Highly Competitive - software industry insights

‘Tech Savvy’ for Midsized Companies Means ‘Customer Savvy’

 

Technology is no longer simply back office automation or work productivity tools addressing the day to day of the business. Technology has become a core pillar for company strategies, as well as for change and success. The biggest transformation any midsized company can make to become a business that sustains growth over time is to strategically and proactively use technology to achieve the goals of the business. Such a transformation through technology often takes midsized companies into new markets and new ways of doing business. The strategic positioning of technology leads to strengthening the organization, improving competitive edge and opening new doors for growth and opportunity.

In parallel to technology considerations, the single most important success factor for most companies is The Customer. These days all activities related to the customer must be ramped up and more responsive to customer needs and desires. Companies must change how they function to better serve customers. Proactive use of technology in many areas is essential to ensure top notch customer experiences and interactions at any time and place.

Midsized companies that make the customer a core focus will achieve better outcomes. When deciding on how to best leverage technology, companies should use customer strategies to drive and define technology strategies. When companies combine technologies with effective practices and processes around meeting customer needs on every level, competitive edge and revenue growth usually follow as natural outcomes.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) completed a global study focused on midsized and smaller companies to assess the impact of technology on business performance and growth:

Adopting technology in an intelligent way is critical to the future business success of many SMEs. More than 90 percent of leaders said that IT is important to their business's future, and almost two-thirds said that new technologies will lead to higher revenues and profits or more jobs at their company.

The study presents clear evidence that midsized and smaller businesses with higher rates of technology adoption grow faster and create more jobs than their counterparts that maintain low levels of technology adoption. Looking at U.S. SMB companies, BCG projected that if 15 percent of technology 'laggards' and 30 percent of technology 'followers' evolved into high technology adoption companies, the result would be the addition of more than two million jobs and an additional $360 billion flowing into the U.S. economy.

 

Midsized companies that want to be top competitors should evaluate all functional and operational areas that help the company shine as a customer-responsive organization to see how improvements can be made with the right technologies:

• Marketing and business interactions through mobile devices and digital channels
• Customer service and support
• eCommerce and payment services
• Gaining insight from data analytics for everything Customer
• CRM and Marketing Automation platforms
• Customer onboarding and education channels
• Deployment of Cloud / SaaS solutions for enterprise capabilities that keep up with customer and market trends

 

The goal should always be to wow customers. There are many robust technologies that can help midsized companies do that every day, in every interaction and channel. Companies that are "tech savvy" quickly show how they are "customer savvy".

 

Image Source: Sabre Travel Network

 

This post was brought to you by IBM for Midsize Business and opinions are my own. To read more on this topic, visit  IBM's Midsize Insider. Dedicated to providing businesses with expertise, solutions and tools that are specific to small and midsized companies, the Midsize Business program provides businesses with the materials and knowledge they need to become engines of a smarter planet.

 

About the author: Julie Hunt understands the overlap and convergence of many business processes and software solutions that once were thought of as "separate" – and how this impacts software Vendors and Buyers, as well as the strategies that enterprises implement for how technology supports the business and its customers. Julie shares her takes on the software industry via her blog Highly Competitiveand on Twitter: @juliebhunt For more information: Julie Hunt Consulting – Strategies for B2B Software Solutions: Working from the Customer Perspective

The Learning Organization as Social Business

 

                            Originally published on CMSWire

 

McKinsey has repeatedly published very aggressive outlooks for the value that could be created from companies progressing to the social business. In a 2012 report, the research firm estimated that social business technologies could improve productivity across the value chain as much as $1.3 trillion annually, just for the enterprise sectors of professional services, CPG, advanced manufacturing, and retail financial services. According to McKinsey, two-thirds of that forecast value aligns with improving collaboration and communication within and across enterprises.

But for such value to be achieved from transformative collaboration, enterprises must change culturally, operationally and strategically to accommodate new ways of learning, sharing and applying knowledge that benefit individual and organizational performance. Only through cultures conducive to wide-spread collaboration and knowledge sharing can enterprises find their way to the competitive strength of the Learning Organization.

