Exploring Engagement - The Engagement Ring
At its simplest, someone invests in your organisation to create value for customers. The investor gets the financial return or social outcome they are after. You get to use your skills and knowledge to create value and the customer benefits by having their needs met.
In practice, an organisation must balance a complex array of internal and external relationships. Positive engagement of all of these relationships is important for the organisation to succeed. The Engagement Ring illustrates the key relationship groups and how they relate to your organisation. Like the rest of the Performance Panel, these dynamics also apply to internal relationships in your organisation, describing relationships between different work units and branches.
The arrows in the inner circle show the different ways you facilitate the productive relationships. Largely, through your work, investors, suppliers and distributors are able to create value for customers. The outer ring shows the key context relationships. These are groups you must cooperate with to build healthy relationships for your organisation to operate.
Productive Relationships
In practice, an organisation must balance a complex array of internal and external relationships. Positive engagement of all of these relationships is important for the organisation to succeed. The Engagement Ring illustrates the key relationship groups and how they relate to your organisation. Like the rest of the Performance Panel, these dynamics also apply to internal relationships in your organisation, describing relationships between different work units and branches.
The arrows in the inner circle show the different ways you facilitate the productive relationships. Largely, through your work, investors, suppliers and distributors are able to create value for customers. The outer ring shows the key context relationships. These are groups you must cooperate with to build healthy relationships for your organisation to operate.
Productive Relationships
Investors are the people or groups who provide the investment required for your organisation to get started and keep going. There are many types of investors.
One organisation can have multiple investors.
Within an organisation the internal investors are the board, CEO and senior executives who invest budget allocations and resources into work units or projects, expecting a productive benefit.
The key relationship agenda with investors is to demonstrate they are getting a good return for their investment. For new investments or ventures, the priority is to put forward a convincing and reliable business case to encourage existing or prospective investors to take the risk of investing their resources in your organisation.
The primary obligation of the organisation towards investors is to protect their interests as the primary risk takers backing the organisation.
- Owners
- People who put their own resources into starting an organisation.
- Financial Backers
- people or institutions who provide the finance to start an organisation, support projects or expansion. The common financial backers are shareholders and banks. They are sometimes donors for community organisations.
- Other Organisations
- These could be community groups, churches, philanthropic investors who fund and provide the institutional support to develop and maintain the organisation.
One organisation can have multiple investors.
Within an organisation the internal investors are the board, CEO and senior executives who invest budget allocations and resources into work units or projects, expecting a productive benefit.
The key relationship agenda with investors is to demonstrate they are getting a good return for their investment. For new investments or ventures, the priority is to put forward a convincing and reliable business case to encourage existing or prospective investors to take the risk of investing their resources in your organisation.
The primary obligation of the organisation towards investors is to protect their interests as the primary risk takers backing the organisation.
Suppliers are the people and organisations that provide resources, products and services to your organisation so you can produce your own products and services. Suppliers largely take the form of:
The supplier relationship exists internally for organisations in terms of the work flow across work units. For example, a service delivery unit may depend on a front counter unit to provide them with purchase orders. The purchase order is a resource the service delivery unit needs supplied so it can do its work.
The primary agenda for supplier relationships is to get suppliers to make you their priority. This sometimes happens because you are a big customer for them. They will provide you with quality service and build just-in-time arrangements to keep your business. At other times it depends on the quality of your relationship. If you can get them to emotionally bond with your organisation or its representatives you have a better chance of getting responsive and reliable service when you need it. The test is, when you are in a crisis, can you rely on your supplier to make your needs a priority?
This primary agenda of becoming a priority for suppliers is also true for internal relationships. Sometimes, when a supplier unit is causing delays, the receiving unit just complains, blames them and puts all responsibility for fixing the situation onto the supplier unit. The catch is that the receiving unit is the one in need. It is still their responsibility to get their work done so it is in their best interests to build a relationship with the supplier to get their cooperation. Given that there is usually no market competition for many internal production chain relationships, effective supplier relationships become very important.
