Embedding CX into Strategy Management | Step 3: Align the Organization

This is a blog series about the Customer Experience Operating Model. If you want to catch up with the series, check this link for a list and summary of posts in the series so far.

In the last post, we continued exploring the activities CX-oriented strategic planning teams incorporate into strategy management, with a focus on the second sub-process (Plan the Strategy).

In this post, we'll continue with the CX-driven inputs, activities, and outputs you'll want to incorporate into the next sub-process: Align the Organization.

Without further ado…

Re-cap: The Strategy Management Process

For the purposes of this blog series, we're aligning with Kaplan and Norton's "Balance Scorecard" stages of strategy management:

1. Develop the Strategy
2. Plan the Strategy
3. Align the Organization
4. Plan Execution
5. Monitor Execution

Align the Organization

End Goal

The end goal of "Align the Organization" is:

To prepare and mobilize employees for strategy-aligned execution planning.

I try to choose the words in these end goal definitions carefully. Clearly, the strategic plan needs to be translated into execution plans, and then those plans need to be executed. But while the creation of the strategic plan may involve only a small number of the organization's employees, more detailed execution planning - aligned to the strategy - needs to involve a broader, cross-organizational/cross-functional group.

By definition, a strategic plan is a plan for change. And, as we all know, humans have the tendency to resist change. Aligning the organization is about managing that change to get from the high-level strategic plan to detailed execution plans as quickly and efficiently as possible, fully taking into account and leveraging the human element.

This post is not about organizational change management best practices. However, every aspect of a CX-infused operating model will borrow heavily from those best practices. If you're not familiar with organizational change management principles like Kotter's 8-Step Change Model or ADKAR, here's a primer on Wikipedia.

One more note for all of the ambitious change agents out there: we're still in the Strategy Management process area of your operating model. Yes, we have a strategic plan. Yes, we're preparing and mobilizing the organization - first for strategy-aligned execution planning. We're not ready to jump into implementing solutions.

It may test your patience - but it's going to be critical to spend adequate time (involving the right people) to ensure the solutions that will be implemented are the right ones for customers. We'll be digging into the Design process area of your operating model after wrapping up the Strategy Management process area.

Inputs

Of course, you'll bring the key outputs from Develop the Strategy and Plan the Strategy sub-processes:

Develop the Strategy: target customer segments, customer lifecycle, brand promise, business model definition, and business and CX-aligned success metrics.

Plan the Strategy: prioritized CX improvement initiatives, CX improvement implementation roadmap, CX improvement initiatives owners.

Other inputs (not specific to CX) which you'll ideally have available for Align the Organization include:

Business analyses and impact assessments: New or updated documentation resulting from the analyses and impact assessments which took place during the Plan the Strategy sub-process.

Estimated costs: Estimated costs for prioritized improvement initiatives.

Available budgets: documented decisions about strategy execution budgets.

Workforce plan: Current or future workforce plans regarding departments, teams, individuals, roles, skills, recruitment, attrition, resource allocation and utilization, etc.

Business scorecard: Existing business scorecards (including historical data) and key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned to key business goals.

Process

A CX-oriented strategic planning (and organizational change management) team will engage in the following activities, leveraging the inputs outlined above:

1. Communicate the CX-infused strategic plan to CX improvement initiative owners. Task them with re-reviewing the business analyses and impact assessments which were completed in Plan the Strategy. Ask them to submit refined VROM estimates (very rough order of magnitude) of the implementation costs.
2. Approve and allocate budgets based on the total available budget and updated implementation VROM estimates. Make budget-driven adjustments to the strategic plan and improvement implementation roadmap, and communicate any changes to CX improvement initiative owners.
3. Communicate the updated high-level CX-infused strategic plan to employees. The CX-specific elements which should be communicated include the target customer segments, target customer lifecycle scenarios or focus areas, the company's brand promise, and business and experience-aligned success metrics and targets.
4. Communicate what the strategic plan and associated changes mean for the company and its departments, employees, partners, and customers. Share the high-level CX improvement implementation roadmap and owners. Describe how (and when) employees will be involved in CX improvement planning and implementation, and how the changes may impact and benefit them. Explain how future performance reviews and compensation models correspond to successful outcomes resulting from strategy execution.
5. Review the current workforce plan, design cross-organizational/cross-functional planning and implementation teams, and assign available employees. Communicate team assignments and roles and responsibilities to employees.
6. Design or update the business and customer experience-aligned scorecard. Task CX improvement initiative owners with defining or refining key performance indicators (KPIs) which align to and help the organization achieve desired business and experience outcomes.

Outputs

As in prior steps (Develop the Strategy and Plan the Strategy), the CX-oriented inputs and activities should complement your normal strategic planning and organizational change management processes.

Your focus on CX will produce the following outputs:

• An approved CX improvement budget, with funds allocated toward prioritized CX improvement initiatives. 
• A workforce which is informed about the strategic plan, CX-specific elements of the plan, and their roles, responsibilities and team assignments for forthcoming CX improvement planning and implementation efforts.
• A new or updated business and customer-experience aligned scorecard, with a preliminary set of KPIs aligned to the strategic plan and CX improvement initiatives.

Next up: Embedding CX into Strategy Management | Step 4: Plan Execution

About me: I'm a "CXpreneur" and I recently founded Freestyle CX to help organizations solve problems and improve their performance by focusing on their customers and the customer experience.