Such strategic changes impact how the organization operates internally, and how it does business externally – essentially how the organization engages and inspires the human ecosystem that is truly needed for the company to survive as a successful business.

 

The Learning Organization as Social Business

When learning organizations work well, collaborative learning connects disparate groups in the enterprise, resulting in highly effective cross-functional learning networks. Communities of practice can promote knowledge sharing as an integral part of business activities, which in turn propagates a pivotal facet of competitive advantage.

Many of the capabilities that enable social business are also the transforming enablers of agile corporate learning: social networks and communities, wikis and forums, collaborative processes, gamification, mobile apps, video and audio. The Consumerization of IT has dramatically changed the enterprise, impacted the social business, and has paved the way for mobile learning to become the preferred channel for just-in-time learning and knowledge sharing.

But organizations are still wrestling with how to find the path to becoming a social business, especially with a focus on what will bring the most value to the company. When it becomes clear that the learning organization is a large part of a social business, companies should quickly understand how the value accrues. Learning contributes to social business value through:

• Planned, well-organized learning programs that align with how employees work
• Learning strategically connected to corporate goals at all levels
• Quickly locating the right people or content for the expertise needed to solve problems
• Agile cross-functional communication and collaboration
• Continuous learning available 'anytime anywhere'
• Connecting corporate learning to performance improvement
• Continuous metrics to gauge improvements to: achievement of company goals; agile responsiveness to change; innovation; all customer and partner interactions

 

Learning: A Top Partner for Business

Corporate learning must perpetually evolve as enterprises change, to remain relevant to business needs and requirements. The transition from training to learning emphasizes the change in mindset about the best environments for faster learning that can immediately be used on the job.

The overarching driver for corporate learning should not be cutting costs but the need to relentlessly transform the way organizations empower and engage employees. Agile learning brings valuable new benefits in terms of being able to work in ways that weren't possible before, leading to continuous organizational improvement. Learning is now about investing in the organization in every way possible.

Social sites and technologies have exposed many people to new ways to work, communicate, collaborate and learn. Younger employees have positive experiences with eLearning from different levels of education. Knowledge and learning networks are growing, both as support for corporate learning initiatives and on-the-job support. So high expectations for new ways to learn continue to impact more organizations. Motivated organizations make sure employees connect to communities of practice and value-add information that will ensure that the development of skills is aligned with business goals and objectives.

90% of 500 global L&D (learning and development) professionals in our study felt it was either critical or important for learning to be integrated with work.

Towards Maturity: Aligning Learning to Business - 2013

 

Driving Business Results

Learning programs cannot persist as yet another silo. They must be deeply integrated into the 'business' of the organization.The learning organization connects learning to business goals, and establishes the basis for metrics to measure progress, changes to productivity, and contribution to desired business outcomes. While it's good to measure learning programs in terms of the quality and effectiveness for end users (employees, partners, even customers), organizations also have to focus on how learning contributes to the achievement of strategic objectives, growth and continuous improvement.

Organizations should be able to answer these sorts of questions regarding the effectiveness of their learning programs:

Have innovation and idea generation improved for our business? Are we more in tune with and responsive to our customers? Is everyone quickly finding the information and experts that they need to do their jobs more effectively? Are we ready for anything that the business environment is going to throw at us?

The most important make-or-break point for learning happens when employees leave training sessions and go back on the job. If the organization has provided an environment that enables the use of learning on the job and methods for reinforcing what was learned, the business impact from learning increases dramatically, with lasting effect. However, the only way this will happen is if upper management is on board with learning as a strategic driver for the organization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: epiclearninggroup.com

 

 

Business Value for the Learning Organization

Learning is clearly a strategic investment for building an organization of individuals who are prepared to sustain the business and drive forward into the future. The potential of learning organizations is to transform learning into a proactive catalyst for change and growth. For this to happen, upper management must include learning strategies in the corporate DNA and as a constant in all strategic thinking and decision making.

