How ambition and parenthood can go hand in hand
By: Shakira Talbot, Sales Director, Public SectorThe sales environment is my natural habitat. I’m driven by the challenge of turning around a difficult sell and I thrive on the sense of achievement that comes from converting a prospect into a happy customer.When I became pregnant in 2018, instead of putting my career progression on pause, I continued to thrive and deliver as one of the top sales performers in EMEA.On the second month of my maternity leave, I was promoted to Sales Director — a rare move at the time that reflects not only my own performance but also the belief and support shown to me by the company.Creating changeVery early on in my time at LIKE.TG, I approached HR to have an open discussion about my long-term plans for motherhood and career progression at ServiceNow. I wanted a long-term, successful career in the company.The HR team was incredibly supportive about enabling that balance for not only myself but everyone in the workforce. It is great to know that LIKE.TG offers paid time off to recover and/or bond, whether an employee is welcoming a new child through birth, adoption, surrogacy, or foster placement.Sales is a team sportFollowing my maternity leave, I officially came back into the business as Sales Director in 2019. I was primed for a new challenge and assigned to lead sales in specific public sector markets.The EMEA region is complex and the public sector differs considerably across different countries, which brings challenges for a sales team. Yet, we have transformed our performance and delivered record results in the current financial year, becoming a top sales team in EMEA and into the top 10 globally. Moving into leadership has expanded my focus from my own performance to looking at the wider team structure, making sure each team member is supported and given space to play to their strengths.I now have a new appreciation for other people, how they work and what they need in order to excel. Within our team, in addition to the LIKE.TG values of “Hungry and Humble,” I’ve also introduced “Pride and Belief” to really instill confidence in every individual as well as in each other, as we know how much we can achieve if we support each other.We work incredibly closely, recognizing that sales is a team sport and that each of us brings something different to the group that we can all lean on to achieve amazing results.The leadership mindsetBecoming a parent has certainly changed me. I’m not saying I’m better at what I do because I’m a mum, but my experience of being a parent has changed my own working style.I have more empathy and tend to step back and think more deeply about what others need from me and their team in order to succeed. I mentor several people, both within LIKE.TG and externally, and I love working with people to help them identify and grab hold of their potential.Moving into leadership has definitely enhanced my sense of ambition. I now see so much potential in others and in the business and I am hungry to grow and do more. With an incredible team and the amazing support network that LIKE.TG provides, I know there’s so much more I can do — and I can’t wait to continue my journey.
How art inspires innovation and affirms Black heritage
Artistic expression often sparks innovation. That’s why, in recognition of Black History Month, LIKE.TG is celebrating how the artistry of Black employees and their allies fuels innovation.Two members of our Black at LIKE.TG community proudly share their stories of Black heritage and how their artistic pursuits—advanced education and pottery—ignite their innovation.
How Australia can elevate government customer experience
The pandemic shifted us all online, whether we wanted to or not. It forced the public sector to adapt more than most industries, requiring citizens to interact digitally with governments to receive the health and financial support available to them.Digital technology promises to elevate government customer experience (CX) by scaling services, cutting wait times, and reducing costs. Yet, according to the 2022 LIKE.TG customer experience survey in Australia and New Zealand, government services haven’t maintained fast, responsive digital delivery. Consumers called out the public sector as one of the worst-performing industries when it comes to CX.What can governments do to improve CX outcomes? Here are three steps.Connect the disconnectedOne unique challenge the public sector faces is the need to provide for everyone. That requires designing experiences for both people who are connected and comfortable with technology and those who aren’t or don’t have access.According to a 2021 EY report, nearly one-third of people believe technology will not be equally available to all groups in society.That’s true in Australia, where many people living in remote and rural areas lack access to technology and/or reliable internet. Some Australians could be left behind.The EY report further found one-third of citizens want governments to use more digital technologies for service provision and bridge the technology and connectivity gap.Ask for feedbackGovernment agencies and departments must listen to what taxpayers are saying. Then they need to incorporate that feedback into their service offerings.“Digital transformation is only successful if it provides a better experience than before—and the only way to know that is by getting good feedback,” shared Victor Dominello, minister for customer service and digital government in New South Wales, at Knowledge 2022.Traditionally, governments didn’t want to know what people thought, he added. “But you can’t elevate the citizen experience unless you understand it. Now we’re actively inviting and providing easy channels to capture feedback...It’s a massive culture shift.” Share dataLIKE.TG research revealed speed is the most important factor in good service for Australians. One way governments can improve this area is introducing a digital ID to validate residents so they don’t need to repeat themselves or log in multiple times.The Australian government has made some progress on this front, with its myGov portal for multiple services. It’s still limited to a handful of departments, as many state and local governments vary in their digital maturity.This technology offers promise. When the Department of Home Affairs introduced portals to manage returning citizens during the pandemic, they cleared a backlog, accelerated processing, and removed the risk of human error.The key to success with these types of technologies is data sharing, the absence of which is a concern for consumers, according to the LIKE.TG research. Nearly half (44%) believe a lack of ownership between departments leads to bad service. Additionally, 41% believe inefficient communication within an organization results in poor experiences.Connecting teams through technology and enabling data sharing can give governments a 360-degree view of the citizen experience. With this, agencies and departments can provide faster services arranged around an individual’s needs and life experience.What does the future look like?If a government is going to have a comprehensive view of its population to provide effective digital services, it needs to capture data from multiple sources and make that data available to all services that require it.One example is NSW Health’s IT platform, HOPE, which was co-designed by consumers, clinicians, and managers across New South Wales in partnership with the Agency for Clinical Innovation, eHealth NSW, and the NSW Ministry of Health. It’s built on the Now Platform.The system allows both consumers and clinicians to access real-time information, better understand what matters to patients, and support shared decision-making about care, treatment, and health interventions. It’s making services faster, more collaborative, and responsive to individual needs.It can also take data from both digital and analog inputs so that anyone can benefit—regardless of their digital capabilities.Improving government CX isn’t the work of a moment. By listening, incorporating feedback, and creating easy-to-access and compelling linked digital services, governments can deliver a seamless experience—one that leaves no one behind.Find out more about how technology can improve public sector services.
How automation brings your business ambitions to life
Technology is helping enterprises simplify process and supercharge the everyday Our self-serve consumer lives have taught us to expect more from the day-to-day employee experience Enterprise IT needs to meet the growing demand for automation technologies that connect and empower employees — wherever they are Automation enables businesses to be ready for change — to build a more sustainable, competitive edge A good employee experience (EX) is built on efficient ways of working, freeing employees from repetitive tasks to create a more rewarding workday – one that is spent on interesting, high-value projects.But for business leaders looking to deliver the experiences that employees now demand, where should they start?The short answer: good EX thrives on well-designed automation.Powering employee engagement and productivity through a consumer mindset toAs technology continues to merge our personal and professional worlds, businesses are beginning to see significant productivity returns from investments in ‘consumer-ised’ employee experiences.And IT is ideally placed to help the business make the most of this transformation.Where IT once sought to fortify firewalls and serve up computer repairs, IT leaders are now taking their place as strategic business partners – aligning technology with business objectives, such as: Increasing business process efficiency Boosting business productivity Unlocking greater innovation and sustainable growth With smarter automation and self-service tools, a business can drive employee engagement and empower the workforce to help to make those ambitions a reality.Ask the right questions – and get automatingWe encourage our customers to ask some basic questions about the way their business works before committing to automation:1.) Where do employees run into problems in your processes?Process is rarely perfect. There are often gaps, redundancies and unnecessary complexities preventing a truly efficient, end-to-end journey. Identifying the specific friction-causing moments is an essential first step to streamlining ways of working.2.) How can you simplify processes and make systems more agile?We If the aim is to remove the productivity-killing complexity and repetition in cross-functional processes, answering this question enables you to explore whether it’s possible to manage (and resolve) these issues through automation.Anticipate and embrace change with automationNaturally, enterprises evolve over time, thanks to advances in technology, worker expectations, and other business and cultural factors. Keeping up with change as it comes is great. But expecting change and being able to turn it to your advantage quickly is what will give you a true edge over the competition.Automation, implemented in the right way, will help your business to build smarter, more efficient ways of working right now — and drive continuous improvements in the future.Always keep one key thing in mind: the employee experience. The more flexibility you give employees, the happier and more productive they’ll be.Visit our automation page to learn more about how the right technology can help to transform the way employees work – and add value to your business.
