Power Of Voice

POWER OF VOICE

HOW AUTHENTIC CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WINS CUSTOMERS
BY NORMA T. HOLLIS

Corporate social responsibility extends beyond charitable giving. A true socially responsible corporation embraces the community at-large as well as the employees within the company. After all, we humans are social beings and anything that relates to our welfare and companionship with others is a social experience.

Today’s corporate environment is moving toward the need for authenticity – giving customers and employees the opportunity to “experience” the corporation: its goals, products and services. True corporate social responsibility stems from an authentic desire to meet the needs of the individuals by providing transforming experiences that align with self-image.

Those who follow the motivation field know that recent years have seen broader acceptance of the impact an engaged workforce has on the bottom line. Consumers are looking for a personal experience with a company – what I call a desire for "authenticity." It’s my belief that success of companies is now dependent on managing their operations in light of the "experience economy," which relates to how customers feel about a company, rather than the specific goods and services they provide. The companies that offer positive interactions are the ones winning customers, while those seen as inauthentic – fake, dull, disingenuous – are losing market share.

U.K.-based consulting firm Global Integration recently surveyed 730 people working in large global organizations and found that 40% feel their organizations have become less satisfying places to work during the last five years. Many satisfaction improvement programs create more teamwork and more meetings – but Global Integration has discovered that people spend a significant amount of wasted time in unnecessary meetings. More meetings just lead to further dissatisfaction. What people really miss is one-to-one time with their managers – regular, brief chats and not weekly conference calls where all staff members share irrelevant updates on what they did last week. I challenge managers to replace their old, tired solutions with new methods that truly reflect their organization's and employees' current needs.

It is important that corporate leaders recognize the need for and begin to implement authentic opportunities to showcase their products and services in alignment with the self-image of their employees and the expectations of their customers. It is not an easy task. But it also was not easy when corporations focused on “quality” at the end of the 20th century. Most companies had a quality initiative and quality became the buzz word for corporate progress. “Authenticity” replaces quality as we settle into the 21st century.

If you are not sure what a personal experience with a company is, think of Starbucks. At Starbucks you don’t just get a cup of coffee, you get an experience with coffee. Not only do you get choices of different types of coffee and styles of presentation, you also get the opportunity to experience the facility. You can meet with others, work on your laptop, play chess, hear a speaker and many other options depending on the Starbucks that you frequent. Likewise, Disney gives you an experience. When you enter the Disneyworld or Disneyland you are embraced with opportunities to enter other worlds and experience what it might be like in Tomorrowland, or Fantasyland, or the other opportunities that Disney offers.

What does your company do to offer an authentic experience to your customers? How is the authentic experience aligned with the mission of the company? How does it align with the expectations of the employees? How do you reveal authenticity within your company?

Give this some thought and look around you to recognize authenticity in the companies that you frequent. And stay tuned for more information on creating authenticity in your company as well as within your own life.

Norma T. Hollis, America’s Leading Authentic Voice Doctor, is an expert on authenticity and its importance to socially responsible behavior. A former director of non-profit programs and now founder & CEO of Norma Hollis Companies, which includes Speakers Etcetera, Black Speakers Online and Diversity Speakers Online, Hollis is a pioneer in the area of authentic social responsibility. She advocates corporate cultures that authentically provide original, genuine and sincere opportunities for employees and customers to encounter authentic experiences.

Take her Authenticity Test at www.cashinonvoice.com. Hear Hollis discuss Authenticity as it relates to Corporate Social Responsibility at the Meeting Planners International Conference in Houston Texas on February 4, 2008. Contact Hollis to discuss authenticity at norma@normahollis.com or by calling (323) 734-7089. For more information, contact: Denise Jones, executive booking manager, Black Speakers Online at (310) 671-7136 ext. 26, denise@blackspeakersonline.com or www.BlackSpeakersOnline.com.