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Alex Walker

Aligning Your People To Your Strategy | Understanding Strategy | Team Strategy

Aligning your people to your strategy
Aligning your people to your strategy 1920 1280 Flint Change

Do your teams understand your strategy?

We often find that organisations are good at creating their strategy; senior teams can get together, articulate where they’re going and what difference taking a certain approach will make. They really ‘get it’ and they feel connected to it.

But equally, our experience shows the difficulty comes in translating that strategy into something meaningful and tangible that others within the organisation will understand and connect with. That is, taking everyone on the same journey, from awareness to understanding to implementation.

It’s not that other people don’t have the ability to “get it”, they perhaps don’t have the same enthusiasm – usually because the strategy isn’t clearly and concisely communicated. It may not even answer the most important question of all: ‘What’s in it for me?’

Strategy

Translating strategy at a task level is fundamental to its success. What does that mean for Nick in finance? What does he need to do differently to play his part? Executive teams can often miss the opportunity to translate their strategic plan into an implementation plan.

Excuse the cliché, but there’s a real need to have a thread that runs through a business that allows people to see where they’re going, understand the part they play and how this affects what they do on a daily and weekly basis.

The approach we recommend is a structured way of connecting your strategy all the way through your business to the objectives of individual team members.

If we take Nick from finance as our example again, he should know what he personally has to do at a task level to impact the finance team, his division and also the business. Our Ignite Change – Take Action Handbook guides clients this in a visual way, so that on a one-page document, Nick can see the thread that links what he does all the way through the business to the divisional objectives and finally up to organisational goals.

Communication

We’ve struggled to find evidence behind this fact, but there’s an old adage that you have to tell someone something 7 times before the can hear it. There’s a need to communicate your key messages, as many times as you can, in as many different ways as possible.

We use one-page visual ‘compelling strategic narratives’ accompanied by plans for every department and ultimately every individual. The same strategic messages need to continue to be reinforced. Taking a fresh approach to communicating these messages (as an email is not enough!) is really important, so for example we use roadshows, townhall meetings, workshops, playbooks, letters to home and even air fresheners with plan on!

There’s also a place for the usual intranets, Sharepoint, Slack and Teams to keep the messages ‘live’ on a daily or task basis.

Engage

Strategy can seem complex or remote from some employees. Simplify it and involve them. It will empower them to deliver it.

When Exec teams create strategies they look forwards. They don’t necessarily need to have the skills or knowledge to determine how that strategy should be implemented at a really granular level of detail. We have used this approach to spend time with people at all levels of the organisation to ask “how should we do this?”

In one of our case studies, in the health sector, we spent time with experts in one clinical area. They saw the strategy and understood the direction they needed to take. They were asked what they would do to achieve those goals in their area. They knew the frustrations that both they, and their patients had with the current approach and they offered an alternative approach. Their plan still met the organisational goal; still worked towards the same target, but took a far more pragmatic and patient focused route. The teams were clear that no extra cost to be added (in fact, ideally, cost would reduce), but the quality and access targets were still crucial. “Their way” showed that there was a better way and the results proved it! They had higher engagement from ‘at risk’ service users, and the teams were more engaged as a result.

It’s an inspirational part of the approach as people feel genuinely engaged. They have the opportunity to be part of a bigger plan. It makes it real for them and they also feel much more connected to delivering ideas which may have been theirs.

It’s simple!

Bringing Your Strategy To Life | Business Transformation | Business Strategy Development

Bringing your strategy to life!
Bringing your strategy to life! 1920 1280 Flint Change

So, you’ve spent plenty of time, money and energy coming up with a great strategy to transform your business – but how do you now get your teams to pick it up and bring it to life?

Do your teams understand your strategy?  Do they even know what it is…?

In our work, we often find that many organisations are good at creating fabulous strategies. Senior teams can get together, articulate where they’re going and what difference taking a certain direction will make. They really ‘get it’ and they feel connected to it.

But equally, our experience shows that difficulty can come in translating it into something meaningful and tangible that others within the organisation will understand and connect with – a strategic narrative.  If people don’t know what the strategy is, and don’t know their part in delivering it, how can it ever become a real, living way of life for your business?

The key is taking everyone on the same journey, from awareness to understanding to implementation. It’s not that other people don’t have the ability to “get it”, they perhaps don’t have the same enthusiasm – usually because the strategy isn’t clearly and concisely communicated.