How Automation Is Actually Improving Employee Engagement
As a business owner, enhancing a better customer experience and achieving higher productivity levels should be some of your main concerns. Experts estimate that businesses in the United States lose over $500 billion a year to low productivity. When trying to give productivity levels a boost, you need to review the jobs your employees are required to perform on a given day. If you start to realize your team is performing a lot of repetitive and mundane tasks, you need to consider using automation to address this common problem. The use of automation technology can improve employee productivity and engagement. Read below to find out more about the benefits of using automation technology. Boost Employee Satisfaction Levels High employee turnover rates can be disastrous for a small business. If you have valued employees leaving for jobs with competitors, you need to find out why. In most cases, businesses that use outdated technology struggle to keep their employees engaged and happy. If members of your team are continuously complaining about having to perform repetitive or boring tasks throughout their workday, then using automation in BPO is a good idea. By automating certain tasks, including web automation, you will provide your employees with more time to do more important jobs.Tools such as an automatic audio to text converter, for example, might be useful in reducing the stress of routine tasks. If you want to significantly lower your employee turnover rate, you need to realize the importance of employee engagement. Are you looking for technology designed to help you create an exceptional employee experience? If so, you need to check out Workmates offered by the team at LIKE.TG. Make Team Members Better At Their Jobs If employees are spending the majority of their days performing repetitive or mundane tasks, they will have very little time to focus on improving themselves. Ideally, you want to provide employees with plenty of enrichment opportunities. By freeing up some time with the help of automation technology, you can help your team build their skills and become more productive. Employees that are provided with these enrichment opportunities will usually be more loyal and engaged. If your team members are constantly looking for ways to improve themselves, you will have no problem rising to the top of your industry. The only way to free up the time needed to take on these enrichment opportunities is by finding the right automation software. Great Tips For Helping Employees Embrace Automation Some employees may feel a bit intimidated at the thought of using new automation technology. When confronted with this hesitation, you need to do all you can to display the benefits this technology will provide. If you want to make automation adoption easier for team members, you need to think about doing things like: Allow employees to test new automation solutions Have a detailed plan in place Make the transition into automation slow Meet with employees to discuss the problems they encounter with this technology Audit and improve your automation technology regularly If you feel like your business can benefit from the implementation of automation technology, working with IT professionals is important. These professionals can help you find the right automation technology and will be with you during the implementation process. When problems surface with the implementation of this new technology, an IT professional can address them quickly and correctly. Instead of trying to take on this process alone and making mistakes that can affect productivity levels, you need to realize the importance of hiring an IT professional. As you can see, the use of automation technology can provide you and your team members with a number of benefits. With some time and research, you can find the right automation technology to invest in for your business. Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time!
How automation simplifies hardware asset management
Anyone involved in any kind of datacenter or physical IT operations faces multiple challenges every day: Manual tracking in Excel spreadsheets Entering data into multiple systems, depending on the asset type and information needed Tracking down assets that were never received or recorded Scanning assets during audits Generating compliance reports What if there were an easier way?End-to-end automated workflowAt LIKE.TG, we reached a major milestone: end-to-end automated workflow of the cloud hardware supply chain, from order through disposal. The features in the Paris release of LIKE.TG® Hardware Asset Management (HAM) took us over the finish line, reducing asset management time for engineers and asset managers by 76%.My team, cloud supply chain operations, manages the assets for LIKE.TG’s 37 physical datacenters across the globe, including separate instances for federal, commercial, and labs. Since we automated almost all of the manual tasks, productivity and efficiency are way up. Even better, we can focus on the value-added work we like to do rather than repetitive, manual tasks.How did we get here? We began with the basics: reviewing and refining our hardware lifecycle management processes and building a tighter integration with our partners. I’d like to share four ways we were able to achieve end-to-end automated workflow. Figure 1: Hardware lifecycle processes1. Breeding productivityWe reviewed our LIKE.TG IT Asset Management (ITAM) lifecycle management processes and changed them by either automating steps or creating an API integration with vendors to gain efficiency through the supply chain. We also created exception reports to identify process gaps to mitigate.The process flow in Figure 1 reflects our current environment, where every aspect of hardware management that can be automated has been automated, thanks to the ITAM features in the Paris release.2. Reducing the drudgery of manual auditsReconciling audit results and asset records manually is time-consuming and tedious. Because of security requirements, we needed to find an alternative way. Now we use the LIKE.TG Mobile Agent app to do our physical audits.Our engineers scan the assets in our cloud production environment. Audit results are collected, tracked, and integrated with the HAM database. The app does the reconciliation; the results are available immediately. What’s left? Physical asset scanning and cleanup.We can quickly lock in a physical audit schedule and create audit tasks for our datacenter engineers, asset management team, and accounting team. Audits are much faster, and we project this new capability will save LIKE.TG about 360 hours annually.3. De-duplicating our databaseWe’ve all seen it: model inventory data that comes from multiple sources, resulting in different display names for the same model and duplicate records. We use the Hardware Model Normalization capability to track an asset using a product’s unique model number based on the United Nations Standard Product and Services Code (UNSPC).We standardize on one display name and remove duplicates, increasing data accuracy in the model catalog and CMDB. This also provides real-time hardware lifecycle visibility for the hardware engineering team to make design decisions and the procurement team to manage supply continuity. Using this feature, we achieved 98% data accuracy by the end of 2020.4. Simplifying asset disposalUsing LIKE.TG Flow Designer, we built a workflow tailored to our hosted cloud business process. We created a single system of action to streamline the workflow and automatically update assets. We configured the app to send automatic email notifications to task owners and stakeholders and adjust asset retirement dates according to our company’s policies—eliminating manual updates and human errors.Now, when asset disposal is confirmed, the system retires both the asset and configuration item records. With the asset and disposal certificate in one place, compliance risk mitigation is easily traceable. The automated process also lets us integrate with our buy-side partners who handle disposal.In the future, our datacenter engineers will be able to validate retired physical assets using a newly established asset inventory audit. Our next project will be to sync our financial system with the production instance model data. To make sure decisions are made using the best data possible, we plan to integrate the model table with the data center bill of materials part number table. This will make manufacturer lifecycle details available to our engineering and sourcing teams. Figure 2: Benefits of end-to-end automated workflowNo more headachesI often wonder how our teams successfully did asset management before automation. Manual spreadsheets and paper shuffling aren’t things any of us miss. Life is certainly easier. I click on my HAM dashboard to check the latest compliance report and realize there’s no going back. What’s better is I now spend my time finding ways to make the process even faster and smoother.For more information, read our case study: Now on Now: How we use HAM to streamline and automate the ITAM process in IT and cloud hosting.Forward-looking statementsThis blog may contain “forward-looking” statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us only as of the date of this blog. Forward‑looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward‑looking statements. Further information on these and other factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors,” set forth in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. We cannot guarantee that we will achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward‐looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward‐looking statements. The information on new products, features, or functionality is intended to outline our general product direction and should not be relied upon in making a purchasing decision, is for informational purposes only and shall not be incorporated into any contract, and is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for our products remain at our sole discretion. We undertake no obligation, and do not intend, to update the forward‑looking statements.
