you that those might vary for different audiences).
- Provide a support system and tools.
- Let people process it at their own rate.
- Celebrate small wins.
- Have a failsafe plan (or a few).
- Provide constant cues and rewards in effort to build new habits.
- Equip yourself and the change management team with patience.
Progress and change are inevitable. For a sustainable change to take hold it takes time and perseverance – it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And for our European friends and their paradox – well, how it all plays out with the EU and euro in the long term will be the ultimate test of their ability to deal with change. Good luck!
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
For the past several years I’ve spent the majority of my time in Europe, which I discovered uses an extraordinary amount of change (coins). “Change” –whether used to mean “coins” or “transition” - is not popular nor convenient (it is heavy and bulky); it is necessary (from the most trivial to the most unexpected activities), and it is everywhere, and ultimately becomes part of one’s normal life. In many respects, Europeans pride themselves on their resistance to change through preservation of culture and traditions – and they continue to use coins for most transactions. Yet, Europe is also a symbol of political and economic change as it seeks to break down national borders and create a single currency. . . Notwithstanding the images of 1000 year old castles, and clinging to traditions, in many respects they are much more advanced than the “innovators” on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. I can’t help but think that if Europeans can resist change, and at the same time embrace it as political and economic borders begin to erode, then we need to carefully identify why some change can take hold, while other is impossible to implement.
Why is it so difficult for some kinds of behavior change to take hold? How do we reduce the amount of time fighting change and ensure high adoption rates?
In my function I often act as a change agent (I have mixed feelings about the term) and while I personally enjoy change (I thrive on it really), I am puzzled by how others behave when they are exposed to it. Because of that I’ve spent a good bit of time reading and studying change: behavioral change, change management, how to present change to increase its adoption rate, why it’s hard to change people, how to reset your brain, the latter two coming from articles and books such as: “Change or Die”, Alan Deutschman (#changeordie) and “Driving Change”, Mike Brewster (#drivingchange). They all explain that change and the perceived discomfort and the uncertainty it brings are scary for most people.
“Sixty percent of change initiatives result in failure. Change is always very hard, so choose your battles and focus your efforts…lawyers are typically more resistant to change than most,” claims a recent article in Managing Partner, a UK based publication catering to the legal industry, June 2014. I am not surprised with this number. In fact, my anecdotal research would claim that the number of failed change activities is even higher and closer to seventy-five percent across professional services organizations (law, accounting, advisory, etc.), my field of expertise.
Is it necessary to change? And, why are we trying so hard and over and over again to change people? For organizations to evolve, do we need to change? Should we just adopt the Darwin’s model and let organizations prone to change survive and let others become obsolete? Change is good and necessary. Placidity is stifling and brings conformity. The real question in my opinion is what are we really changing when we talk about altering organizations: people or their behavior? An article in the June, 2014 issue of Scientific American, titled “Good Habits, Bad Habits” talks about the complex process of building and re-programming habitual behavior. It turns out, what it appears to be a simple act of automatic behavior is not as simple after all. Multiple parts of the human brain are involved when building habits and almost as many once the habit is imprinted and is processed. Given that the majority of our daily existence is a series of habitual acts, which once laid down employ chunks of neural activity, it’s no surprise it’s so difficult to change human behavior.
All of the materials I’ve come across on the subject also talk about how to go about managing change –the traditional model of denial, the one of co-creation...There are some great frameworks to assist you in the process. Before you evaluate them and select which ones to employ I would suggest you gauge the adaptability of the organization / people. You can do so by looking at past performance, use structured assessment tests, etc. From my practical experience, openness to change equals desire to learn, so that’s usually my first clue. The organizations and professionals I’ve worked with and have had the highest rate of change management success are ones with obvious and exemplary attitude towards learning. I am referring to general curiosity and aptitude to absorb knowledge: industry and technically related, or even just generic (including pop culture, sports, etc.).
Once you have a sense of how challenging your change management task might be, multiply it by two as well as the project time and resources, and the chances are that you’ll still underestimate its complexity. Here are a few practical pointers to keep in mind through the process:
- Break the project down to small, digestible work streams.
- Articulate benefits – overall and individual (mind you that those might vary for different audiences).
- Provide a support system and tools.
- Let people process it at their own rate.
- Celebrate small wins.
- Have a failsafe plan (or a few).
- Provide constant cues and rewards in effort to build new habits.
- Equip yourself and the change management team with patience.
Progress and change are inevitable. For a sustainable change to take hold it takes time and perseverance – it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And for our European friends and their paradox – well, how it all plays out with the EU and euro in the long term will be the ultimate test of their ability to deal with change. Good luck!
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
"BUSINESSES LEADING THE DEBATE FOR CHANGE" | 2014 EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER
It is this time of the year when Edelman publishes its renowned annual study of the state of global consumer trust. Trust is the basis of building relationships with consumers and clients, and thus is the core of all meaningful business relationships. I’ve been genuinely interested in the findings of the survey and followed it for the past several years. For a third year, I will share key points of the survey below and direct the attention of my friends and colleagues to this insightful tool. Hopefully, you also find the subject of building and retaining trust as intriguing as I do. Please consider how the lessons from this survey might affect you and your clients’ organizations directly.
