Customer Movers Report
Michelle Ansell
Improving New Hire Retention. Executive and Professional Search Permanent & Interim Management Recruitment. COO, Chief Customer Officer, Director roles. Expertise in CX/EX, Transformation. Committed to Diversity.
Douglas Jackson has just published the latest Customer Movers data.
Since 2022, we have been tracking three primary customer-focused roles:
Among these key roles, we have observed a significant, 30% increase in appointments compared to the same period in 2023.
Specifically, there were 125 appointments during the first half of 2024 compared to 96 in the same period in 2023. Additionally, there were 94 appointments in the last six months of 2022.
This data, which includes both internal promotions and external hires, shows positive signs for the CX community in the appointments of these key roles. The Chief Customer Officer role continues to grow month on month and year on year. Q2 saw a 61% uplift in CCO hires, which followed a 300% uplift in Q1 of 2024.
While the Customer Service Director saw a reduction in hires, I believe that this appears to be due to the ongoing shift away from the Customer Service Director role, to that of Customer Experience, with more organisations opting for a Customer Experience Director or Director of Customer Experience instead of a Customer Service Director. The CX Director role was also up 40%.
Go to the full details of the report here.
I have put together a couple of slides and some commentary here, which you might be interested in watching here.
The attached data and insights are encouraging. In my discussions with senior CX leaders, Directors, as well as CEOs and COOs, we've explored the evolving landscape of top-tier roles and the CX sector as a whole.
Some believe that CX is no longer a priority, or that other issues have overshadowed it recently. This sentiment is echoed by the Customer Service Institute's latest data from the July UKCSI report on customer satisfaction:
The July 2024 UKCSI score is 75.8 (out of 100), a slight decrease of 0.8 points compared to July 2023, and 2.6 points below its peak of 78.4 in July 2022.
Many have shared that numerous leaders have been displaced or, that CX functions have been reorganised or realigned. Similar to the recent industry rebalance across tech related roles and 'The Great Layoffs', despite widespread redundancies, the sector as a whole still employed over 80% more people than pre-2020 levels. I believe a similar, though not as drastic, shift has occurred in CX. We now see larger and more numerous customer functions within organisations. A rebalance was necessary as organisations, people, processes, and technology continue to learn and evolve.
According a recent article in Forbes; Customer Experience (CX) remains a top priority for companies in 2024, they said, businesses are increasingly focusing on enhancing the overall customer journey rather than just addressing isolated customer service issues. This shift is evident in the growing emphasis on roles like the Chief Customer Officer and Customer Experience Director, reflecting a broader strategy to integrate customer feedback and improve satisfaction at every touchpoint.
In addition Digital transformation is accelerating the evolution of CX roles. With the rapid adoption of digital technologies, and the advancements of behavioural science, companies are investing heavily in CX strategies that leverage data analytics, AI, and machine learning. This trend is driving the demand for leaders who can navigate complex digital landscapes and create seamless, personalized customer experiences.
If you would like any more information on the trends and insights across any of the customer focussed functions, please drop me a note and if you have any thoughts or comments, I look forward to hearing from you.
I help CEOs, COOs, HRDs and business leaders improve the diversity, success and retention of their new leadership hires across Customer, CX, Operations, Transformation, AI, Insight and Planning, providing recruitment consultancy and Executive Search services. Helping you deliver a much improved performance and ROI. If you would like to talk more about your unique challenges and to see if I might be a future resource for you, Book a call today.