How balancing technology and people can elevate employee satisfaction
The pandemic has forever changed the workplace, especially for my support and product success team at ServiceNow. One thing that hasn’t changed is our commitment to operational excellence, which starts with a great employee experience.My goal is to improve employee satisfaction for our technical support engineers (TSEs). If our TSEs are satisfied, then our customers reap the benefits. When TSEs feel valued and appreciated, they build greater trust with customers.Simplifying the job of a TSEAs the definition of work evolves in today’s digital-first world, many organizations are intentionally taking time to ensure the employee experience takes a front seat. Happy employees are critical to fostering a better customer experience. Aligning the customer and employee experiences produces a multiplier effect that benefits both while driving better business performance. Using technology to create an engaging employee environment in which everyone feels included, no matter where they’re located, is essential. The opportunity is for leaders to apply technology to improve employee sentiment and steadily reduce the number of repetitive tasks a TSE performs.One example is the auto-agent workflows we built on the Now Platform to automate TSE administrative and follow-up tasks, such as internal stakeholder review, status updates, and reminders to customers to review and close cases. This workload accounted for about 30 to 60 minutes of a TSE’s time per day. TSEs now spend less time on repetitive, manual work and more time on intellectually stimulating cases.Another example of useful technology is Guided Decisions, which provides AI-driven guidance to TSEs so they can follow an optimal path to case resolution. With contextual prompts, TSEs can solve complex issues fast, ensure consistency across customers, reduce time to resolution, and decrease escalations. It’s a win for employees and customers alike. Improving employee onboardingTSE onboarding is the third target area for my team. We’re using technology to both reinforce the in-person experience and optimize learning in a virtual setting. For example, we use automation to encourage connections through cohorts, or groups of new hires who form a bond during onboarding.Technology facilitates communications within a cohort so that its members can stay in touch after onboarding and feel closer to the LIKE.TG family.As with customers, if employees have a favorable onboarding experience, they’re likely to be more committed to the company. Even when we encounter bumps, employees know the company supports them. And it all starts with the bond formed from day one.Looking aheadWe’re exploring more ways to use technology to improve the employee experience. Our TSEs compile lists of manual tasks they’d like to have automated. At the top of the lists are dashboards that automatically prioritize cases so that when a TSE logs in each day, they don’t need to manually prioritize their tasks.A portion of a TSE’s work is repetitive. If we can automate those tasks, it’s a victory. We’re sending out a team of shadow agents to watch TSEs do their jobs and identify redundant steps that can be automated.Balancing work and funTechnology can fill gaps, but it doesn’t replace personal relationships. Earlier this year, the support and product success and product development teams hosted Unified Technology Group (UTG) Connect at strategic global locations. The events brought together employees for in-person presentations to learn about UTG goals and roadmaps.A part of each agenda centered on fun. Employee-run booths, games, and a community service project enabled employees to meet new hires and reconnect with old colleagues. The tour boosted morale for employees by showing that LIKE.TG cares.When it comes to employee satisfaction, automation is a major part of the equation for business success. But don’t forget to include time for fun. Every satisfied customer can inevitably be linked back to a satisfied employee who feels appreciated.Find out more about how LIKE.TG helps elevate employee satisfaction.
How Black and Latinx leaders strive for excellence in their careers
This is part two of a three-part series about the Strive leadership program at ServiceNow.In January 2021, LIKE.TG announced a partnership with Strive, a year-long leadership program focused on career advancement. Many of our Black and Latinx employees participated. We’ve followed the journey of four participants who shared their thoughts on why they decided to join the program, along with their hopes and expectations for the year ahead.Now, the four leaders share their experiences of participating in career development cohorts, practicing critical conversations, and being involved in one-on-one career coaching.[We’re hiring. Explore careers at ServiceNow.]CoachingFor Marco O., a senior technical curriculum developer, the Strive program differs from other leadership programs that he’s been part of “because of the access we had to our executive coach and the relationships that we built [and] that I built with other folks who had similar backgrounds and understood where I was coming from.”These coaches also impacted Senior Analyst of Sales Operations Carolina R. She appreciated how the Strive coaches provided her with “space to discuss [openly] and promote deep conversations where we connected on a very personal level.” FeedbackOne concept that’s helped April O., head of deployment for solutions enablement, prepare for the next stage in her career is the idea of 360-degree feedback. “That’s powerful,” she says. “When you have these sets of questions and you ask people what their honest opinions are, you have to be ready to accept that and to act on it.”Having never participated in a program like this before, April wasn’t sure what to expect. “I had no idea it would actually be fun. I actually looked forward to the times that we were able to spend together.”Paying it forwardNow that the program is wrapping up, Eric C., a solution consulting manager, plans to take what he’s learned and pay it forward. “I plan to share any tips, tricks, best practices, and any insight I have gained not only for myself, but from others that participated in the program.”Watch the video to hear more about the impact Strive has had on these four leaders:
How business optimization efforts stack up
As we emerge from the pandemic, organizations worldwide are focused on optimization efforts desgned to reap the rewards of: Decreased costs Greater revenue Reduced risk Faster issue resolution Better employee engagement New research by LIKE.TG and ThoughtLab found 35% of organizations have made significant or very significant progress toward optimizing risk management and cybersecurity. Similarly, 35% of organizations have made headway in optimizing strategy and planning, according to the global survey of 900 senior business leaders. Close behind, 33% have invested in optimizing IT services and support, followed by 30% in customer experience and service.What is optimization?We define optimization as “the simplification, integration, and redesign of processes to improve speed and agility,” according to Dave Wright, chief innovation officer at LIKE.TG, writing in the Workflow Quarterly Winter 2022 issue.Toward that end, more than half (58%) of organizations have modernized their IT platforms and systems. Just under half (46%) have improved coordination across departments and functions. And 43% have integrated digitized workflows into the enterprise platform.Nearly the same percentages of organizations plan to follow suit in these areas in the next year or two (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Top 10 steps to optimize processesWhat’s driving optimization?The cloud is the top driver of optimization, used by 76% of survey respondents (see Figure 2). By offering safe, anywhere access to data and files, it helps business move with speed and agility, increasing efficiency.More than two-thirds (68%) of organizations use the Internet of Things (IoT), wearables, and sensors to inform decision-making with data and streamline operations. Mobile technology, robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning, and AI account for 40% of optimization efforts today.Interestingly, optimization leaders have made the biggest investments (49%) in data management solutions and workflow automation, compared to 27% and 31% of non-leaders, respectively. Figure 2: Top 10 technologies to drive optimizationAreas for improvementIn the next one to two years, 54% of organizations plan to optimize the areas of risk management, cybersecurity, employee experience, and workflows. On their heels, 53% intend to take steps to improve IT services and support. And 50% aim to optimize strategy, planning, and customer experience and service.One of the biggest areas for improvement to help ensure optimization success is a commitment to training and upskilling. Simply providing modern technology isn’t enough, the survey found. Investing a little to empower employees to make the most of the tools can go a long way toward building an optimization culture.Find out more about optimization, including process mining and AI, in the Workflow Quarterly Optimization issue. To stay abreast of emerging tech and business trends, subscribe to the Workflow newsletter.