A study from T+D Magazine focused on the opinions held by CXO and CLO positions regarding the key indicators that signal real integration of learning with strategic business objectives and needs. These indicators fell into three main categories:

• Integration indicators monitor how well the learning function is integrated with the business goals and work processes

• Operation indicators monitor how proactive and responsive the learning function is in meeting business needs, the level of learning access and usage ,and the talent within the function itself

• Perception indicators monitor executive, business unit leader, and employee and learner satisfaction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: The Best of Measuring & Evaluating Learning – 2010

 

 

And What About Learning from Mistakes?

Critical facets of a Learning Organization culture are first, the leeway to make mistakes, and then, responsive learning processes to help employees rectify missteps – and learn from them. The "learning from mistakes" process also includes sharing the experience: the problem, the misstep trying to solve it, what it took to turn the situation around and move to the next step. This sort of knowledge sharing is invaluable. The 24/7 availability of eLearning and mobile learning apps to help employees go through the process from diagnosis to remedy, and then sharing, is a smart competitive move.

And of course, the effective Learning Organization only thrives when upper management is on board with support, both culturally and in practice, across every group of the enterprise. When the strategy is to nurture a work environment where employees have the room to think through work activities, reflect on mistakes and figure out what should have been done, and then develop and share expertise and knowledge, the results add greatly to competitive advantage and sustained corporate health. A highly skilled workforce achieves continuous performance improvement and productivity, innovation, and the ability to roll with the constant change in strategy and new challenges that many enterprises must address to stay competitive, relevant and fresh.

 

 

Learning Network Image: Neil Rubens

 

About the author: Julie is an independent consultant and industry analyst for B2B software solutions, providing services to vendors to improve strategies for customers and target markets, products and solutions, and future direction. Julie has expertise in several solution spaces including: data integration and data quality; analytics and BI; business process, workflow and collaboration; digital marketing, WCM and social media; and the pivotal importance of user and customer experiences. Julie shares her takes on the software industry via her blog Highly Competitiveand on Twitter: @juliebhunt For more information: Julie Hunt Consulting – Strategies for B2B Software Solutions: Working from the Customer Perspective

 

The Learning Organization Goes Mobile

                                                                                                                Originally published on CMSWire

 

Many organizations overlook one of the most significant ways to improve competitiveness, ramp up performance and sustain growth: continuous, varied and dynamic learning programs for their employees and leadership teams. As mobile has become an important channel for many business activities, it is emerging as a preferred platform for just-in-time learning and knowledge sharing. Mobile platforms are disrupting all kinds of activities and processes, and putting a whole new twist on employee productivity, customer interactions and partner collaborations.

Ubiquitous mobile access in this interconnected world means instant collaboration for company employees anytime anywhere -- but only if companies reduce the obstacles for such collaboration to take place both on mobile and social platforms. Organizations have to make significant internal changes to take advantage of social technologies, collaboration and mobile learning. Policies, processes and "culture" must engender an open environment where employee contributions to knowledge sharing are encouraged and where employees have the tools to quickly find the knowledge they need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Cisco Consulting Services, 2013

 

mLearning – The New Kind of eLearning

Most articles that mention eLearning as an aspect of knowledge management, social business, or collaboration usually only show eLearning as a 'check list item', rather than exploring how eLearning can enhance overall corporate collaborative strength and performance improvement for employees. Like other disruptive mobile apps, mLearning has hurled corporate eLearning onto a whole new trajectory.

The mobile ecosystem – devices, carriers, app markets – has become one of the fastest growing technology industries, which means great opportunities for learning accessed through mobile devices. Wearable mobile devices will likely become more prevalent for mLearning, particularly for on-the-spot interactions and collaboration, environmentally interactive sessions, and knowledge searches.