The primary obligation to suppliers is to be clear about your needs and prompt with your payments. Always treat suppliers with respect. If you want that organisation to support yours then showing mutual respect is important. It is not unusual for businesses to ‘sack’ customers. If they have enough business available elsewhere they may decide your organisation is not worth the trouble.
- Contracted Businesses
- These are ongoing arrangements with other businesses to provide ongoing materials, resources or services. They could be parts providers, employee placement firms, printers or waste contractors. What they have in common is that they provide you with something on an ongoing that your organisation needs to function. They are a regular part of your own production chain for day to day operations.
- Consultants
- These are short term providers, linked to a particular issue or project. They are not part of your regular production chain but people or organisations you call on when a need arises. They may take the form of business advisors, trainers, architects or other similar roles and occupations.
- Utilities
- Utilities are similar to contracted businesses but differ slightly in the nature of the relationship. With utilities your organisation is probably a general customer of their business without a negotiated set of service agreements. Larger manufacturers may have special arrangements for power and water but most businesses just join the customer queue like everyone else.
- Vendors
- Vendors are also similar to contracted businesses but the relationship has a more ad hoc nature where you seek over the counter services on a frequent basis. An example might be an office supplies store for smaller to medium businesses or an information technology provider for large businesses making bulk purchases every couple of years through a tender process.
The supplier relationship exists internally for organisations in terms of the work flow across work units. For example, a service delivery unit may depend on a front counter unit to provide them with purchase orders. The purchase order is a resource the service delivery unit needs supplied so it can do its work.
The primary agenda for supplier relationships is to get suppliers to make you their priority. This sometimes happens because you are a big customer for them. They will provide you with quality service and build just-in-time arrangements to keep your business. At other times it depends on the quality of your relationship. If you can get them to emotionally bond with your organisation or its representatives you have a better chance of getting responsive and reliable service when you need it. The test is, when you are in a crisis, can you rely on your supplier to make your needs a priority?
This primary agenda of becoming a priority for suppliers is also true for internal relationships. Sometimes, when a supplier unit is causing delays, the receiving unit just complains, blames them and puts all responsibility for fixing the situation onto the supplier unit. The catch is that the receiving unit is the one in need. It is still their responsibility to get their work done so it is in their best interests to build a relationship with the supplier to get their cooperation. Given that there is usually no market competition for many internal production chain relationships, effective supplier relationships become very important.
The primary obligation to suppliers is to be clear about your needs and prompt with your payments. Always treat suppliers with respect. If you want that organisation to support yours then showing mutual respect is important. It is not unusual for businesses to ‘sack’ customers. If they have enough business available elsewhere they may decide your organisation is not worth the trouble.
Distributors are the people that present your products and services to customers. They could be:
Within an organisation the internal distributor relationship happens mostly through meetings, projects and production chains. It is sometimes seen as corporate politics. For example, a business area is building a business case for a new service line. It needs to get sign off at an executive level. If it can get distributors on board, namely other parts of the organisation that want to use the new service in their business, then the business case will be better promoted to prospective investors or customers, namely the executive team. Likewise, a customer service unit depends on the service delivery units to deliver its customer care. If it cannot get these business units to be responsive to customer needs then the customer service unit will spend its time making empty promises to irate customers.
The primary agenda for the distributor relationship is to get distributors to present your product and service in the best light. You want distributors to represent your products and service and their benefits as accurately as possible to prospective customers. It also requires that they run their business in a professional, responsive way to satisfy customers, otherwise your product or service will be tainted by their poor performance. For smaller operators, whose products and services only account for a small part of the distributor’s business, this requires sensitivity to the distributors’ needs and knowledge of how your product and service is good for their business.
The primary obligation to distributors is to ensure the quality of your products and services. It also includes providing technical support to them so they can understand what it is they are presenting. You cannot expect to have the same depth of understanding of your products or services that you have. You need to give distributors educational and resource support to make it easy for them to understand and promote your products and services.