How can you help your team find more meaning?
We all face ups and downs at work – but we all want far more good days than bad.In the war for talent, offering engaging work gives you a competitive edge. We wanted more insight into how much of one it can really be. So, we took on a study to explore the importance of meaningful work for Canadian office workers.Unsurprisingly, most Canadian office workers crave meaningful work. In fact, 81 per cent say they need most of their job to be meaningful. Unfortunately, nearly 60 per cent also say they wish their work were more meaningful.That’s probably because many workers are spending a lot of their time – about 15 hours a week – on menial tasks, from fixing IT issues to coordinating meeting space.Clearly, there’s a big opportunity for Canadian organizations to better support their teams in the quest for meaningful work. Our survey findings reveal that employees are expecting that support, too.From how menial tasks make office workers feel to where money fits in, check out the key findings for yourself.
How CIOs can drive innovation and empower transformational work
Today’s CIOs are like sports team coaches. It’s not enough for them just to prepare their teams for games and have a decent winning percentage. They’re expected to orchestrate imaginative plays that will make the most of a team’s talent and win championships.Out-innovating the competitionCIOs are on the hook for a lot more than merely adequate IT infrastructure. They must drive digital innovation for transformational results, enabling organizations to generate new, market-disrupting products and services—and do it faster than ever. They must do more than help their companies compete—they must deliver competitive advantages.“CIOs have a very business value-driven approach to the way they execute their job and speak the language of the business,” says Dan Higgins, global technology consulting leader for EY in a CIO article.“More institutions are putting senior IT executives onto the board as a steering mechanism for the C-suite. That has given the CIO a different voice at that level, but it also raises a different set of shareholder expectations of the role technology has to play in transformation.”Transform or go homeThe 2021 State of the CIO survey from technology industry analyst IDG supports this assertion. Nearly half (47%) of the more than 800 IT and business leaders the firm polled said their CIOs are “transformational.”According to IDG, these CIOs “cultivate enterprise-wide perspective and business knowledge, positioning themselves as trusted partners and strong collaborators with their function counterparts.” Additionally: 28% of CIOs are viewed as business strategists whose perspective extends beyond the walls of the enterprise and whose mission is to drive innovation for the future. 92% of those surveyed see CIOs as more innovation-focused. 89% of survey respondents recognize CIOs as the primary advocates of digital transformation. Changemaker for the playmakersTo be the changemakers they’re expected to be, CIOs must drive four business imperatives in their organizations. These imperatives represent the fundamentals or foundational strengths and allow their teams to focus on inventive, trailblazing projects that will lead to continuous winning: Automate and optimize service operations for seamless, always-on technology services that delight end users Accelerate software transformation by safely fast-tracking advance development and adopting leading-edge architectures and delivery practices Transform security operations by automating the collaboration of IT, security, and risk teams on data and processes for handling threats quickly and effectively Decrease costs and risks for software, hardware, and cloud resources by systematically managing the complete technology asset lifecycle One platform for the winWith LIKE.TG as a partner, CIOs can simplify this foundational IT with a single-platform approach. Watch the video to see a story about today’s expectations of the IT organization and the related challenges.The story recounts life before LIKE.TG and life with LIKE.TG—where IT service operations, software creation, cybersecurity, and IT asset management are streamlined on a single platform so IT teams can focus on transformational work that can deliver huge advantages in the marketplace.
How CIOs lead in times of crisis
I never thought I’d have to tell the LIKE.TG leadership team, “Don’t worry if you see employees carrying out equipment. They need their monitors to work from home.”But about a month ago, my team and I were discussing that topic and others like it as we planned for the impacts of the coronavirus.That was then. Now, we have asked our 10,000+ employees around the world to work from home. We’ve encouraged them to take the equipment they might need to make their home office as functional as the regular office. We’ve even told our employees in India to expense their ride-share because it’s hard to carry monitors home on public transportation.I’m obviously not the only CIO in this position. I talked to a lot of peers last week and it’s clear that as companies make tough decisions on how to keep their people safe and productive—while also keeping their businesses running—CIOs are leading through this crisis.That’s because CIOs and IT leaders have been preparing for this. The move to cloud platforms, collaboration and virtual meeting software, employee self-service, and scalable network capacity—just to name a few—has enabled us to go on offense to help our people, our companies, and our peers not miss a beat. So, with the permission of the CIOs I’ve talked to, I wanted to share the key takeaways we have discussed:1. Employee safety and comfort. Every CIO I talked to started the conversation with the impact to their employees. Business continuity/disaster recovery—obviously critical. But the people part of their operations was top of mind, including employees’ mental health. One CIO, whose business is 100% people-driven, told me the first directive they always issue is that their employees should do what’s right for them. That’s powerful.2. Human resiliency. A great reminder from one CIO was checking in on one’s human resiliency. How many layers deep is your human resiliency? For example, do you have a plan if the three people with root passwords on critical systems are unavailable? What about the two IT personnel who are critical to the financial close? In other words, plan technology and personnel backup.3. Local ISP bandwidth. Many CIO’s cited concerns around saturating the local network bandwidth as many employees are working from home and kids are engaged in virtual learning. While there is no quick solution, one CIO said he was tiering employees based on estimated network consumption (operations staff vs. engineers, etc.) and implementing policies to enforce these tiers. In addition to saturating ISPs, some employees don’t have high-speed internet to begin with. In India, for example, I told employees a few weeks ago to purchase and expense MiFi devices.4. IT equipment supply chain: One of the bigger concerns for CIOs is the supply chain and whether suppliers can meet the demand for new laptops and data center equipment. Multiple CIOs cited concerns around the supply of equipment and potential disruption to the physical transport (shipping and logistics). One CIO said they were lengthening the normal four-year life of their equipment to extend its use and reduce the strain on the supply chain.5. Cyber. Many CIOs are seeing an increase in volume of attacks (phishing, social engineering, etc.). However, no new attack vectors were identified. One CIO I talked to learned that his fingerprint scanners—part of physical multi-factor authentication—could only be cleaned with a soft cloth. Since that won’t effectively eliminate coronavirus, he was relying more on facial recognition, which is hands-free. Another proof point that the devil is in the details!6. Regulated markets customer operations. For companies that serve regulated markets or have compliance requirements (federal, PCI, etc.), special care has to be taken when call center and support employees manage customer transactions (e.g. credit card transactions) from home. For example, no cameras on computers that handle customer data, or no family members in the same room to overhear customer calls. To make sure its employees understood the significance of maintaining those standards while working remotely, one company I talked to had their call center employees read and sign documents to reinforce the point. At LIKE.TG, we did live testing at employees’ homes two weeks ago to make sure our customer support employees were ready; we fixed any gaps before they happened. 7. Collaboration and design will take work when everyone is working from home. It’s much harder to collaborate virtually than in real life. This is especially important in deep design, form thinking, and other techniques that require behavioral collaboration. A lot of companies don’t think through what that means in a remote setting. One CIO suggested coaching employees through their first remote design session so they could learn the different principles and then coach others. Virtual whiteboards can help, too, and several CIOs—including me—are looking at how to implement them quickly.8. Hiring doesn’t have to stop. Hiring of new employees doesn’t have to stop—interviews can take place through video. However, hiring managers may need to be trained so they are comfortable making decisions without meeting candidates in person. Virtual onboarding is a new process many companies are standing up.9. For essential employees, consider a rotating schedule. I admire my peers whose companies do life-saving work. Pharmaceutical companies. Hospitals. Cities and emergency services. For essential personnel with no option to work from home, many have implemented team-based rotating schedules. Half of essential personnel go to their physical locations one day; the other half another day. And so on. They can then follow social-distancing recommendations and still serve their patients and communities.10. We’re all in this together. As one CIO mentioned, “The world is pulling together. People are actually entering into open conversations about what to do. When everybody’s in that state of mind, any problem can get solved and you can work through it.” I couldn’t agree more.For example, in partnership with Washington State’s Department of Health, LIKE.TG is launching a no-charge community app, Emergency Response Operations to help companies and governments implement critical workflows for emergency response and crisis management as they manage through COVID-19.In the midst of crisis, we’re all working through it together.