 

Learning goes mobile (2013)

 Mobile devices are being used to:

62%  - access learning content to reinforce formal learning

54%  - support communication and collaboration

53%  - provide an alternative mode of delivery to PC-based learning content

43%  - support application of learning back in the workplace

37%  - access performance support at the point of need

27%  - support generation and sharing of user generated content

 

Mobile learning isn't just learning dumped into a mobile device. It has become a new world of possibilities for at-your-fingertips knowledge. mLearning usually targets situational or contextual learning, which means the content has to be an exact fit for what is needed in the moment. Experiential m-learning leverages the environment in which the learner exists. mLearning augments employee performance and productivity in very real ways. It is continuous learning that is patterned on the way people work.

 

Brandon Hall Group's 2013 Mobile Learning Survey

The study found that those organizations that are higher performers—defined as companies that increased revenues and improved a majority of their key performance indicators over the previous year—are doing more with mobile learning than organizations in general.

89 percent of (all) respondents whose organizations have been delivering mobile learning for more than two years say mobile video is either very or extremely effective.

 

Mobile learning can complement more "mainstream" learning services, but also provides an opportunity to transform how learning is done on the job. mLearning has been a major force for breaking learning into bite-size but meaty pieces that can be consumed in 10 minutes or less. Information design for mobile access is the focus, instead of formal course design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Source: Mobile Learning: Driving Business Results by Empowering Employees in the Moment

 

Continuous Learning: Transforming Employee Performance Management

Just as companies must become agile and dynamic in response to constant change – they have to include employees in the preparations as well. To meet ever-present change, continuous learning is essential. The tenets of such continuous learning also must change frequently to stay relevant. Mobile becomes a transformative technology to keep learning relevant and to help employees apply learning and knowledge to daily work.

Traditional employee "performance management" has been broken for some time. This approach has been responsible for driving away employees, stalling contributions to company success, and frequent failures to identify true top performing and innovative employees. Performance appraisal processes have deteriorated into ridiculous busy work that mostly angers and bewilders everyone involved, from employees to managers.

The focus must turn to enabling pathways to improved employee performance through education, development, and mentoring or coaching. This is not a new approach, but an old one that harkens back to when many companies became directly involved in career development for all employees who were willing to do the work for advancement and improvement.

In some ways, employee performance management is akin to customer experience management: companies can't manage the experiences of their customers – but they can manage how they interact with customers in a consistent way with up-to-date intelligence in order to help customers, not hinder them. There's a similar conundrum for "employee performance management". For employees to perform well, companies need to "get out of the way" and provide an environment that encourages career growth and the tools to help employees perform well. This calls for new ways to develop, grow, and proliferate the capabilities of employees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: m-Learning: Mobile Learning Is Finally Going Mainstream – And It Is Bigger Than You Might Think

 

 

Empowering Employees with Interconnected Learning Tools

The always-on mobile world of interconnectedness can invigorate opportunities for social collaboration and informal learning. These forms of learning can build up smarter workforces to respond to changing business needs and unexpected circumstances. Mobile enables new modes for searching and collecting information related to job needs. People-to-people communication and sharing improve, which yield upticks in performance and attainment of goals.

 

Next-Generation Knowledge Workers - Accelerating the Disruption in Business Mobility

Workers are becoming more comfortable with the value of constant collaboration. Currently, 24 percent use mobile collaboration, and an additional 31 percent are interested in adopting it. Some forthcoming mobile enhancements could drive further interest in constant collaboration. These include touching mobile devices to share information (51 percent were interested); finding and connecting relevant subject-matter experts (48 percent); and wirelessly sharing a presentation via a virtual whiteboard (48 percent).

In addition, there is interest in location/recognition-based enhancements, such as GPS navigation and maps for indoor locations (53 percent); having a device provide relevant location-based information (49 percent); and having a device notify a user when an important person enters a location (48 percent).

 

Winning Companies are Learning Organizations

There are many articles and reports that make clear that the very real value of 'Learning Organizations" results from companies improving employee knowledge and skill expansion, to take on more challenges and proceed successfully through their careers. With mLearning, employees can directly apply knowledge and training to their jobs every day, quickly and effectively.

