Corporations Are Unprepared For The Necessary Evolution – Forbes

This is a collection of additional insights from industry leaders toPart 5of an eight-part series featuring conversations from theLeadership in the Age of Personalization Summit.

Leadership in the Age of Personalization

The age of standardization is giving way to the age of personalization. The balance of power has shifted and organizations and their leaders know it. They just dont know what do to about it.

RBC Capital Markets financial analyst Nik Modi warned us in Part 5 that companies are not prepared for what is about to hit them in terms of personalization capabilities. In this article Ill share some reactions to that piece.

Corporations are not ready for the necessary evolution because theyre stuck in substitution. They're still trying to standardize everyone their employees, their patients, their customers, everyone. Theyre still trying to maintain control. Theyre still trying to fight that shift in the balance of power.

Our ability to lead in todays age of personalization is moving backward not forward.

Whats interesting is that Modi has been giving us this warning for years now. Here is an article from 2015 with a similar call for leaders to have the courage to see and adapt to a new reality at that time, he talked about the reality of the Cultural Demographic Shift.

Personalization spooks standardization and when threatened standardization fights back hard.

I get it. Its hard to let go of the old, comfortable and usual ways of doing things. But until organizations and their leaders let go, their employees will continue to do the work theyre being asked to do without believing in any of it. Consumers and clients will continue to be in search of alternative products, brands and service offerings to satisfy what they really want and need.

We continue to create cultures that weaken human dignity and slow progress down.

Knowing somethings right isnt enough to start doing what right and knowing something is wrong isnt enough to stop doing it.

We must see how were holding onto standardization, understand why it doesnt work, and learn to let go of those parts of it that fail us and continue to slow progress down.

On that note, in todays age of personalization, we want to invigorate a shared mission by elevating individual contribution. So I have invited leaders across industries to expand the conversation beyond the summit itself by providing additional reflections throughout this series of articles.

Here are a series of reactions and insights from industry leaders regarding Part 5, Wall Street Alert: Companies Are Not Prepared For What Is About To Hit Them

Annette M. Walker, President of City of Hope Orange County

The prospect of going out to lunch with a group and having your plate designed for your DNA and genetic code may sound impossible but it is already a reality. Consumers will find these capabilities appealing and over time will abandon products and services that dont address their preferences. That, however, pales in comparison to what is happening in cancer care, where we are on a bullet train to personalization. At City of Hope, our world-renowned scientists are making breakthroughs in cancer care that are tailored around the individuals genetics and the mutations causing the cancer. Our vision for personalized precision medicine is: All patients are unique and so is their cancer. Were harnessing genomic-driven insights, clinical expertise, and advanced analytics to pioneer prevention and treatment plans. This approach suggests that all future cancer care will be uniquely tailored to each patient, significantly improving survival, outcomes and resource utilization.

This bold vision requires leaders who have the foresight, courage and the tenacity to move into new frontiers with speed and focus. It means redirecting resources to new technology, expanding testing and data capabilities and development of the intellectual capital, both discovery and people, who are skilled in these areas. Organizations cant dabble this is an all-in commitment.

Our true North Star is the eradication of cancer and the alleviation of the suffering that comes with this diagnosis. Personalized precision medicine is our next frontier, not only for treatment but for the early detection and prevention capabilities it promises. This mission is very personal to all of us. One in three of us will get cancer, and 100% of us knows and loves someone who currently has or has had it. I invite all of you to join us in our efforts to use personalized precision medicine to speed tomorrows discoveries to the people who need them today.

Glenn Llopis:

Two important declarations to place on the walls of your conference rooms and discuss every day:

Brian Garish, President of Banfield Pet Hospital

I couldnt agree more with Nik Modis perspective around culture when he stated, Do your organizational values and culture properly mirror the expectations of your consumer-employees? Because at the end of the day, all of your employees are consumers and they have a certain level of expectation as a consumer, which theyre now bleeding into the workplace.