How citizen developers cook up innovation
A 2021 Deloitte study found knowledge management (KM) to be one of the top three issues influencing company success. According to the survey, 75% of organizations reported that creating and preserving knowledge across evolving workforces would be critical to their success over the next 12 to 18 months.This is clearly a competitive advantage. Yet only 9% of surveyed organizations felt prepared to address KM. Blame that on the sudden shift to a remote workforce.In the aftermath of the pandemic, traditional views of how to handle knowledge are changing. The new environment champions an iterative, knowledge-sharing culture that fosters a repeatable content creation and transfer process. An intentional environment like this is sustainable only when employees and processes are front and center.Creating a knowledge-sharing programThe traditional approach to implementing a new KM system by migrating existing content generally doesn’t work. Automating the collection, sharing, and maintenance of data isn’t enough.At LIKE.TG, we found that taking the time to plan and make decisions upfront leads to a clean transition and implementation—and a more successful program.This strategy became the foundation of our Knowledge Management solution. It supports a holistic approach (people, processes, and technology) that’s designed to increase employee productivity and engagement, promote knowledge sharing, and help power continuous improvement.3 steps to knowledge management successThe first steps to a successful program should be embraced throughout any company:1. Governance: To build an engaging knowledge-sharing culture, create a roadmap to clearly define goals, roles, and metrics. Then secure the support of leadership. Before we start rolling out any technology, we gather our stakeholders to clarify what we’ll deliver, who will be involved, and when it will be ready.
How citizen developers help deliver transformation at scale
The pandemic created urgency for innovation and exposed us to what technology can do. But a shortage of developer skills left organizations grappling. Better integrations and low-code apps can help deliver transformation at scale, while citizen developers can ramp up automation.LIKE.TG® Creator Workflows, including App Engine and IntegrationHub, offer a single, low-code platform that empowers citizen developers to deliver digital services fast without complexity. It equips developers of all levels with the tools they need to build apps fast, deliver experiences users love, and scale without sprawl.Building apps fast with low-codeFor years, UW Health, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s academic medical center, has used LIKE.TG App Engine to develop low-code apps that address service management challenges. For example, the organization used the solution to create a content management app that automatically updates more than 2,000 fact sheets and education documents.With that strong foundation already in place, it was easy for UW Health to use App Engine and the Now Platform® when the pandemic hit to support employees, track symptoms, and prioritize and schedule vaccinations.App Engine also helped Europe’s Banco CTT remain adaptable throughout the pandemic. Having built up a library of integrations, the bank uses App Engine for 80% of its standardized processes for customers and front and back-office teams. Delivering experiences users loveIt’s not enough to just develop on App Engine. To be successful, your apps must deliver an incredible experience for end users, so St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis uses LIKE.TG App Engine and IntegrationHub.The team created a vendor invoicing app that decreased the time spent on processing, tracking, and correcting invoices. Tasks that used to take 40 to 80 hours per month can now be addressed in only three hours. And, the app saves the finance team 391 hours of manual work each month.Swiss Insurance group Baloise digitized and upgraded claims management with ServiceNow. In less than three months, the organization reduced the time from reporting to payment by 40%. Processing time at Baloise went from “weeks or months to days and hours.”Scaling apps without sprawlOrganizations reap the greatest benefits of citizen development when they build automation into a workflow, making it measurable, repeatable, scalable, and secure. Medical technology, services, and solutions company Medtronic embraced citizen development to keep pace with the growing need for automation.Employees stepped up to help, fulfilling 56% of demand through citizen development. That freed the platform team to focus on higher-value priorities. The organization estimates it slashed the hourly cost of development in half as a result.At NN Group, an insurance and asset management services company headquartered in the Netherlands, employees depended on their central LIKE.TG team to build and maintain catalog items. When requests reached more than 73,000, the company turned to LIKE.TG App Engine for automation. Today, with self-service catalog management, processes that once took six to eight days take only two hours.Learn more about how you can improve application development, experience, and productivity across your entire enterprise in our Creator Workflows Book of Knowledge.
