Impact Zone Performance Redefined
Why when you work so hard on and in your business, does it not do better?
At the risk of sounding too simplistic and perhaps even a little radical, I would like to suggest that the solution probably does not lie with whether or not we have the 'technical skills' in our business (that is usually not the problem), but rather whether or not our business is 'dead or alive' that determines its impact on customer spend and therefore profitability. By this I mean; are the people in your businesses 'alive' with your vision, strategy, products and brand in a way that your customers 'feel it' and are so 'impacted' by the ensuing value, that they spend more on your products and services and less on your competitors. This is what really drives profit and must be applied to internal customers too. Nothing else has the power to distinguish us in an over- crowded market place. Anything less, no matter how good our strategy and plans, keeps us in the swamp of mediocrity.
The concept of 'Service' is powerless today in differentiating our business in the eyes of our customers because it is easy to achieve and most companies do a reasonable job at providing it. Unfortunately, because 'Good Service' is the accepted limit of 'excellence' for many companies; customers, shareholders, staff and the broader economy fail to achieve their true potential.
The problem is not one of effort, as people generally work very hard at what they do. The problem is the current paradigm of acceptable engagement of people in a business that limits its profitability and potential. To challenge current thinking requires that we challenge current standards.
Current Standards
Current standards contain two levels.
- The 'Functional Zone' - is where people apply their skills to the job they are employed to do, without any thought or effort to make a difference. Basically they provide the minimum that is required of them. On the surface this might seem reasonable to some, but in reality the absence of any purpose beyond earning a wage undermines the entire business.ø
- The 'Service Zone' - is where people add 'good attitude' and a willingness to be proactive, as they apply their skills and themselves to their job and the business. This is the level most companies strive for and congratulate themselves on achieving. What many companies fail to realise, is that this is no longer a competitive differentiator and therefore driver of profit growth, because it does not demand the best from people.ø
What then is the new paradigm and how is it defined?
The Impact Zone
The Impact Zone, to be examined in detail during this series, introduces an entirely new level of sustainable profitability to a business as a result of an entirely new and measurable paradigm of human performance.
'People so motivated and determined to transform the future of a business, its customers and their career that they go beyond skills, service and current experience to fully express their unique talent, innovativeness and entrepreneurial engagement in executing the business vision'.