You control culture no matter what your position is in the organization.I try my best each day to empower people to make changes and act like owners regardless of where they sit in the organization. Offering hope, help and optimism are more powerful than any education or knowledge.Keeping people motivated and engaged is what creates a high-performing organization, better serving your team and clients.

Doing so requires everyone being grounded in a shared purpose that not only gets people to work every day but empowers their work to make a positive impact on society. At Banfield, we exist to make a better world for our associates, pets and clients. Today in the United States, there are millions of pets that dont receive routine veterinary care. When I speak with our associates, we talk about how we can help solve that problem and how were optimistic about a future where healthcare is available to every pet. You can have the most qualified workforce but if your people arent motivated by the same mission and arent provided the support to make a difference, you wont make long-term impact.

Llopis

The balance of power shift from standardization to personalization is all centered around satisfying expectations. In the past, the expectations were defined by the business. Today, expectations are being defined by the individual. The individual needs much more especially during a time when the business wants much more from the individual. Organizational cultures are unsustainable if there doesnt exist a healthy balance between these two sides.

But unlike in the past, the business doesnt have the leverage anymore. Why? Because if people cant align their own personal beliefs and values with that of the business, theyll leave. Organizations must respect the influence of the individual and their unique needs first, if they are to achieve and exceed their business goals. Remember that organizational cultures can only be carried out and sustained over time by people, not processes. Thats why culture is a much wiser investment than the organizations strategy. And if people arent connected to or if they do not feel as if they are influencing and/or contributing to the strategy, their performance will quickly begin to wane. And with top talent hard to come by, stop thinking you can easily replace people with others whose individual needs are equally demanding.

The old days of the business being fully in control are over.

Kristin Gwinner, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chicos

To Nik Modis point, organizations need to be looking forward to the consumer wants and needs just as much the associates wants and needs. At Chicos FAS, Inc. our associates and customer relationships mean a lot to our overall success. In fact, we did something unique this year that has changed our mindset around what is possible: actively listening to our associates ideas and unlocking their unique talents of our workforce to elevate our overall performance in the marketplace. We did two things:

Points 1 and 2 led us to expand these immerse activities to include our board members and officers.

Llopis:

In todays age of personalization, you must touch the business just as much as you lead it. And this begins with your employees, regardless of hierarchy or rank. Because your employees are customers too, they have opinions. And if they are customers of your organizations products or services, then they will have a lot to share because they care. But this only happens when you can create an environment where no one is judged. An inclusive organization invites employees to share their ideas and ideals recognizing employee input as more valuable than any focus group you pay for especially if employees feel that their contributions are more valuable than the organizations mission.

Whats my point? If your employees dont feel genuinely connected to their work, they wont feel connected to the products and services they are getting paid to support. Sounds unrealistic, but have you ever asked your employees if they are a loyal customer of your products or services?

A couple of years ago, I facilitated a senior executive meeting for an automotive company. Prior to the meeting, I drove through the parking lot to see how many cars represented the brand whose name was on the building. When I asked the executives how many employees drove a car to work that represented the organizations brand, there was a uncomfortable pause. And then one person said, 40% and another 60% and then another 55%. When I told them that my unofficial parking lot survey suggested about 25% there was silence and then the debate started.

Why was there a debate? Why didnt they have a better pulse? Did they ever ask? No. They just paid millions to a marketing agency to conduct focus groups rather than conduct a forum for their employees to share their perspectives.

Perhaps we are beginning to understand what standardization fails in a world of personalization.

As you reflect upon ways to get out in front of the change through a personalization mindset, before too much standardization put your organization in a position that allows the marketplace to pass you, ask yourself, your team, and your organization the following questions:

Take a moment to discuss with your leaders, employees and the customers you serve to explore and address these questions. As you do, you will begin to see the power of respecting the need for leadership in the age of personalization. Youll see what others dont, do what others wont, and keep pushing when prudence says quit.

What is your readiness to lead in the age of personalization? Click here to find out.

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Corporations Are Unprepared For The Necessary Evolution - Forbes