Learning Organizations are those companies that repeatedly outperform other vendors because of investments made in deep skills and knowledge for employees and leadership. Continuous investment is made in developing staff abilities and knowledge, no matter the economic conditions. As a result, these companies have a more developed level of effective innovation, and are more agile when responding to new opportunities and challenges. Not surprisingly, employee loyalty is much higher because these companies make clear that they believe in their employees and want to help them make a difference for the company.

Customers are the eventual big winners when dealing with Learning Organizations. All company employees are well prepared to take customer interactions to higher levels, as well as provide high quality products and services. Better prepared, engaged and committed employees are invaluable catalysts for propagating exceptional customer experiences.

 

 

About the author: Julie Hunt understands the overlap and convergence of many business processes and software solutions that once were thought of as "separate" – and how this impacts software Vendors and Buyers, as well as the strategies that enterprises implement for how technology supports the business and its customers. Julie shares her takes on the software industry via her blog Highly Competitiveand on Twitter: @juliebhunt For more information: Julie Hunt Consulting – Strategies for B2B Software Solutions: Working from the Customer Perspective

Competitive Fitness: Becoming Learning Organizations

       

Tech-savvy companies continue to reap serious benefits from eLearning initiatives, particularly as the variety of development and management tools and services expand, and the costs of eLearning decrease. With many more SaaS options in the mix, midsized companies can now more easily set up and manage eLearning programs.

If done well, eLearning becomes an agile productivity tool and aligns with overall business needs.eLearning is not just about on-ramping employees or compliance and regulatory training. eLearning supports what employees need to know to do their jobs, and to increase their skills and effectiveness. All sizes of organizations now have employees who "grew up" on eLearning and blended learning programs, and who have expectations of more of the same for their professional careers.

eLearning must center on device-defined learning, since there are significant differences between providing training on laptops / tablets, and on smartphones. Mobile learning (mLearning) for smartphones focuses more on just-in-time knowledge while on the job -- so the learning experience has to be specifically designed for smartphone access. Somewhat due to increased tablet and smartphone usage, corporate learning is becoming more 'bite-sized' -- to take less time to set up courses and to fit more easily into the schedules of busy employees.

Many companies realize that they should develop the skills of their current employee base, rather constantly trying to hire in new talent, to remain competitive and meet new business demands. Across most industries, learning / training functions are tasked with finding ways to provide relevant, cost-effective education services – while exploring new ways to speed up training, and build in more tactics to ensure that employees retain and utilize what was learned. Companies can also work with outsourced learning services, tapping into many different subject matter experts to provide timely training for employees, without the overhead of trying to create and maintain the courses themselves.

 

Jack Welch: An organization’s ability to learn and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.

 

Companies that create and maintain dynamic eLearning initiatives for the entire organization are making the move to becoming Learning Organizations. Common traits of Learning Organizations include:

• Continuous learning opportunities, with 'anytime anywhere' access
• Upper management support for all employee learning
• Planned, well-organized learning programs that align with how employees work
• eLearning strategically connected to corporate goals at all levels
• Commitment to the value of learning and knowledge sharing
• Cross-organizational communication and collaboration
• Continually measuring the improvements to: all customer interactions; innovation; achievement of company goals; agile responsiveness to change

 

Peter Senge: The only sustainable competitive advantage is your organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition.

 

 

Image Source: designingdigitally.com

 

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I've been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

 

About the author: Julie Hunt understands the overlap and convergence of many business processes and software solutions that once were thought of as "separate" – and how this impacts software Vendors and Buyers, as well as the strategies that enterprises implement for how technology supports the business and its customers. Julie shares her takes on the software industry via her blog Highly Competitiveand on Twitter: @juliebhunt For more information: Julie Hunt Consulting – Strategies for B2B Software Solutions: Working from the Customer Perspective