The Nine Golden Rules of CX Success: Rules 4-6

To achieve extraordinary things, you must be bold. Unlocking success demands a dedication to what I term “The Golden Rules of CX.” The Golden Rules represent essential guidelines for achieving success either broadly or within a specific endeavor.

This is the second of a three-part series on the nine golden rules for CX Success.

Golden Rule 4: Build Safety Scaffolds for Innovative CX Thinking.

Individuals who fear punishment for their actions, especially when they might be wrong, often remain silent and stick to familiar routines rather than taking the risks necessary for innovation and growth. This atmosphere of fear and distrust is common in corporate settings, where it stifles open and honest communication. To combat this, organizations need to promote transparency and safety and allow honest, even opposing, opinions, free from the threat of punishment. Leaders should openly discuss mistakes and failures to cultivate a culture of trust and safety.

Google is a prime example of fostering a culture of open communication and innovation. Through their Project Aristotle study, they identified psychological safety as the most critical factor in successful teams. This environment empowers employees to share ideas, take risks, and propose new concepts without fear of repercussions.

Netflix also underscores the importance of open, honest communication and retaining highly effective employees. Their culture encourages staff to voice their opinions and challenge decisions, fostering transparency and continuous improvement.

Salesforce is renowned for emphasizing employee engagement and transparency. The company regularly assesses employee satisfaction through surveys and utilizes platforms like Chatter to promote open communication throughout the organization. This inclusive leadership approach helps cultivate trust and nurture a culture of openness within the company.

The Ritz Carlton group has empowered its employees to immediately respond to guest disenchantment by forgiving up to $2000 of a bill at check-out. No questions are asked at the time of such an employee action. However, the company conducts a post-mortem to understand what happened, why it happened, and how future incidents can be prevented. There is no retribution. How about that for building trust, confidence, and commitment with the employees?

These companies recognize that building a culture of openness requires ongoing effort, leadership commitment, and supportive structures. By prioritizing these values, they create environments where employees feel safe to speak up, leading to innovative ideas, enhanced processes, and a more satisfied workforce.

While systems and solutions aim to solve complex problems, people often prefer simplicity and emotional resonance in products and services. Focusing on a clear, straightforward approach — like Square’s mobile app “Cash” — which solely allows users to send money to friends, can be more effective. Constraints in creativity can help ensure that the process remains grounded in realistic goals.

In today’s competitive landscape, cultivating a culture that values safety, trust, and learning from failure is vital for driving innovation and achieving success.

Golden Rule 5: Happy and Engaged Employees Fuel Experiences

Research and practice-based evidence demonstrates that an engaged and happy employee population has a very positive impact on customer experiences and financial performance. The operating margins for companies with engaged employees are 2.7 times greater than others, according to Forrester Research. Gallup, in its 2024 State of the Global Workforce report states that low engagement results in a cost of $8.9 trillion. Social isolation, loneliness, and stress impact physical and mental health resulting in those losses. Gallup reports that 44% of the global workforce is stressed. Without employee commitment, an organization can never be fully aligned to deliver the promised experiences. An organization has no presence beyond the people who bring it to life.

We see a growing movement across the corporate world for new ways to keep employees but also to keep them happy. The labor market has become more fluid. Younger employees look for opportunities to grow, and mobility is now very much a part of their professional journeys. Employees are increasingly seeking more meaning in what they do. They draw inspiration from being able to grow professionally, build mastery, and seek purpose and autonomy (Pink, 2009). These are new thresholds that must come from mindful leadership. Leaders have to listen, respect the dignity of all, make the psychological environment safe, be always present, and set ethical examples. And if they don’t, they will experience employee rebellion like what occurred at Dollar General.

Robert Half, a pioneering and leading staffing agency, champions the philosophy that happiness is fundamental to effective work. They are ranked as among the best places to work in their industry in the most recent rankings of Forbes 2024 list of “World’s Best Employers” (July 2024). They have a case for making employee happiness a priority because it leads to higher levels of engagement, satisfaction, productivity, and collaboration. They achieve these through engagement practices.

