Jobs War: Post #8--Customers

Customers
a. The battle for customers is worldwide, not just local. There is a worldwide market of 7 billion customers. America has to get 10% consumer growth (by using smart customer science) per year to stay ahead of the Chinese. We must be the best at understanding the minds of worldwide customers or suffer the economic consequences.
b. One painful example of that negative consequence of slipping behind China and India is found in the automotive industry. Detroit lost sight of what customers wanted—affordable, efficient transportation. But Honda and Toyota, among others, got the message and produced cars that Americans bought and bought. The U.S. took its sights off what customers want and lost that race.
c. Customers want companies that understand their needs, satisfy those needs, and become trusted partners in their lives and businesses. Gallup has come up with an excellent customer engagement survey (see pp. 122-23). This is worth reviewing in terms of your own organization.

Jobs War: Post #7--Workers

Workers
a. Disengaged workers make for unhappy customers, who stop buying the product, which causes layoffs or company failures. It’s that simple—that disturbing.
b. Gallup has been researching engagement and found that around 20% of the 100 million U.S. workers are disengaged. That’s 20 million workers who are slowly but surely destroying our nation’s companies. Consider that economic impact. It’s like a form of terrorism, only worse!
c. Gallup stats: 28% of the American workforce is engaged; 53% is not engaged; and, 19% is actively disengaged. Engaged employees have the following stats working for them: 12% higher customer metrics; 18% more productivity, 16% more profitability, 37% lower absenteeism, 25%-49% lower turnover, 27% less theft, and 60% fewer quality defects.
d. Gallup Path: 1. Identify a worker’s strengths; 2. Right fit them into a job that takes advantage of those strengths; 3. Provide a manager/leader who cares about the employee; 4. You’ll get an engaged worker; 5. Engaged workers who produce happy, engaged customers; 6. All this leading to sustainable growth and profitability.
e. Managers are Job #1: Managers are the most important choice in a company. Why? The level of engagement of employees depends on their manager. There is, on average, 1 manager to 10 employees, and 1 in 5 managers stink. That means such sub-par managers turn off 20% of employees. That’s staggering when you review the stats that disengaged employees produce.
f. Leaders have to understand what motivates people (behavioral economics) if we are to continue to prosper and lead the world. And not doing so sets up a negative dynamic—a movie with an ending none of us wants to see.