It may not even answer the most important question of all: ‘What’s in it for me?’

Translating your strategy at task level is fundamental to its success. What does that mean for Debbie in Finance? What does she need to do differently to play her part? Why would this strategy make a difference to Nick in Customer Service, and what does he need to change?

Don’t miss the opportunity to translate your strategy into an implementation plan – one that all employees can understand and be enrolled in delivering. One that helps Debbie in Finance or, Nick in Customer Service, understand the critical part they play.

There’s a real strength in having a thread that runs through a business that allows people to see where they’re going, understand the part they play and how this affects what they do on a daily and weekly basis.

Our Ignite Change – Take Action Handbook is the answer.

It’s a structured way of connecting your strategy all the way through your business, right to the objectives of individual team members. Everyone can be empowered if they know what they each personally can do to make a difference. Our Take Action Handbook shows this in a visual way, so that from a one-page strategic narrative, everyone can see the thread that links what they do all the way through the business to the divisional objectives and finally up to organisational goals.

Knowledge is power, and empowerment creates change.

Creating Pace in Delivery | Ignite Change - Take Action Handbook | Flint Change|

Creating pace in delivery
Creating pace in delivery 1920 1280 Flint Change

Our Ignite Change – Take Action Handbook gives businesses the tools they need to engage their people and increase the effectiveness and pace of delivering new strategies. Your strategic goals need to be more than just a poster that is paid lip-service to.

The aim is to create pace and accountability within your organisation. It means that performance management is part of regular conversations and not just part of a standard quarterly appraisal process that can be a ‘tick box’ exercise.

The idea is to talk about your progress weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually. Your strategic narrative and goals needs to be captured in a live document, to support real and meaningful conversations. It then allows you to adapt as your business moves with the times as we all now priorities can and do change as the world around us changes.

How does it work?

Within our Take Action Handbook, we have a meeting framework that supports you in keeping the regular conversations going.  It does look different in each organisation, but many of the principles remain the same.

  • The WAG (Weekly Action Group) happens every week. It’s a “standing room only” type of meeting that involves front line teams. With your strategic narrative as the backdrop, it allows you to see any pressing issues that could cause a risk to delivering against your plan. It’s likely to be very customer focussed, possibly even looking into specific customer issues or concerns. It’s a really good start to ensuring that the employee voice is heard as we have a formal environment to hear about operational issues and concerns. It’s also a great opportunity to say thank you when issues are resolved or avoided.
  • The MOM is the Monthly Operational Meeting. This is highly likely to be a meeting that many organisations already have. Again, your strategic narrative forms the backdrop to the meeting; ensuring that the teams keep on strategy and be clear that they are focussing on the right things. It’s important to make sure that issues, concerns or celebrations are raised from the WAG, as this means that the employee voice is being heard. It’s a little more formal in its approach.

By checking progress month on month, it allows you to see risks quickly and deal with them to get things back on track. It means that messages can be cascaded back through the WAG to make sure that the employee voice is not only heard but responded to in a timely manner.

  • The QUAC (affectionately termed QUACmas) is a Quarterly Action Check. This brings all of the areas together on a quarterly basis to see if all of the jigsaw pieces are in place. It checks the strategy is on track and gives you the opportunity to be agile if it needs to evolve.

It’s also an opportunity for teams to present back on where they are. There is real power in this session, as often groups of peers are keen to present back to each other and want to make sure that they are delivering in line with each other.

  • Finally, the ARMS (Annual Roadmap Strategy) takes all of the data and information from employees, along with the strategy and goals of the organisation and begins to set a plan for the following year.

We’d love to support you to implement this in a way that works with your culture and approach. Drop us a line.

Empowering People Through Effective Engagement | Helping Staff Engagement | Empowering Change | Flint Change

Empowering people through effective engagement
Empowering people through effective engagement 1920 1280 Flint Change

One of the most powerful outputs that we have seen from our Keep it Alight – Next Level Change support is to really engage employees at a meaningful level. We have used it to great effect to empower people by getting them involved in how to implement a strategy.

One of the most important engagement enablers is ‘employee voice’. This is a great way of hearing what employees think in a structured way that directly impacts what they do – and how they do it.

When Exec teams create strategies, they look forwards. They don’t necessarily have the skills or knowledge to determine how that strategy should be implemented at a really granular level of detail. Often, it’s teams working with customers that have a really strong view on how a particular strategy should be best carried out – and it’s important to listen.

