Business Value 102

Okay, activity in the workplace adds value if the customer is willing to pay for it. That’s Business Value 101. Easy enough there. Let’s go now to Business Value 102 where a new caveat is tagged: A workplace activity is value added if the customer is willing to pay for it and/or when the customer benefits from it. Here HR and Corporate Communication types may find some breathing room.

There are four components to Switch direction toward true business value, all of which shine a light on the customer:

1. If it increases market share, shortens the sales cycle, creates new opportunities, improves repeat orders and results in additional profitable revenue then it no-brainer adds value. This is simply the Business Value 101 definition restated in more detail.
2. If it directly improves margin by reducing costs and outputting the same or more in sellable product, enhanced service and better quality, then it is obviously valuable.
3. In general, if it provides more output for the same or less input (like an improvement initiative that increases service delivery cycle time), then it is value added.
4. If it enhances the customer’s experience in a positive way, adds stickiness, builds loyalty and improves the integrity and confidence in your ability to deliver, then that’s value for sure.

But that’s it. There are no other ways. That’s business Value 102.

Of course this begs the question, what can Human Resources and Corporate Communications functions do to ensure their strategy and agenda are laser focused at shining a light on the customer?  How do you make the Switch?  Big questions to be sure.  Detailed answers promise to be the subject of many future posts.  But the gist concerns changing your training agenda to teach employees about the customer; requiring  every employee to participate in an “Everybody Sells” approach to your product or service regardless of the position or job level in the organization; focusing internal communications on information and business tools that are frontline focused at “customer touch points” where employee and customer meet and greet; adopting a process improvement and project management methodology and applying it first in your own department before rolling it out companywide; driving employees to leverage existing technology for business value through empowerment, training and incentives; adopting marketing savvy from the people in your company who already have that expertise (Sales and Marketing) and applying the best-of  to your internal communications; and, conversely, using internal employee and corporate communications as a “pilot” test for advanced marketing approaches that will so impress the Sales Department to adopt it themselves.  Finally, develop HR communications, training, employee service and web gadgets and performance management and leadership development materials that are so good, so slick and so savvy that the customer really will buy them from you.   Piece of cake!  Business Value 102 demands it.  Stay with our posts or contact us to learn more. We are here to show you how to Switch HR.

Next we get personal with the value thing  in the human being sense of the word by scrutinizing HR’s favorite mantra: the almighty Value of People.