- Retailers
- Retailers are the most common distributors. Many producers or manufacturers don’t sell directly to the final consumer. Their products are distributed through sales organisations that stock or sell their products and services. The most common example of a distributor are the supermarkets. They sell thousands of other companies products or services, from cereal to phone credit.
- Producers
- Producers includes manufacturers and service industries. They are businesses that use your products or services as a component in their product or service. Common examples of this range from advertised components of computers to the ingredients of hamburgers. The producer is presenting your product or service as a point of value to their customers.
- Strategic Partners
- Another type of distributor are strategic partners. These are groups, advocacy bodies or complementary businesses who can recommend your services. These partners might join with you in a project or you engage in an event sponsorships. For example, when you sponsor an event you might also have a role as a presenter. The event organiser is distributing your services as part of their event.
- Advertisers
- Advertisers are a step along from strategic partners. The difference is that you are not directly involved in a joint activity with them. However, where you choose to advertise links your product or services to that event or medium. This is most often noticed in reverse, when an advertiser withdraws their support because of the conduct of the radio show or event organisers.
- Performers
- Performers combine the attributes of strategic partners and advertisers. They demonstrate your product or brand as part of their performance. The most obvious example is the car racing industry. The car manufacturer’s quality is not only promoted by the event but the event also presents the product, namely the car and its performance, to prospective customers.
Within an organisation the internal distributor relationship happens mostly through meetings, projects and production chains. It is sometimes seen as corporate politics. For example, a business area is building a business case for a new service line. It needs to get sign off at an executive level. If it can get distributors on board, namely other parts of the organisation that want to use the new service in their business, then the business case will be better promoted to prospective investors or customers, namely the executive team. Likewise, a customer service unit depends on the service delivery units to deliver its customer care. If it cannot get these business units to be responsive to customer needs then the customer service unit will spend its time making empty promises to irate customers.
The primary agenda for the distributor relationship is to get distributors to present your product and service in the best light. You want distributors to represent your products and service and their benefits as accurately as possible to prospective customers. It also requires that they run their business in a professional, responsive way to satisfy customers, otherwise your product or service will be tainted by their poor performance. For smaller operators, whose products and services only account for a small part of the distributor’s business, this requires sensitivity to the distributors’ needs and knowledge of how your product and service is good for their business.
The primary obligation to distributors is to ensure the quality of your products and services. It also includes providing technical support to them so they can understand what it is they are presenting. You cannot expect to have the same depth of understanding of your products or services that you have. You need to give distributors educational and resource support to make it easy for them to understand and promote your products and services.
Whether you deal with your customers directly or indirectly through a distributor, they are your most important relationship once your business is operating. They decide whether you offer them anything of value and, as a consequence, whether you stay in business. This is not to say the other stakeholders are not important but to highlight none can succeed unless the customer gets value.
The identity of the customer can vary. At its simplest it is the private citizen who buys something from a seller. But it quickly gets more complex as we move through business to business customers to the relationship of manufacturers to retail customers and then government brought programs to deliver to third parties. With this complexity it is not always easy for organisations to understand their customers.
Some common customer identities are:
The customer relationship is usually spread through the internal functions of an organisation through the production chain and the administrative and decision making processes. Organisations will perform better if each business unit thinks in terms of how it can create a better result for the other units further along the production chain. This one simple attitude could cut through a lot of corporate politics and inefficiency in organisations.
The primary agenda for customer relationships is to build emotional engagement with customers. Customer satisfaction is not enough as there are usually other providers who can satisfy them with similar products or services. You need the customer to want to deal with you or use your products. This required building an emotional connection with them through their experience of your product, the service experience, the practicalities of accessing your products or services and the other dimensions of value that they might be seeking.
The primary obligation to a customer is to only provide them with products or services that create genuine value for them. A customer always has to trust the provider at some level, regardless of how detailed the contract or regulatory conditions are. You have to earn and maintain that trust.