Clients have used our Keep it Alight support programme to effectively engage with people at all levels of the organisation, to ask “how should we do this?”

It’s an inspirational activity as people feel genuinely engaged and consulted. They have the opportunity to be part of a bigger plan. It makes it real for them and they also feel much more connected to delivering ideas which have come from the people doing the jobs.

How does it work?

With one of our clients, in the health sector, we spent time with experts in one clinical area. They saw the existing strategy and understood the direction they needed to take. However, it wasn’t fully meaningful to them in their roles.

They were asked what they would do to achieve the strategic goals in their area. They knew the frustrations that both they, and their patients, had with the current approach and they offered an alternative approach.

We used the principles from our Ignite Change – Take Action Handbook to help them develop their plan, ensuring that it still met the strategic goal. The strategy was transitioned into something that still worked towards the same target, but took a far more pragmatic and patient-focused route.

The teams were clear that no extra cost should be added (in fact, ideally, cost would reduce), but the quality and access targets were still crucial. “Their way” showed that there was a better way and the results proved it!

They had higher engagement from ‘at risk’ service users, and the teams were more engaged as a result.

This was a great example of how effectively engaging your people can drive empowerment and ownership to great effect.

Enhancing Customer Experience | Bespoke Consultancy | Flint Change

Enhancing the customer experience for a large credit card provider
Enhancing the customer experience for a large credit card provider 1920 1280 Flint Change

Before joining Flint Change, Marianne was Head of Customer Experience within the UK Cards Issuing Team at leading credit card provider.

One of the customer experience programmes that Marianne owned and managed was measuring customer experience and the TNPS programme.

The story

This Financial Services Provider aims to be the most recommended brand to help buyers buy and sellers sell, in the way they want. With a track record of firsts from the first credit card to the first wearable device the organisation has continued to evolve.

Approach

Across the business, a new measure was introduced to compliment customer satisfaction. This was Net Promoter Score or NPS. At a business level, this was known as Relationship NPS but within the customer services team there was a desire to be able to measure NPS after a call between a customer and one of the front-line customer service colleagues. The term Transactional NPS or TNPS was coined.

A process was implemented in the Customer Services Team where an SMS was sent to a customer after a call. The results were updated within 30 minutes of the survey response and uploaded into the CRM system.

As well as asking the customer to rate the call on the NPS scale, we also asked them the reason for the score that they gave. This provided a really rich source of data and customer insight which was at the heart of the programme.

Several initiatives were implemented to improve the NPS score, some were ongoing activities, and some were one-off improvements.

  1. Passion to tackle detractor reasons – all detractor score calls were monitored by a bespoke team who categorised the reason for the detractor score into what was terms the 4Ps and the reason for the call. [4ps – Product, Process, Policy or Person]
  2. Cross-functional call listening – call listening sessions were run with the 4P owners to highlight the issues and drive through improvements. This involved the commercial P&L owners, the tech teams and the customer services teams and training teams.
  3. We hire great people – we over-hauled the recruitment process, enhancing the service and empathy and voice skills training and ongoing support.
  4. Supporting and challenging partners – work to set targets but also a collaborative approach in terms of training and coaching
  5. Service specialists – the call routing was amended so that more experienced colleagues received the more complex call types.
  6. Lean Customer Experience – part of the whole change implement process involved an end-to-end lean review of the whole contact centre. Colleagues were encouraged to submit process and policy improvements. No idea was a bad idea.
  7. Real-time colleague TNPS feedback – this is the shared of the customer scores within CRM system within 30 mins of the score being received.
  8. Enhanced colleague induction training – the new colleague training programme was reduced from 12-week classroom training to 8 weeks during which colleagues learned a new process and then went into the live environment to test their new skill before returning to the learning environment.
  9. In life supportive colleague interventions – we set-up an NPS academy where those colleagues who were in the lower quartile from an NPS score were grouped together and received a 6-week coaching programme, which focused on the key issues (skills and knowledge gaps that were identified from the detractor call listening)
  10. Enhanced voice support – we set-up a team of voice coaches for each specific skillset. Skillset in this instance means call types, so these coaches were process experts as well as soft skill coaches.
  11. Positive no and learning zone – this is a training technique to help colleagues respond to the top detractor reasons. We created a knowledge base for colleagues o refer to tips and tricks and well as being able to request support with additional areas
  12. Empathy, active listening & magic moments – specific skills identified as gaps with bespoke modules developed. The Magic Moment Programme was another customer experience programme and that helped colleagues identify those customers in need of a lift/ extra support/ recognition and a by-product of this is that it equipped colleagues with improved listening skills.