How Communication Impacts the Recruitment Process
Effective communication plays a crucial role in the recruitment process in today's competitive job market. 35% of respondents in Employ’s 2022 Job Seeker Nation Report cite poor communication and responsiveness from prospective employers as a key frustration within the job search process. A further 47% say great communication makes for a positive recruitment experience. A well-executed recruitment communication strategy is thus essential for attracting and engaging top talent. Here, we explore how effective communication affects your employee recruitment process. We’ll also discuss how to enhance your communication strategy for successful talent acquisition. What is a Recruitment Communication Strategy? A recruitment communication strategy is a plan mapping out how your company interacts with job seekers throughout the recruitment process. It highlights the communication modes and measures needed to adequately dispense information to candidates. A clear recruitment communication strategy helps prevent disorganized or unstructured interactions between you and your candidates. It also eliminates sloppiness, unprofessionalism, and content gaps—all factors that may discourage talent from working for your company. Why Communication Matters During Employee Recruitment Here’s how two-way communication between your company and potential talent can improve employee recruitment and eventual retention. Attracting and Engaging Top Talent Well-written job descriptions accurately reflecting the role's responsibilities, requirements, and perks will be much more attractive to the right kind of candidate, so clear and compelling communication is vital to attract the highest quality applicants. Furthermore, effective communication during the initial stages of the recruitment process creates a positive impression, and a great candidate experience improves your chances of getting the job seeker to work with your organization. You may use several different channels, such as job advertisements, company websites, and social media platforms, to communicate available opportunities. It’s essential to ensure that these are readily accessible to your ideal employee so you’re attracting the right caliber of candidates. Building a Positive Employer Brand Effective communication during recruitment contributes to shaping and strengthening your brand as an employer. A poor employer brand can discourage candidates from pursuing opportunities with your company. Plus, they may share their negative opinions with other job seekers and harm your ability to get top talent applying at all. In this regard, communication impacts the recruitment process and shapes your employer's brand. As an HR team member, how you communicate your company's mission, values, culture, and growth opportunities matters a lot. Clearly communicating organizational values, for example, will differentiate your brand from its competitors and appeal to candidates who align with your vision. In addition, prompt and transparent communication throughout the recruitment process demonstrates respect for your applicants. It also enhances the candidate’s perception of your organization, promoting a positive employer brand reputation. Ensuring a Smooth and Efficient Hiring Process Clear communication makes the recruitment process seamless and frictionless as well. For example, timely updates and regular communication with candidates will help manage their expectations, keep them engaged, and maintain transparency. Open and transparent communication surrounding the interview process will help prevent confusion and frustration. Well-communicated expectations enable candidates to prepare for each stage, leading to better outcomes on both sides of the hiring process. Proven Steps to Improve Your Communication Strategy The key to leveraging communication for recruitment is to have a solid strategy for it. Below, we’ll walk you through some key steps for strengthening your recruitment communication plan. Develop a Comprehensive Recruitment Communication Plan Strategy is all about having a detailed plan for communication covering every step of the recruitment process. This plan will serve as your roadmap and guide as you interact with candidates throughout the recruitment period. To draw up a recruitment communication plan, start by defining three key elements: Your target audience Their preferred communication channels The key messages you want to convey Then, craft a consistent and cohesive communication plan that encompasses multiple touchpoints. Consider engagement channels such as job postings, career websites, social media, email communications, and interviews. Keep your messages clear, concise, and aligned with your brand. Optimize Job Descriptions A job description is how you help candidates understand the role they’ll occupy in your company. It tells them what they need to understand about the job, the business, and everything else they must know to function well in the role. As such, crafting job descriptions that accurately reflect the role and your company culture is crucial. Clearly outline the responsibilities, qualifications, and expectations you want to see in the ideal candidate. Doing this will help attract the right sort of applicants. In addition, use language that’s engaging and easy to understand when creating your job description. Aim for simplicity in your messaging, avoiding jargon and unnecessary complexity. It’s good practice to highlight the benefits and growth opportunities associated with the role. With this done, you should end the message with a clear call for candidates to apply. Streamline Candidate Communication The quality of your communication lies in how much information you can dispense with as little content as possible. Job seekers shouldn’t have to read several pages of text or watch a lengthy video to get all the information they need to apply for the role. It’s about saying less and telling much. You want to streamline all communications, cut out any excess, and only put out cogent information when necessary. More importantly, personalize communication whenever this is feasible to make candidates feel valued and respected. In addition, establish clear communication channels for candidates to reach out with their questions or concerns. Respond promptly to inquiries and provide regular updates throughout the hiring process. Lastly, leverage technology to automate communication where possible. For example, you may send automated confirmations, interview reminders, or status updates to candidates via business text messaging services or email. To learn more about recruitment methods, download our ebook now. Download now Train Recruiters and Hiring Managers on Effective Communication Your strategy is only as good as its implementation. While it may sound impressive on paper, the individuals rolling out your plan may fluff its execution, rendering it useless. As such, you must train the rest of the HR team on effective communication. Equip your recruiters and hiring managers with the necessary communication skills to fully engage with prospective employees. Also, train them on active listening, empathy, and clear messaging. Encourage recruiters to provide constructive feedback to candidates even if they’re not selected. Doing this helps you foster positive relationships and maintain a positive employer brand. Gather Feedback and Iterate Feedback is necessary to adjust and improve your strategy. That’s why it's integral to your overall recruitment communication plan. Regularly collect feedback from candidates about their experience during the recruitment process. Use these reviews to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments to your communication strategy. Continuously iterate and refine your approach to ensure your recruitment communication aligns with candidate expectations and market trends. Optimize Your Recruitment Communication Strategy to Attract Top Talent Now you understand the effect of communication on the recruitment process, you should begin implementing steps to solidify your strategy. The tips we discussed above will help you improve your interactions with potential employees. Admittedly, communication is only one part of the puzzle when it comes to creating a great recruitment experience. Nonetheless, it’s a crucial piece, which you must get right to improve your company’s overall hiring process. To learn even more about improving the employee experience and increasing your competitive advantage while providing a fast return on investment, download our ebook now. Download now
How Companies Can Harness The Power Of Employee Engagement
The concept of employee engagement is a hot topic.In fact, it's become so popular that many companies have started implementing employee engagement programs to improve productivity, boost morale, earn employee referrals, and increase overall performance.It seems to be working. A study by Gallup showed that a company with higher employee engagement could boost profitability by 21% and productivity by 17%.But one thing that many people don't realize is that employee engagement isn't just about happy employees — it's also about how much they care about their jobs and how invested they are in their company's success.In this article, we'll define employee engagement and discuss ways your company can harness the power of employee engagement for long-term business success. What is employee engagement? Before you can start harnessing the power of employee engagement, you need to understand what it is. Employee engagement measures how committed an employee is to an organization. The activity of employee engagement can make it easier with the help of an employee handbook in which you can find the do’s and don'ts of an employee. Studies show that high levels of employee engagement are positively correlated with organizational and departmental performance because employees who are engaged tend to be more productive and satisfied in their work environment. So what does this mean for your company? If you want your employees to become more engaged in their jobs, it's essential to understand, measure, and make improvements in areas of employee engagement where you fall short. How do you measure employee engagement? Unfortunately, it isn't as easy as counting the number of employees who show up to work with a smile on their faces. Some of your highest-performing employees may not be smiling at all and take their work very seriously. So you need to get creative and consider the larger picture of what's going on in your company. Here are a few effective ways to measure employee engagement. Ask your employees what they think about the company: You can do this by using anonymous pulse surveys or simply asking them directly. Review employee survey results: Identify areas that are impacting engagement levels and then determine ways that you can address those issues. (i.e., if employees say they're frustrated with their workloads, consider hiring more staff). Check retention and turnover rates: These metrics will give insight into whether there are problems within a specific department. Consistently gather feedback: After a meeting or an event in your company, check in with your team to gather employee feedback or thoughts. Understand your Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): eNPS is a straightforward metric that asks employees to answer the question, "How likely are you to recommend your company to a friend or colleague?" on a scale of 0 to 10. If every employee rates your company highly, then your company must be doing something right. (Image source) 5 ways to harness the power of employee engagement Next, let's explore five practical ways to harness employee engagement, improve employee well-being, and drive long-term business success. 