General Findings
While there’s an overall decline in trust over the past year, there are significant variations on a regional basis. There was a decline in trust in the USA, France, Mexico, and an increase in trust in the UAE, Argentina, and Indonesia, to name a few. Similarly to 2013, NGO’s and businesses are leading the way in terms of keeping the public’s trust, while governments and media continue to lose it. The trust gap between the informed and the general public is staggering, underlining the importance of constant communication and education when earning and retaining trust.
Technology remains the most trusted industry sector. The banking and finance sectors are yet again at the low end of consumer trust barometer, with those selling financial advisory/asset management services at the very bottom.
Size and location matter
While general trust in business is leveling in comparison to the past, businesses in the West have to work harder than their colleagues in the developing markets to maintain that level, reflecting the overall growth market expectations.
Diving deeper into geographical segments, it is interesting to note that Germany is on the bottom of the list of financial sector trust level, alongside Spain and Ireland. Again, I found it surprising to see Germany, Sweden and the UK on the bottom of that list in the energy sector.
A note for multinationals: HQ location matters. BRICs nations suffer trust deficit compared to Western-based companies. One might argue that governance and compliance are attributable to those results. Size also matters. Family-owned, as well as small and medium sized businesses, show a near-global advantage (except in Asia) when it comes to trust, which seems related to the overall perceptions of the companies. Family owned, small- and mid-sized companies are perceived to be more responsive to customers’ needs, more entrepreneurial and innovative.
What and who do you trust most?
Trust in media is on the decline, which should prompt us to question the communication channels used to deliver key messages. On-line search however leads as a source to turn to for general business information, breaking news, and confirmation of news about business; assess how much importance is put into SEO and adjust it accordingly.
CEO’s/business leaders are still not the most trusted source. Peers/regular employees have gained significant ground in being perceived as trusted sources, which may be attributable to the dominance of social networks and the increasing importance of "friends’" recommendations.
How do we build trust?
Following last year’s introduction of five key trust building segments: engagement, integrity, product & services, purpose and operations, this year the study underlines engagement and integrity as high-priority segments with significant opportunity for improvement. It also draws a direct correlation between certain positive behaviors, such as “pays appropriate level of tax,” “ensures quality control,” etc. with increased trust, and negative indicators, such as “unethical business practices” and “misrepresents the company,” with decreased trust levels – these are key segments of trust building.
This short article provides only a snapshot of this report’s many insights. I highly recommend that you make time to review the study and take into consideration its results in your 2014 strategic development planning.
For copies of Edelman’s 2014 Trust reports, visit the following website: http://www.slideshare.net/EdelmanInsights/2014-edelman-trust-barometer
For past articles and reports, click here: http://mirailievaleonard.blogspot.com/2013/01/where-is-trust.html
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
General Findings
While there’s an overall decline in trust over the past year, there are significant variations on a regional basis. There was a decline in trust in the USA, France, Mexico, and an increase in trust in the UAE, Argentina, and Indonesia, to name a few. Similarly to 2013, NGO’s and businesses are leading the way in terms of keeping the public’s trust, while governments and media continue to lose it. The trust gap between the informed and the general public is staggering, underlining the importance of constant communication and education when earning and retaining trust.
Technology remains the most trusted industry sector. The banking and finance sectors are yet again at the low end of consumer trust barometer, with those selling financial advisory/asset management services at the very bottom.
Size and location matter
While general trust in business is leveling in comparison to the past, businesses in the West have to work harder than their colleagues in the developing markets to maintain that level, reflecting the overall growth market expectations.
Diving deeper into geographical segments, it is interesting to note that Germany is on the bottom of the list of financial sector trust level, alongside Spain and Ireland. Again, I found it surprising to see Germany, Sweden and the UK on the bottom of that list in the energy sector.
A note for multinationals: HQ location matters. BRICs nations suffer trust deficit compared to Western-based companies. One might argue that governance and compliance are attributable to those results. Size also matters. Family-owned, as well as small and medium sized businesses, show a near-global advantage (except in Asia) when it comes to trust, which seems related to the overall perceptions of the companies. Family owned, small- and mid-sized companies are perceived to be more responsive to customers’ needs, more entrepreneurial and innovative.
What and who do you trust most?
Trust in media is on the decline, which should prompt us to question the communication channels used to deliver key messages. On-line search however leads as a source to turn to for general business information, breaking news, and confirmation of news about business; assess how much importance is put into SEO and adjust it accordingly.
CEO’s/business leaders are still not the most trusted source. Peers/regular employees have gained significant ground in being perceived as trusted sources, which may be attributable to the dominance of social networks and the increasing importance of "friends’" recommendations.
How do we build trust?
Following last year’s introduction of five key trust building segments: engagement, integrity, product & services, purpose and operations, this year the study underlines engagement and integrity as high-priority segments with significant opportunity for improvement. It also draws a direct correlation between certain positive behaviors, such as “pays appropriate level of tax,” “ensures quality control,” etc. with increased trust, and negative indicators, such as “unethical business practices” and “misrepresents the company,” with decreased trust levels – these are key segments of trust building.
This short article provides only a snapshot of this report’s many insights. I highly recommend that you make time to review the study and take into consideration its results in your 2014 strategic development planning.
For copies of Edelman’s 2014 Trust reports, visit the following website: http://www.slideshare.net/EdelmanInsights/2014-edelman-trust-barometer
For past articles and reports, click here: http://mirailievaleonard.blogspot.com/2013/01/where-is-trust.html
© 2010-2014 Copyright Mira Ilieva Leonard / iStile All rights reserved
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