Results

  • In 2 years, the score the TNPS score increased by 40 points from +20 to +60!
  • The approach and learnings from the programme were shared across the other business areas with the credit card business as well with the debit card side.
  • The programme and elements of the programme won awards – both internally and externally.

This is an example of the type of work that the Flint team can deliver as part of our Be the Spark – Bespoke Consultancy offering.  We have worked with a few clients on bespoke consultancy programmes. Get in touch if we can help you with a piece of bespoke consultancy.

 

Enhancing The CX | Customer Experience Programmes | Flint Change

Enhancing the customer experience through proactive alerts
Enhancing the customer experience through proactive alerts 1920 1280 Flint Change

Before joining Flint Change, Marianne was Head of Customer Experience within the UK Cards Issuing Team at leading credit card provider.

One of the customer experience initiatives Marianne owned and delivered was setting up of proactive alerts for customers impacted by acts of God and who needed financial assistance or reassurance. Not normally something you would associate with a Credit Card provider!

The story

This Financial Services Provider aims to be the most recommended brand to help buyers buy and sellers sell, in the way they want. With a track record of firsts from the first credit card to the first wearable device the organisation has continued to evolve.

Approach

A team was mobilised across the business to act quickly to reach out to the impacted customers to let them know how the organisation could help and to provide reassurance about paying their bill or incurring late charges

Colleagues across customer services, marketing, legal and systems were brought together so that an approach could be agreed and implemented.

  • Speed of contact – from the point of notification about customer-impacting issue, a team was mobilised, copywriters and 3rd party suppliers were engaged and customers living or transacting in the impacted areas were identified
  • Copy was approved
  • SMS messages and emails were deployed complemented by content being posted on Twitter, Facebook and a message being shared on the website.
  • Flags were added to the accounts of the customers living in the impacted areas and those who had been travelling/ visiting the area (these customers were identified via recent transactions)

The business received some fantastic customer and press feedback on this initiative.

Ways to help stranded customers included:

  • Access to Emergency Cash
  • Temporary increases to credit limits
  • Late Payment and cash transaction fees waived

Results

A templated approach was put in place that could be used for future incidents where customers needed to be contacted and reassured.

  • The speed to contact customers reduced from 11 hours down to just 2 hours!
  • Social Media posts were live within a matter of minutes.
  • After the initial incident, templates were created and were pre-approved by the legal and regulatory compliance teams, which removed the requirement to get copy approved for each new incident.
  • All that was required was to identify the impacted customers (this naturally took longer when the scale of the incident was larger, and millions of customers were impacted).

There is now a proactive team in place who manage this sort of activity and winder communications across the credit and debit customers.

This is an example of the type of work that the Flint team could deliver as part of our Keep it Alight – Next Level Change offering.  We have worked with a few clients on bespoke change programmes. Get in touch if we can help you with a piece of bespoke change.

 

When Teams Plan Together | Team Working | Team Improvement Help | Flint Change

When teams plan together, there’s a better chance that they plan for the same thing!
When teams plan together, there’s a better chance that they plan for the same thing! 1920 1280 Flint Change

Avoiding the existence of business silos, where separate operational plans exist in isolation, creating disconnection and even conflict between teams, is essential to creating a high performing business.

How can teams work in harmony if their plans and objectives aren’t all aligned to contribute to the same overall vision?

Business transformation initiatives need to be ‘owned’ and supported across teams, departments and functions – they need to matter to everyone for them to be truly effective and meaningful.

Too often we see detailed departmental plans that have no relationship to either the business vision and strategy, or any connection with the wider business.

Our Ignite Change – The Take Action Handbook brings teams’ plans together. It eliminates silos and creates cohesion. It’s a simple but effective structure to harness the potential that already exists within your organisation.

Get in touch if we can help you harness the potential of your team!

How We Can Help

At Flint Change we take a fresh approach to helping you manage any organisational change. Whether it be corporate start ups, integration or business as usual, we are all about engaging your teams and helping translate your strategy into what it means for your people.

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