1. Empower your employees to do their best work Employees who feel empowered are likely more engaged and motivated, leading to increased productivity. However, according to The State of High Performing Teams, 20% of managers agree empowering the team is their number one challenge. Empowerment is the ability of an employee to make decisions and control their work by having the right access to the tools, support, and resources they need to succeed. Remember that empowerment is a two-way street. As a manager, it's equally important to seek out opportunities for empowerment yourself — even if it means taking on extra responsibilities or projects outside your job description. Employees will notice this kind of initiative from you — even if it may seem like too much, it sends a message that encourages others around you. As the saying goes, "monkey see, monkey do." 2. Leverage the power of recognition The power of recognition is undeniable: A study by Deloitte found that companies who implemented recognition programs saw a 14% increase in engagement compared with those who didn't. Recognition is a powerful motivator. We're all looking for validation from others, and when someone recognizes our hard work and accomplishments, it can be incredibly motivating. It's also one of the easiest ways to show your employees you care about them and their work. But providing recognition is more than just a quick pat on the back — it's a way to tell your employees that they've done something significant and that their work matters. The most effective recognition is honest, authentic, and tailored to each employee. It can be as simple as saying "thank you" in person or a small gift or bonus. Whatever form it takes, the point is to show your employees that they have a positive impact on the team and the company overall. Employees don't want to feel like a cog in the machine. (Image source) 3. Don't forget about remote workers The key to boosting employee engagement and productivity is happy employees. Many factors influence how happy employees are, and one of them is flexibility at work. In the past couple of years, companies have offered employees more flexible working conditions like remote or hybrid work environments. Considering that relocating for work is one of the main reasons people move, providing flexibility in working locations can remove a lot of stress and reduce costs. Not only that, but it can increase productivity by 43%. (Image source) Remote workers are just as much a part of your team as those who sit in an office with you, and they should feel that way from day one. At times this might be easier said than done. Without face-to-face interaction, you may find it harder to get to know each other and build relationships with people who work remotely. But there are ways you can make engagement less challenging for both parties involved. For example, consider holding regular video conferences so that everyone can interact on an equal footing. Other methods include virtual happy hours, where everyone grabs their beverage of choice from the fridge and hops on a Zoom call for thirty minutes after work. 4. Provide ongoing training and career development 49% of employees would like to develop their skills but are unsure how to find the right opportunities. Providing ongoing training and career development is a great way to improve employee engagement and keep them motivated. More than 90% of employees agree that they'll stick around for longer if a company invests in their careers. Training can take place in-person, online, or a combination of both, and can be on-demand or scheduled as needed by your organization. In addition to providing employees with the skills they need to perform their jobs effectively, ongoing training is essential for keeping them up-to-date on industry trends and best practices. Making sure all your employees have the correct training and tools will allow them to thrive within their assignments. As a manager it's fundamental you find the best sales software for your sales team or the best social media tool and resources for your marketing team. Choose the type of employee training that fits your organization's needs. You can have internal staff provide some sessions or use an external vendor specializing in specific types of training, like leadership programs. (Image source) 5. Offer mentorship opportunities Mentorship programs are a great way to help your employees grow and develop their skills. Mentors can be invaluable in supporting people in building confidence and advancing in their careers. They can also provide helpful insights into how things work at your company and offer tips for success. In fact, research has shown that mentorship programs have positively impacted employee engagement because they help employees feel less isolated and more connected with the organization. Mentors are often more senior than mentees, and they're usually able to share their experiences with their protégés. Having someone willing to guide you through your career can help you feel like you belong at work — and this feeling of belonging is essential for high levels of employee engagement. Something to be mindful of is that mentors can experience burnout too. After all, they’re taking on a lot of responsibilities. There are many educational resources to help with the teaching process. (Image source) Mentorship programs don't have to be formal. Some companies assign experienced employees as informal mentors for newer staff members. However, it's worth considering whether there could be value in creating formal opportunities for your team's professional development if it hasn't been done so already. Wrapping up While developing your employee engagement strategy with an employee app, it can be easy to improve the little things like free coffee or to encourage weekly employee happy hours. But you need to remember that harnessing the power of employee engagement isn't just about fun and games — it's about improving overall company performance through increased productivity and job satisfaction. Of course, all those small things still compound and will help improve your eNPS. But if you want to build a better business, it's time to start thinking about engaging your staff and empowering them with opportunities to do their best work. Employee engagement is a powerful force that can drive your company to long-term business success. Invest in the appropriate employee engagement software to help guide and track employee engagement along the way. About Author:Amal is the Content Marketing Manager at Hopper HQ, a leading social media management tool helping thousands of the world’s biggest brands, agencies and influencers easily plan and manage their social media in no time. The LIKE.TG Award for Excellence in Employee Experience Participation is free and winners receive: A $25 Amazon Gift Card Feature on the LIKE.TG website and social media Digital badge + certificate to share on your website recruitment materials Apply Now
How COVID-19 has accelerated Singapore’s digital citizen services
Singapore’s government and businesses have outpaced global peers in delivering innovative, secure digital services, including healthcare, government support services and education, to citizens.Telehealth, smart-chatbots, mobile apps and distance learning are just a few of the latest digital service offerings that Singaporeans now see as the rule rather than the exception. People are seeking personalised, predictive digital services that just ‘work better’ or fulfil their desires to self-serve.COVID-19 has only heightened demand for services that respond, act, and communicate in ways that complement the human experience. According to Accenture, three out of four Singaporeans support more digital government services, and more than 70% percent expect the Southeast Asian nation state to collaborate with global enterprises to foster more home-grown innovation.Organisations are still battling with many offline processes, but Singapore’s Government has continued to innovate and deliver new technologies to benefit citizens. Singapore’s Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG), comprising SNDGO and GovTech, is developing Smart Nation infrastructure and applications, investing millions and partnering with industries to co-create and fast-track the adoption of digital payments, e-invoicing, as well as advanced digital tools such as OneService, ActiveSG, SingPass Mobile, LifeSG and more.A big part of Singapore's digital leadership in 2020 stems from the government’s sustained investment in digital preparedness. Long-standing partnerships between government and industry have built trusted capabilities in new technologies, which drive the Smart Nation agenda. GovTech and several other government agencies are using the Now Platform® to deliver smart experiences for citizens and improve productivity for their employees.Singapore’s government also enables other organisations, industry-wide to build digital foundations, boost ICT and engineering capabilities and innovate within the fast-changing technology landscape. Fostering open conversations with industry leaders on how to help local organizations leverage digital transformation has been a catalyst for the nation’s rapid progress. A once-in-a-generation opportunityThe pandemic, among many other changes, has also created the opportunity to rethink how we live and work.As Singapores’ economy recovers, the speed to deliver such solutions will be a key focus, with citizens’ security and privacy top of mind. Digital trust is more important than ever, particularly for services that involve personal data. Globally, citizens will increasingly expect governments to set new, national standards across industries with the mandate for connected, secure digital capabilities.With secure, cloud platforms, the possibilities to accelerate personal, secure digital services are endless and rely on enduring collaboration. Fuelling ‘tech for good’ requires common national risk and compliance standards to protect citizens and their data – and that requires continued collective thinking.Thanks to increasing availability of open government datasets, initiatives like the Developers.Data.gov.sg resource have allowed citizen developers to create more than 100 apps. In the fight against COVID-19, Singapore’s facial recognition technology, TraceTogether tokens, and contactless temperature scanners are a few of the local innovations that will likely become mainstream worldwide.Intelligent citizen experiences are simpleThe pandemic has shown just how quickly people and organizations can adjust to new ways – witness the digital transition to online learning; the global shift in many sectors to remote working; and the advances in telemedicine – changes that occurred in weeks that would otherwise have taken years.Digital experiences are table stakes. If an app can track movements of a takeout order down to the minute, then why not the processing of test results, a new passport or property taxes – and a unified payment system for all services?Underpinning these new ways of living and working are powerful cloud-based platforms – including the Now Platform – which deliver secure, compliant digital workflows with intelligent automation.
