What do you do if your customer experience career is impacted by organizational changes?

Customer service is often undervalued or misunderstood in organisations, so at times of change, embracing and helping to steer the direction of change is important. Push your organisation to listen to the voice of your customer, amplified through you customer service teams. Use data to help frame and guide changes which offer improvement to the customer. The old saying 'you have to be in it to win it' applies here - be in the change and you have influence

The most successful CX engagements delight customers and citizens because they feel familiar, easy, and meet them where they are. Granddaughter expects information immediately on her phone, mum checks her email twice a day and grandma will always want an envelope to hit the mat. Whilst we all aspire to go fully digital, real time, ‘always on’ with communications, and that should be the aim, we are a generation maybe 2 from an entirely digital native audience, of course push innovation but recognizing and catering for all of the audience will ensure no one is left behind.

Change is constant. What enables to you navigate it is resilience. Resilience is a skill that can be developed. Look into techniques that will allow you to do this and ensure you maintain a healthy body and mind during the change. Maintain a positive outlook and look for the opportunities. Talk to your manager to understand what you can about the future landscape, support your team through the change cycle (Deming) and maintain regular and honest communications. Prepare action plans and options.

"Get Up & Ask" Organizational changes are a reflection of a company's progress. Staying valuable entails being attuned to pertinent skills and demands. This applies universally across teams, transcending beyond just CX. Being aware, positions you strategically to adapt to forthcoming changes and meet evolving role expectations head-on. Given the growth trajectory our nation is embarking on, the next decade promises to be particularly intriguing. Those who grasp this concept firmly will undoubtedly surge ahead in their respective domains.

"Close Loop" Now that you've equipped yourself with the essential skills to stay relevant and advance within the organization, it's time to invest in your personal growth by mastering those skills. Timing is crucial; don't delay in taking action while waiting for others to catch up.

Most Interesting part of a customer experience person is to communicate his/her value to the Organisation. Especially when the Org changes impact the CX career. I have personally experienced this situation and I'm proud to say I was able to handle the situation by communicating my true value to the Organisation where the skill I possess that directly aligns with the company's goal, and how my leadership capabilities can help them achieve their new goal with the Org changes. This not only helped me handle the new project with my skills that I exhibited but also made me one of the key resource for the company within a short span of time by seeing the success on the initiative. So never forget to communicate your value.

Be clear on your own value proposition. This may lead to you to move outside your current organisation. Prepare case studies and share these within your organisational network. Approach teams that you believe you can add value to and present your hypotheses articulating how. Ensure you define your impact to the bottom line as well as customers, as explicitly as possible. Present previous findings and opportunities that you believe can support the growth of the business and explain why you believe you could execute positive changes.

A great tool I have used is the Business Canvas (can find it online). This allows you to really consider your value proposition and forces you to consider your target customers, required resources and more. By using this structured approach you can work through and reflect on your future path. Another great tool I have used and regularly advise others to try is the Ikigai model. Essentially a large venn diagram where the intersection of the following provide you with with your "reason to live" or more clearly, your purpose. The 4 elements are : 1- What you love to do 2- What you are good at doing 3- What the world needs 4- What you can get paid for