Personalized Experience – Only for Customers or deserved by Everyone

“Personalized Experiences”, “Curated Experience”,” Experiential Journey”, “Personalization”, etc are the words that we are increasingly hearing when it comes to the customer journey, one which will be a competitive advantage in today’s competitive scenario. Sounds good and why not since the value appeal to different customers is very unique in its own right. But who are creating these experiences for the customer? Yes, you’re right, it is the people, which brings me to the question – What are we doing to create the right experience for our people that allows them to operate at their potential? Only when the employees see a culture that supports them and drives them towards a sense of fulfillment, can they deliver on the experience to the customers. The paradox is that the employees who do not have the benefit of a personalized experience are being made responsible to offer personalized experience to the customer. A lot of them are possibly able to still achieve them magically but I’m sure the percentile is pretty low.

Let me give you an example – An extremely talented individual went through an extremely difficult transition wherein he had to undertake roles completely outside of his area of expertise or interest. Although, this was pretty tough for him, but this was not the deal breaker. He somehow made it work and gave the results the organization was looking for. But he dropped out of the organization soon after and his reason was “The journey through all this was not worth it”. Learnt a few things – Yes but did he enjoy doing it and the answer was a resounding No. Sounds strange from someone who we thought embraced change and emerged successful as per our standards of success but something changed for him for the worse and the organization lost a talented individual who is now out there trying to get back to following his purpose and things that drive him towards being happy.

This also brings me back to one of my favourite topics viz., When will we be able to shift from “Alice’s Wonderland” to understanding every “Individual’s Wonderland” which is nothing but a role which will ensure immense satisfaction and joy for individuals. This is where we will see maximum innovations, productivity, fulfillment and of course better living. This requires a huge shift in the thought process in Parenting, Schooling and Working.

We are today seeing a proliferation of amazing technologies likes AI, ML, VR, Big Data, etc. across various aspects of life and it is very exciting I must say. I would be happy to see these being instrumental in helping individuals reclaim a bit of themselves but the major driver would be for us to create an environment that allows individuals to explore their “Wonderlands” in some meaningful ways and lead lives which is enriching and experienced as against a life which just breezes by without really knowing what really happened.

#SimonSinek #PersonalizedExperiences #Wonderland #LifeSatisfaction #Enrichment