The identity of the customer can vary. At its simplest it is the private citizen who buys something from a seller. But it quickly gets more complex as we move through business to business customers to the relationship of manufacturers to retail customers and then government brought programs to deliver to third parties. With this complexity it is not always easy for organisations to understand their customers.
Some common customer identities are:
- Retail customers
- This is our most common customer experience. The relationship can vary from isolated transactions to frequent, repeat service. It is important to understand the value your customers seek. No long term good can come for your business if you push unwanted products or services onto a customer. For example, is the customer at a restaurant after a quick meal before getting back to work or a long, lingering dalliance with a love interest? Either way they want food but the service experience and event outcome for the customer will be quite different.
- Business customers
- The business customer is a different relationship that links you, as the provider, into the business processes of your customer. At its best it involves not just understanding the immediate purchasing need of your customer but also the value they are creating for their customers. This way you can position yourself to increase they level of value you can offer them.
- Mediated customers
- These are customers you might never meet because they access your products and services through a distributor. Here you need different sorts of quality control and feedback mechanisms to ensure you are getting the opportunity to provide value to these customers. Engaging them as long term, repeat customers is intimately connected to the performance of your distributors. Here you are challenged with making sure your distributors are good ambassadors for your products and services.
- Program customers
- It is common for governments and other large organisations to fund programs to deliver their business goals. A government might hire a social services organisation to deliver crisis care in the same area that they hire a private contractor to collect the rubbish. A large bank might hire fund management and financial management firms to manage customers and investments. In these cases, the provider has a dual customer set: the organisation that is hiring them to deliver services and the service recipients themselves. It is further complicated because the purchaser also has the attributes of an investor. Here the role is about balancing the service recipients’ expectations with the investment the large organisation is making. It is also about balancing the investment needs of the purchaser with the value goals of the direct investors or board of your organisation.
The customer relationship is usually spread through the internal functions of an organisation through the production chain and the administrative and decision making processes. Organisations will perform better if each business unit thinks in terms of how it can create a better result for the other units further along the production chain. This one simple attitude could cut through a lot of corporate politics and inefficiency in organisations.
The primary agenda for customer relationships is to build emotional engagement with customers. Customer satisfaction is not enough as there are usually other providers who can satisfy them with similar products or services. You need the customer to want to deal with you or use your products. This required building an emotional connection with them through their experience of your product, the service experience, the practicalities of accessing your products or services and the other dimensions of value that they might be seeking.
The primary obligation to a customer is to only provide them with products or services that create genuine value for them. A customer always has to trust the provider at some level, regardless of how detailed the contract or regulatory conditions are. You have to earn and maintain that trust.
Context Relationships
Neighbours are people or organisations that share your operating space. This might make them the retail outlet next door, a private residence, other businesses that share your building or members of an industrial estate. It can also include other road users or any other group with a tangible link to your activities.
The importance of neighbours is that you each impact on how you go about your business. If one neighbour is emitting excessive noise or odour it can affect the performance of the others. If the presentation of a site or access to your business is degraded by someone’s activities then it can affect your customer relationships.
Neighbours exist within organisations as well. They may be work units with no direct involvement with your own role. How they use common space or greet your visitors can have an impact on productivity and customer service.
The primary agenda with neighbours is to create an environment that helps everyone go about their business. In some situations neighbours help each other by attracting customers to an area. A restaurant strip attracts hungry people, a industrial site attracts people seeking mechanics and panel beaters. Good neighbourhood conditions enhance productivity and attract customers seeking service from a range of businesses.
The primary obligation to neighbours is to act in a way that enhances their business opportunities and doesn’t reduce them. This also extends to private residences whose domestic business is to rest, recreate and spend time with friends and families in a safe environment.
The importance of neighbours is that you each impact on how you go about your business. If one neighbour is emitting excessive noise or odour it can affect the performance of the others. If the presentation of a site or access to your business is degraded by someone’s activities then it can affect your customer relationships.
