What's Your Organization's Change Context?

Becoming customer-centric isn’t a simple change. Simple changes are linear, predictable, and manageable. Traditional change management techniques work well in these contexts but are less effective in?multifaceted,?interconnected, and?unpredictable ones. A customer-centric change is just that - where relationships, networks, and social influence from peers have a stronger impact on success than top-down influence.

This is because behaviors, not processes or directives, are at the heart of any organizational change initiative. And without understanding and addressing the organization’s unique change context, there’s no clear framework for readjusting, redirecting, and redefining behaviors to meet customer-centric goals.

For example, say Company A wants to get employees to adopt a new customer-centric policy, which encourages people to share any service improvement ideas or opportunities associated with their areas of responsibility. Yet, rather than simply following company guidelines, individuals may tend to provide ideas only if other people with whom they are socially connected do so as well. This makes sense as people can be more personally invested in the perceptions of members of their social groups — especially those with whom they interact frequently — than in the interests of company leadership.

Creating customer-centricity begins with understanding change context - the pattern of influencing factors that shape how change is perceived and adopted within a company. Change contexts can vary widely across organizations, and leaders need to recognize their own organization’s unique terminus a quo.

Change contexts are made up of two parts - a macro culture and a series of micro-cultures. Macro cultures are behaviors and mindsets defined by leadership, represented by an individual founder or CEO, and reinforced by corporate values, policies, and priorities. Micro cultures live inside the macro culture and form at a departmental or peer group level, where norms and behaviors are shaped by the members themselves.

Micro cultures can develop their own spheres of power. They can influence productivity, communication flow, and even the retention of new employees. Depending on their location within the organization, micro cultures can enable or kill a customer-centric change effort from within before it even begins.

Effectively defining your own change context requires understanding your cultural strengths and weaknesses, along with threats to change initiatives and opportunities to accelerate adoption, in both your macro and micro cultures. Because until new behaviors are rooted in the organization’s social norms, any customer-centric changes are subject to degradation.

About the Author

Andrea's 23-year, field-tested background provides practical, behavioral science approaches to creating differentiated, human-focused organizations.?A 4x ADDY award-winner, TEDx presenter, and 3x book author,?she began her career at a tech start-up and led the strategic sales, marketing, and?customer engagement efforts at two global industrial manufacturers. She now leads a consultancy dedicated to helping organizations transform their organizational cultures from "internally-focused" to "customer-centric".

In addition to writing and consulting, Andrea speaks to leaders and industry organizations around the world. Connect with Andrea to access information on her book, keynoting, research, or consulting. More information is also available on?www.pragmadik.com ?or?www.andreabelkolson.com .