I’m scared. I’m scared for what this recession is doing to corporate America. I’m scared that we’ve lost our innovative edge. Why? I’m seeing more and more organizations work harder with fewer people to produce results. 24X7 is becoming more the norm. Organizational planning is a precedent.
The question to ask: Are we focused on our customers and our growth opportunities, or are we getting bogged down on internal activities that don’t drive meaningful results.
A.G. Lafley, CEO at Proctor and Gamble made a keen observation of the impact internal focus rather than external focus can have on an organization. In a recent HBR article entitled “What only the CEO can do”, he says that shaping values and standards of your organization is one of the critical roles of the CEO. But his point is that you can’t focus your values and standards internally – rather, you must define and focus your values and standards externally - to your customers and gain market alignment through the voice of the customer.
Last week I went walking through the headquarters of a large B2B organization. I noticed many people busy working away at spreadsheets, e-mails, and editing documents. What I didn’t notice, were many conversations or webinars with customers. Was anyone focused on account expansion or customer loyalty?
Lafley noticed the same issue at P&G when he decided he needed to reshape the values of the company. Take for instance his approach to redefining one of the company’s core values – “trust”. P&G employees interpreted “trust” in a way that put employees’ needs ahead of consumers’ - the employees, could trust that P&G was a good place to work and lifetime employment. Very internally focused. Lafley changed the meaning of “trust” to mean that customers could trust the brand P&G. This shift meant the company had to focus on understanding and delivering the brand promise to customers. Since this and many other shifts to focus on the customer, P&G’s revenues have doubled.
Are your company values rooted in working with each other and delivering internally – or are they oriented toward how you and your organization focus on serving the customer? After all, what would your organization be without your customers?
The question to ask: Are we focused on our customers and our growth opportunities, or are we getting bogged down on internal activities that don’t drive meaningful results.
A.G. Lafley, CEO at Proctor and Gamble made a keen observation of the impact internal focus rather than external focus can have on an organization. In a recent HBR article entitled “What only the CEO can do”, he says that shaping values and standards of your organization is one of the critical roles of the CEO. But his point is that you can’t focus your values and standards internally – rather, you must define and focus your values and standards externally - to your customers and gain market alignment through the voice of the customer.Last week I went walking through the headquarters of a large B2B organization. I noticed many people busy working away at spreadsheets, e-mails, and editing documents. What I didn’t notice, were many conversations or webinars with customers. Was anyone focused on account expansion or customer loyalty?
Lafley noticed the same issue at P&G when he decided he needed to reshape the values of the company. Take for instance his approach to redefining one of the company’s core values – “trust”. P&G employees interpreted “trust” in a way that put employees’ needs ahead of consumers’ - the employees, could trust that P&G was a good place to work and lifetime employment. Very internally focused. Lafley changed the meaning of “trust” to mean that customers could trust the brand P&G. This shift meant the company had to focus on understanding and delivering the brand promise to customers. Since this and many other shifts to focus on the customer, P&G’s revenues have doubled.
Are your company values rooted in working with each other and delivering internally – or are they oriented toward how you and your organization focus on serving the customer? After all, what would your organization be without your customers?
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