Neighbours exist within organisations as well. They may be work units with no direct involvement with your own role. How they use common space or greet your visitors can have an impact on productivity and customer service.
The primary agenda with neighbours is to create an environment that helps everyone go about their business. In some situations neighbours help each other by attracting customers to an area. A restaurant strip attracts hungry people, a industrial site attracts people seeking mechanics and panel beaters. Good neighbourhood conditions enhance productivity and attract customers seeking service from a range of businesses.
The primary obligation to neighbours is to act in a way that enhances their business opportunities and doesn’t reduce them. This also extends to private residences whose domestic business is to rest, recreate and spend time with friends and families in a safe environment.
Regulators exercise a responsibility for how organisations conduct their business. Regulators could be government, commissions or professional accreditation bodies. They set standards and deal with compliance issues. Their role is to protect the interests of a community, profession, customers, the market or the state.
While regulation is often not welcomed by organisations they are important for an open market. If a competitor is using a cheaper manufacturing process that leaves toxic residue on their products then this creates an uneven playing field and undermines customer confidence in the market. Organisations do not have the time or skills to police each other so regulators do it for us.
Regulators also exist within organisations. The board and senior management have regulatory roles as part of their governance responsibility. They have systems and procedures in place to ensure standards and quality. Operationally this role is most experience through supervisors and the quality assurance and administration personnel.
Unfortunately, internal and external regulators are often considered an interference and obstacle to productivity and cost efficiency. When regulators over regulate or place cumbersome administrative burdens on organisations this criticism might be fair. At other times the criticism is misplaced because people don’t understand the core role of standards and quality in the functioning of an effective organisation.
The primary agenda for the regulator relationship is to develop a clear understanding of expectations and implement cost-effective systems to ensure compliance. In many regulatory relationships there is room for variation for organisations to comply in a business effective way. As a rule though, regulators are only likely to adopt variations if they are convinced the organisation is acting in good faith and the proposal is reliable.
The primary obligation to regulators is, of course, compliance with the standards and regulations that apply to your organisation. Timely and accurate reporting is important as well as maintaining the relevant accreditations and equipment.
While regulation is often not welcomed by organisations they are important for an open market. If a competitor is using a cheaper manufacturing process that leaves toxic residue on their products then this creates an uneven playing field and undermines customer confidence in the market. Organisations do not have the time or skills to police each other so regulators do it for us.
Regulators also exist within organisations. The board and senior management have regulatory roles as part of their governance responsibility. They have systems and procedures in place to ensure standards and quality. Operationally this role is most experience through supervisors and the quality assurance and administration personnel.
Unfortunately, internal and external regulators are often considered an interference and obstacle to productivity and cost efficiency. When regulators over regulate or place cumbersome administrative burdens on organisations this criticism might be fair. At other times the criticism is misplaced because people don’t understand the core role of standards and quality in the functioning of an effective organisation.
The primary agenda for the regulator relationship is to develop a clear understanding of expectations and implement cost-effective systems to ensure compliance. In many regulatory relationships there is room for variation for organisations to comply in a business effective way. As a rule though, regulators are only likely to adopt variations if they are convinced the organisation is acting in good faith and the proposal is reliable.
The primary obligation to regulators is, of course, compliance with the standards and regulations that apply to your organisation. Timely and accurate reporting is important as well as maintaining the relevant accreditations and equipment.
The community is the broader society that your organisation also belongs to. It is important to note that this also includes the online community which extends across the world and can quickly form an opinion about an organistion. The community includes people in the other categories of relationship above but also includes people who have no direct involvement with your organisation. How you deal with the community can have significant benefits or repercussions for them and your organisation.
People in the community might act as individuals or as part of a group. Common groups are schools communities, sports clubs or religious communities. There can also be event based groups, gathering together to address a particular issue, usually to lobby for a particular outcome. As such, there are organisational and political dynamics operating in the community as well as private concerns.