• They ensure that there is a fit between employee talents and the requirements of the job.
• They Empower staff to make decisions on their own to create meaningfulness in their work. Those who say that their work is worthwhile are nearly 2.5 times happier than those who feel the job they do is “just work.”
• Leaders who appreciate staff work stimulate higher levels of motivation.
• They believe fairness is a powerful game changer and matters deeply to employees. A single instance of unfair treatment, real or perceived, is enough to turn a happy, satisfied worker into a cynical and skeptical one.
• Supporting work-life balance is a key ingredient for happiness. If people have a bad work-life balance they will have problems at home; they will become cynical; they will get jaded and eventually leave.
• Creating an environment of camaraderie improves employee communications, cooperation, and collaboration.

First American, a provider of title insurance, settlement services, and risk solutions for real estate transactions has a “people first” credo. Dennis Gilmore, the CEO, notes:

“If we treat our employees well, they’ll take care of our customers, and if we run the business well, we’ll take care of our shareholders.”

The company prides itself as customer-focused. Their employees understand their customers and know how to ensure memorable experiences. Furthermore, they continually seek ways to improve employee experiences.

Golden Rule 6: Extinguish Silos for Better CX

Organizational silos, unlike their physical counterparts used for storing materials, are intangible structures that form naturally through human behavior. These silos often result in individuals becoming gatekeepers, impeding the free flow of information and knowledge within an organization.

When employees struggle to access data for customer journey mapping, it reveals the presence of strong protective barriers within the organization. These barriers lead to inefficiencies and ultimately harm the customer experience. Organizations often approach new challenges using outdated methods, relying on institutional memory filled with unspoken barriers known as “Moose” — outdated policies and procedures that persist despite their lack of usefulness.

Many companies address customer experience (CX) within their functional silos, creating boundaries and fostering a protective mindset. However, this approach is at odds with the customer’s perspective, as they interact with multiple channels and require several touchpoints to complete transactions.

Information Sharing Fuels CX Innovations

In today’s technological landscape, the monopolization of information is no longer viable. The era of restricted access to information through early IT systems has passed, and the need for agility demands the breakdown of silos.

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, recognized the presence of silos within the organizational hierarchy and took action:

• He opened up executive meetings to all employees via Chatter, their internal communication platform.
• This initiative transformed exclusive meetings into company-wide events.
• The result was a dynamic exchange of ideas and significant post-meeting discussions.
• This approach fostered connections among employees and aligned their thinking with the company’s vision.

GE’s “Boundaryless” Organization

Jack Welch, during his tenure at GE, championed the concept of working across organizational boundaries:

• He initiated structured and facilitated forums.
• These forums brought together people from various levels, functions, and geographies.
• The goal was to solve problems and make real-time decisions.

Customer Journey Mapping as a Unifying Tool

KPMG research shows that most customer-centric organizations generate CX practices across the entire organization. Customer journey mapping is the tool that aligns disparate functions.

Customer journey mapping serves as a method to unite people across different functions:

• It provides a visual representation of the end-to-end customer journey.
• The process encourages collaboration and fosters understanding.
• It keeps everyone focused on cost, value, and delivering exceptional customer experiences.

By breaking down silos and promoting cross-functional collaboration, organizations can better align their efforts with customer needs and improve overall customer experience.

Conclusion:

Many companies inadvertently hinder innovation by fostering an environment where employees fear making mistakes. This leads to risk aversion and a tendency to stick with familiar routines rather than exploring new ideas. Such atmospheres of fear and distrust impede the open communication essential for innovation to thrive.

However, forward-thinking organizations like Google, Netflix, Salesforce, and The Ritz Carlton have recognized the importance of creating a culture of psychological safety, transparency, and trust. These companies actively encourage open communication, allowing employees to share ideas and take calculated risks without fear of negative consequences.

This approach not only boosts employee engagement and satisfaction but also drives innovation and enhances customer experiences.

Bold leadership is required to instill trust, promote collaboration and open communication for an effective CX ecosystem.