LIBRARY

Featured Book:

Human Sigma by John H. Fleming, Ph.D. and Jim Asplund

This book presents some convincing data that Customer Engagement and Employee Engagement are significant drivers of company performance (revenue, profits, etc.) Those trying to identify leading indicators of financial performance ought to consider implementing such measures. While the authors don’t provide the necessary details to do so, they do provide a set of criteria for the metrics used to evaluate the customer side of the employee-customer encounter. There is rigorous discussion and research about the principles of Customer and Employee Engagement throughout which the authors reveal five new rules that comprise the Human Sigma model. However, you would need the help of Gallup to actually determine the Human Sigma score (a number that "summarizes the overall effectiveness of the employee-customer encounter that is reliably related to that unit's overall financial vitality") at a local unit level.

What I liked about this book…
The Conclusion! Read it first to set the context. The authors remind us that “the most important thing to do is get started and keep working at it.” Change is never perfectly implemented and no amount of planning will prevent mistakes. Successful change depends on how well an organization learns from missteps and adjusts the approach. The early chapters have the potential to create a new way of thinking about employees and their effect on customer relations or, at least, to create a renewed focus/attention to this important area of business, particularly in service organizations. In the later chapters, the authors provide some practical actions to get moving in a direction, humbly admitting that not all of the suggestions will work in all companies.

What I didn’t like about this book…
The authors too often demote alternate metrics (ACSI, Net Promoter Score) and methods (Six Sigma, Fred Reichheld's) in an attempt to sell their “new” model. To profess that a new model is necessary for service organizations is akin to saying that the teachings of Deming, Juran and Drucker no longer apply. Their claim that Six Sigma doesn’t work outside of manufacturing demonstrates their lack of knowledge and/or experience using Six Sigma except to capitalize on its popularity by incorporating it into the label for their model. The capable, credible providers of Six Sigma training and consulting and those companies who have successfully implemented internally account for the “human” element, whether or not they are a service organization. Further, there are many service organizations that have successfully implemented Six Sigma, or other improvement methods, because they have adapted the method and tools to the needs of their business.

To summarize, leaders of service organizations who think the Human Sigma model is the next revolution to improve their business and boost profits will fail to realize meaningful results. Successful transformation has nothing to the label of the method and everything to do with leadership’s commitment to stick to a multi-year plan that aligns tactical actions with strategic objectives, mobilizes resources with the right tools and time to focus, measures progress, adjusts for mistakes and rewards success. Now, if your service organization doesn’t have the employee-customer encounter on its radar screen, then this book is greatest thing since sliced bread.

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