In democratic societies the government is highly influenced by trends and lobbies in the community. The political process is intended to represent the interests of the community. It is important to note that in most election outcomes, even when there appears to be a landslide result, there is in fact a divided electorate behind it. This is key to understanding the community. It is a mix of different values, interests and needs that are constantly being renegotiated through the political process.
When sufficient people believe an organisation is a positive contributor to their community they tend to accept or even welcome its presence. Some common criteria are whether it will create jobs, affect traffic, support their lifestyle or build the reputation of their city or state. Once a large part of the community decides an organisation is a negative contributor to their community it can be very expensive and even futile for an organisation to try an maintain a presence there. A great deal of effort has to go into restoring positive community relations.
There are also community dynamics within organisation. As organisations get larger there are more parts of the business with no direct involvement in each others’ business. They are coexisting in a corporate community. But within the organisation there are also differing values, interests and needs for resources. An organisation with poor community leadership and cooperation can result in silos and competition, even at the executive level.
The primary agenda for community relationships is for the organisation to demonstrate that it is a good citizen making a positive contribution. This might be through job creation, access to services or the quality of its products. Typically, just as it has to meet a need for customers by creating value, an organisation benefits if it can show it fills a need for the community.
The primary obligation towards the community is to act in a way that either enhances or maintains the quality of life in the area. Virtually no community is going to accept an organisation that degrades it quality of life.
People in the community might act as individuals or as part of a group. Common groups are schools communities, sports clubs or religious communities. There can also be event based groups, gathering together to address a particular issue, usually to lobby for a particular outcome. As such, there are organisational and political dynamics operating in the community as well as private concerns.
In democratic societies the government is highly influenced by trends and lobbies in the community. The political process is intended to represent the interests of the community. It is important to note that in most election outcomes, even when there appears to be a landslide result, there is in fact a divided electorate behind it. This is key to understanding the community. It is a mix of different values, interests and needs that are constantly being renegotiated through the political process.
When sufficient people believe an organisation is a positive contributor to their community they tend to accept or even welcome its presence. Some common criteria are whether it will create jobs, affect traffic, support their lifestyle or build the reputation of their city or state. Once a large part of the community decides an organisation is a negative contributor to their community it can be very expensive and even futile for an organisation to try an maintain a presence there. A great deal of effort has to go into restoring positive community relations.
There are also community dynamics within organisation. As organisations get larger there are more parts of the business with no direct involvement in each others’ business. They are coexisting in a corporate community. But within the organisation there are also differing values, interests and needs for resources. An organisation with poor community leadership and cooperation can result in silos and competition, even at the executive level.
The primary agenda for community relationships is for the organisation to demonstrate that it is a good citizen making a positive contribution. This might be through job creation, access to services or the quality of its products. Typically, just as it has to meet a need for customers by creating value, an organisation benefits if it can show it fills a need for the community.
The primary obligation towards the community is to act in a way that either enhances or maintains the quality of life in the area. Virtually no community is going to accept an organisation that degrades it quality of life.
The web of relationships is different for each organisation and is too complex to canvas in one conversation. This case study from an actual user of the Performance Panel and shows how one business unit was able to turn its fortunes around.
The unit was in the education sector. It was part of a large provider of educational institutions, primarily schools but also other services. The unit's role within the organisation was to develop the ethos and commitment of staff, which was considered core to maintaining the brand, reputation and performance of the organisation. They were good at this and received lots of positive feedback from the CEO. In spite of this they always seemed to have to justify their role to get funding for their services.
The reason for this was the way funding works in the education sector. It is tied to schools and particular outcomes. Their work was not recognised by government or the customer as a target for funding. This meant that this unit, responsible for the brand and character of the organisation, had no independent means of funding itself, which always put it in competition with other functions in the organisation. It simply did not fit into the standard funding categories used across the sector.