How Customer Data Models for B2B2C improve customer service
Sharath Lagisetty, senior principal product manager for Customer Workflows at LIKE.TG, co-authored this blog.As companies engage with different customers and partners via digital channels, it’s critical to establish a rich understanding of each entity and their relationships, both to the company and to each other.The latest release of LIKE.TG® Customer Service Management extends Customer Data Models to support multilevel relationships. That means not only business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) relationships are captured and modeled, but also business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) relationships.Organizations can now quickly understand complex, multilevel relationships in order to simplify workflows and optimize the value of their interactions.Benefits of customer data modelsCustomer data models build the connections organizations need to understand their customers—and their customers’ customers—so they can innovate fast and serve all parties well. LIKE.TG customer data models provide: Out-of-the-box capabilities that save organizations the time and resources typically required to build and customize complex, multilevel customer relationship models Visibility throughout the value chain that allows organizations to trace cases and optimize workflows—from business customers to end customers—and speed their completion Security that ensures customer data is only available to those authorized to see it, when they need to see it (e.g., when assisting a customer) What multilevel customer data models look likeThe best way to understand the benefits of these multilevel customer data models is with a familiar example.Consider an automobile manufacturer that has both business customers (dealerships) and end consumers (car owners) who purchase its automobiles. The manufacturer needs visibility into the cars it sells to its dealers (B2B), as well as the end consumers who buy the cars (B2C).Enhancements in the Now Platform Rome release enable manufacturers to take this visibility further, putting these pieces together to see which customers are connected to which dealerships (B2B2C: auto manufacturer to dealership to consumer).This out-of-the-box functionality helps reduce customizations and speeds deployment of multi-relationship workflows. Now, when a customer calls the dealer to report an issue with their car, the dealer can create a case on their behalf that’s immediately visible to the auto manufacturer and routed to the appropriate customer service representative (see Figure 1).Alternatively, when a customer goes directly to the manufacturer to initiate a case, the manufacturer will be able to see the customer’s relationship with different dealers and accommodate their preferences.For instance, they’ll see the customer purchased the car from one dealer but subsequently had it serviced multiple times by another dealer. So, they’ll connect the customer with their preferred service dealer to get an appointment. Figure 1: An auto manufacturer’s view of customer cases currently being handled by a particular dealershipCustomer data models for all industriesAlmost every industry can benefit from multilevel relationship data models. For example: Telecom companies need visibility into the connectivity/wireless plans they provide to their business customers, as well as the end users (employees) those businesses have signed up for different services and plans. The telecom provider needs to know which subscribers are employees of which business customers, along with the specific products and services they’re subscribed to. Insurance companies need visibility into the life insurance plans their business customers are using as part of their human resources benefits for employees, as well as the individual employees who are signed up for those plans. The insurance company needs to know which life insurance policy holder is an employee of which business customer, along with the specific policies they’ve subscribed to. Healthcare payers need visibility into the health plans they’ve offered their business customers, as well as the employees that business customers have signed up for those plans. The healthcare payer needs to know which member is an employee of which business customer, along with the specific health plan they’ve subscribed to. Modeling complex relationshipsLIKE.TG Customer Data Models for B2B2C give organizations visibility into multilevel relationships that provide a more holistic understanding of a customer’s touch points and interactions. Prior to the Rome release, LIKE.TG Customer Service Management made it easy to model complex relationships between: Accounts (and account contacts): Business customers and their employees Partners (and partner contacts): Partners of business customers and their employees Consumers: Consumers who interact directly with the company (B2C) Households (and household members): Household units and their members, as well as their relationships With the Rome release, organizations can now also easily model complex relationships between: Business accounts and consumers Business contacts and consumers Business partners and consumers Organizations can use these models to quickly see and understand what a customer bought and used, where they bought it, who they bought it from, who serviced it, any internal relationships (e.g., with a case worker, account manager) or external relationships (e.g., with a business customer or partner) they have, etc.This allows the organization to better serve its customers while maintaining tight, secure control over the data—ensuring it’s only available to customers, partners, and employees when required.Learn more about Customer Service Management.
How customer-led innovation drives growth at LIKE.TG
After 23 years at Deloitte, I left the only company I’d ever known. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly. The partner world has been my home, my family, and my connection to many close friends. More than a few people asked why I left after two-plus decades ascending the ladder to senior partner and global practice lead.It’s a fair question, but one with a simple answer: Today, there are few better places to drive business transformation than at ServiceNow. I’m passionate about this company’s ability to make the world work better for everyone. I’ve seen its potential firsthand, and I know what’s possible with the Now Platform® at the core of customers’ business transformation.At the same time, I’m a huge believer in the partner ecosystem. Their methodologies, frameworks, and client relationships are second to none. For LIKE.TG to realize its potential, we must embrace the partner ecosystem in new, expanded, and differentiated ways.That’s why we’re evolving LIKE.TG internally so partners are at the heart of our go-to-market strategy and the continued innovation of the Now Platform.The new North StarMy goal is to help shape this embrace so that one plus one equals a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. I want to start a movement in which partners are in the trenches with us as we work for our joint customers and in the room with us as we collaborate on a vision for their success.It’s an evolution that places partners front and center from the very beginning, with both parties focused on our shared mandate of making the world work better.That means partner thought leadership will fuel the expansion of the Now Platform into every industry, function, and process. Conversely, the Now Platform will proliferate partner thought leadership—in the form of methodologies, frameworks, data, and insights—across the enterprise via new joint offerings and solutions.For our customers, the benefits are clear. A unified, end-to-end approach will deliver solutions that consider their unique transformation needs by business imperative and outcome. Meanwhile, innovation will increase and accelerate as the number and variety of partners developing solutions on the Now Platform expands.It’s a win-win-win—elevating the role of partners, allowing us to truly embody our brand promise, and driving better outcomes for our joint customers. This is our new North Star. In partnership togetherIn practice, that means a few things. First, we’re aligning as a company on a single Global Solutions Framework that articulates the business imperatives, personas, and industries that are top of mind for us at ServiceNow.As CEO Bill McDermott says, our goal is to have an ecosystem that moves as one with ServiceNow. By aligning on one clear view of the outcomes we’re striving toward, we make it easier for partners to stay in sync with and inform our strategy.Second, we want to be THE platform on which partners develop and monetize their thought leadership, whether it be in the form of partner offerings or partner solutions. Our recent partnership with NTT to help customers realize the benefits of private 5G is one example of this effort. We’ll continue to encourage and incentivize partners to build on the Now Platform to bring their unique IP to life.Lastly, we plan to reinvent our partner programs, processes, and systems to put our go-to-market strategy at the center. That will take the form of partner programs that align directly to how our partners work, incentivizing them for the value they provide at every step of the client relationship—from opening doors to delivering incredible (and sustainable) results.It will mean a complete reinvention of our partner systems to simplify our ability to work together and a reimagination of our partner processes so that they’re as fluid as our platform enables them to be.Ultimately, this vision of a new partner relationship depends on our shared customer focus. It’s a realization that both we and our partners hold pieces of the puzzle when it comes to their success. Together, we can make the world work better for everyone.That’s why I left the only organization I’d ever known to join ServiceNow. We can change how businesses operate. But it requires that we open the door here at LIKE.TG to embrace partners in new and exciting ways.We’re not just going to walk through that door. We’re going to kick it open, because the opportunity for our partners, customers, and us is simply too large to ignore.Find out more about our partner programs.
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