Given that the value they created was clear and that their programs were well received it was evident that the issue didn’t lie with the Enrichment axis. Likewise, their strong record of cost effective service delivery showed their strength along the Alignment axis. The lack of support across the organisation pointed to issues along the Involvement axis.
Further analysis showed that the greatest opportunities lay with better engagement. Existing feedback meant the unit already had a rich bundle of material for the Validation function. But the weakness in engagement meant that this evidence of its contribution was not used to its full potential.
After the analysis the unit was able to include various steps in its business plan. It proceeded to implement them quickly, getting immediate positive responses. The types of steps taken included:
The unit was in the education sector. It was part of a large provider of educational institutions, primarily schools but also other services. The unit's role within the organisation was to develop the ethos and commitment of staff, which was considered core to maintaining the brand, reputation and performance of the organisation. They were good at this and received lots of positive feedback from the CEO. In spite of this they always seemed to have to justify their role to get funding for their services.
The reason for this was the way funding works in the education sector. It is tied to schools and particular outcomes. Their work was not recognised by government or the customer as a target for funding. This meant that this unit, responsible for the brand and character of the organisation, had no independent means of funding itself, which always put it in competition with other functions in the organisation. It simply did not fit into the standard funding categories used across the sector.
Given that the value they created was clear and that their programs were well received it was evident that the issue didn’t lie with the Enrichment axis. Likewise, their strong record of cost effective service delivery showed their strength along the Alignment axis. The lack of support across the organisation pointed to issues along the Involvement axis.
Further analysis showed that the greatest opportunities lay with better engagement. Existing feedback meant the unit already had a rich bundle of material for the Validation function. But the weakness in engagement meant that this evidence of its contribution was not used to its full potential.
After the analysis the unit was able to include various steps in its business plan. It proceeded to implement them quickly, getting immediate positive responses. The types of steps taken included:
- Investors.
- The manager organised scheduled meeting and reporting processes with the CEO and other key executives. The previous method of supplying emails was deemed ineffective. While they got positive replies, it meant the CEO's attention and response was only a few minutes, insufficient to reinforce and gain further investment.
Neighbours.- These were identified as other programs running in the organisation. In the past they were not prioritised in communication about the benefits this unit's program could provide for their work. New communication strategies were adopted to bring them on board as distributors in the form of strategic partners and advertisers rather than budget competitors.
Suppliers.- The unit members typically developed their materials themselves, given the specialised nature of their work. This meant they didn’t have a strong sense of their suppliers. With further analysis they recognised that there were other units in the organisation whose role was to support service delivery. The manager met firstly with the marketing division to develop a program to highlight and promote the benefits of their programs to the organisation, its owners, schools, staff and customers. They were reassured by the rapid and enthusiastic response they received from this supplier once engaged.
Customers.- The unit decided it needed to engage is customers more systematically. It was particularly important not to just provide good services and outcomes for the customers. They had to make sure customers understood the full benefits they got from these services. This was considered important for emotionally engaging customers and getting their future commitment to joining in programs and procuring the unit's products and services.
Reinforcement actions are events or processes to strengthen your people and organisation. They help people learn and develop effective outcomes for the organisation.
Some actions that can help reinforce constructive stakeholder relationships are:
Some actions that can help reinforce constructive stakeholder relationships are:
- Pre-business planning reviews
- Before drawing up a business plan, spend time reviewing your stakeholders using the Engagement Ring. Look for what type of relationship you have with the stakeholder. Keep an eye out for opportunities to develop or change the relationship to get a better result. Also look for relationship types that you haven’t used to describe existing stakeholder relationships. This might highlight some relationships that are being overlooked.
- Projects and change programs
- Make engagement a priority for project support and change programs. Develop strategies, resources and events to engage people to commit and to help them adapt to the change. This will increase the likelihood of your project succeeding.
- Customer service
- Use the engagement ring to explore your customer relationships, perhaps as part of a service review or stakeholder consultation process. Explore the different types of customers you have and link them back to the value they seek on the Enrichment axis. Plan ways to better achieve the goal of connecting customers to the value the organisation’s products and services can provide for them.
The description section above introduced you to the characteristics of different relationships types. This exercise helps you to explore who your stakeholders are and your priorities for each relationship.
Productive Relationships
Productive Relationships
- Investors
-
Identity- Who are your investors?
- What are they looking for when they choose to invest in you and not something else?
- How do you keep your investors involved?
- What do you do to build and sustain their confidence in your work?
- How well do you generate the value your investors are seeking?
- What can you do to provide this value across all areas: financial, social, reputation and ethical?
- Suppliers
Identity- Who are your suppliers?
- What is it they provide you with so you can do your work and achieve your goals?
- What do you do to encourage your suppliers to prioritise your needs?
- How do you get them committed and wanting to help you succeed as their customer?
- How do you work with your suppliers or seek out new ones so you get the best financial and quality value from them?
- How can you work with them so they will continually improve their service to you?
- Distributors
Identity- Who are your distributors?
- In what ways to they present your products and services to customers?
- How do you build your distributors' commitment to your products and services?
- How do you educate and develop their knowledge, skills and understanding for using and applying your products and services?
- How does presenting your products and services benefit your distributors?
- How do you get new distributors to value presenting your products and services?
- Customers
Identity- Who are your external customers?
- Who are your internal customers?
- Who pays for the products or services when you provide them to non-paying recipients?
- How do you involve your customers in the service experience?
- What do you do to help your customers emotionally engage with your organisation, brand, venues, products and services?
- How do you reward customer loyalty once customers become emotionally engaged?
- How do you ensure your customer transactions create genuine value for them?
- How do you focus on and cultivate the customers who generate value for your organisation?
- How do you divert non-genuine customers to providers that will meet their need without offence or harm to your brand?
- Neighbours
Identity- Who are the groups or individuals that live or work in the proximity of your business activites?
- How are they connected to you: geographically, economically, legally, politically or ethically?
- How can you engage your neighbours to create a mutually constructive operating environment?
- How can you work together to make a place that attracts customers?
- What value can you and your neighbours create to enhance your organisational activities?
- What marketing, employment, educational, political or social benefits can you provide for each other?
- Regulators
Identity- Who are the professional and government bodies that regulate your sector and activities?
- How do they engage you to get their compliance outcomes?
- How can you proactively engage regulators and address their priorities?
- What can you do increase the efficiency of regulatory responsibilities and reporting?
- How can you use regulatory requirements to increase your performance as an organisation?
- Where can your levels of compliance be used to enhance your credibility with stakeholders?
- Community
Identity- What is the nature and make up of the community you operate in?
- How does this community represent itself when it comes to important issues and aspirations?
- How can you engage the community as a respected corporate citizen?
- What can help the community connect to your organisation at the rational and emotional levels?
- How is the community better off for the presence of your organisation?
- What demonstrates to the community the benefits of your presence?
Context Relationships
Engagement is a critical function for any organisation that is linked to all its activities. The Engagement Ring appears deceptively simple. It actually draws on a wide range of disciplines. These include strategy, marketing, interpersonal skills, negotiation, sales, sociology, psychology and elements of other disciplines that focus on working with people, groups and communities. Of course, leaders typically don't have time to study all these on top of their own technical expertise. Unfortunately, in the business of daily operations, this means engagement can be neglected or minimised, making business operations harder than they have to be.
It is important to note that team performance, development and behaviours are not covered in the Engagement function, even though they are obviously related. The function of building up team performance primarily sits in the Integration function at the centre of the panel. It is through the Integration function that all the different functions, including Engagement, are worked through with leaders and teams to build a cohesive organisation.
It is important to note that team performance, development and behaviours are not covered in the Engagement function, even though they are obviously related. The function of building up team performance primarily sits in the Integration function at the centre of the panel. It is through the Integration function that all the different functions, including Engagement, are worked through with leaders and teams to build a cohesive organisation.