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Change and Transformation
“The Beacon Group’s program proved to be a transformational experience for our staff, and has created a new, more open culture of creativity and collaboration that has given The Globe and Mail a marked and measurable competitive advantage.” — Phillip Crawley
“The Beacon Group’s thought provoking curriculum utilizes best practice tools and interactive media for evaluation, assessment and overall learning. It has helped us raise the bar on our calibre of talent.” — Ernst Lieb
“The Beacon Group was able to handle our 360 reviews across 9 offices in a manner that brought significant value to our partners, the firm and ultimately our clients.” — Judson Whiteside
“The human capital programs provided by The Beacon Group are best in class.” — Tye Burt
“The Beacon Group acted as a strategic partner and was instrumental in helping us raise the bar on candid dialogue and team performance.” — Robert Courteau
“The Beacon Group approaches very serious and difficult topics in an accessible and insightful way.” — Eric Siegel
“We engaged The Beacon Group when we needed to bring two cultures together after our first major international acquisition: the evidence of their success lies in both the subsequent growth in our business and our presence in more than twelve countries on five continents.” — Rupert Duchesne
“The Beacon Group excels in facilitating open & candid dialogue that has fostered superior team performance.” — Mary Ellen Carlyle
“Top-level thought leadership, combined with practical, cost-effective solutions—that’s the real value the Beacon Group team brings to bear on Foresters talent challenges.” — Suanne Nielsen
“The Beacon Group delivered cutting edge perspectives on many human capital topics that were tailored and customized to our company in a way that we could not have obtained at more generic, cookie-cutter advising shops.” — Doug Lord
“Doug Williamson and his team were of invaluable assistance in helping our organization navigate through a completely new strategic planning process and emerge with a three year plan resoundingly endorsed by our Board. Doug’s global perspectives and ability to drive consensus was an integral part of our success.” — Don Forgeron
“The Global HR & Communications senior team engaged the Beacon Group in shepherding us through a unique strategic planning process that involved an outside-in view of our current and future workforce and how this aligns to our business strategy. Thanks to Doug and his team it was a thought provoking process that sharpened our strategic thinking and, in the end, made our strategy stronger.” — Sylvia Chrominska
“The Beacon Group’s customized and personalized approach fit our needs perfectly. From the initial self-discovery phase all the way to recommending solutions, the work they have done has been consistently world-class. They combine strong analytics with a wealth of real world experience. They are focused, targeted and are experts at taking theoretic concepts and making them real. We look forward to working with Doug and his team as we continue to elevate our business and improve our internal performance.” — Don Romano
“I have had the pleasure of working with The Beacon Group and Doug Williamson for several years across several organizations and have always been impressed with their professionalism, work ethic and customer orientation. Doug's own highly energetic and highly customized approach to the specific needs of our business and our leadership team sets him apart from other strategic facilitators and objective "thought provokers" I have experienced. I am always grateful and impressed by the tangible results his interventions tend to produce.” — Lloyd A. Perlmutter
“The big contribution was The Beacon Group challenged our culture and our comfort level. We then arrived at a clear plan of concise deliverables that we needed to execute to move forward on our vision.” — Tony Ambler
“SKF approached The Beacon Group to develop our Talent Management program. The process implemented by Doug Williamson and his team was extremely important for us in determining how to execute the program on a clear, organized and systematic way. This was one of our most important projects that will enable us to ensure our sustainable growth.” — João Ricciarelli
“Through its sound and strategically practical business knowledge and experience The Beacon Group has and continues to assist SCI in better understanding and enabling our organization to build engaged teams and leadership capability to help make our supply chain clients more competitive.” —John Ferguson |
Provocative PropositionsIn the hyperactive and challenging world in which we all live, it is becoming harder and harder for business leaders to find time to read, reflect and gain insight from the many valuable sources at our disposal. In "Provocative Propositions", The Beacon Group attempts to fill that void by offering our opinion, often rather pointed, on a wide array of issues we believe are relevant to leading a modern organization. The articles are catalogued into 12 categories so you can quickly and easily find a topic of particular interest. We then offer three easy steps under the heading "In Our Opinion" to help business leaders take action on the key themes. Simply click on the category and read away. Getting to Genuine
Your company will join thousands of other advertisers bombarding the average person with TV, billboard, internet and other ads on a daily basis. Millions of dollars are spent on new ads. You secure the best and most expensive space to advertise.
The ads make claims ... claims about cost, availability, quality, convenience. The list goes on and on. It’s like we don’t realise customers can read through it instantly. They see right through the figures and the claims. They know what you’re offering is fake. There’s no hiding it. The fact is too many companies sell "fake" products. Companies make standard claims about their products, just because everyone else is making those claims. The problem is customer identity is not always part of the marketing process. It’s easy to make claims about customer service and quality. But the question remains, are these qualities engrained in your product? The outcome is that consumers leave with a bad taste in their mouth. They can feel that a product is "fake", they see that your efforts are disingenuous or that you’re a copy-cat. The solution is customer self-identity and the brand experience must meet. The customer must come out of your product experience feeling that it means something to them and that they mean something to your company. You are "Fake" Let’s start with this... All your product offerings are "fake". That’s business. Business is "fake". James Gilmore and Joseph Pine II in their book "What Consumers Really Want: Authenticity", argue that you must render your services authentic. U.S. retailer Nordstrom operates over 100 stores in the country. They sell shoes, clothing and some jewellery. Their products are relatively simple, basic and definitely not anything new. Their products are high-quality and they charge premium prices. But that’s not what makes them authentic. That’s not why people cough up extra cash for their products. Nordstrom has a legendary reputation for customer service. A person once returned tires to their store and the company gave the customer a full refund in spite of the fact Nordstrom never sold tires. Another customer wanted a pair of pants that wasn’t offered in the right size. A customer service representative went to a rival store across the street and purchased the same pants and resold it to the customer. Whether these are the stories of folklore, or you’ve experienced this service first-hand, Nordstrom gives a feeling of authenticity. Their customer service claim isn’t just hot hair. You’re willing to keep paying for it. Authentic and Efficient Most companies can’t tell the difference. You’re on the phone. The fake voicemail operator gathers your information, categorizes your call and ensures that you have the right information ready when you need it. Then he/she places you into a queue. "Your call is important to us..." In a way these systems are great. They are an example of operational efficiency. Customers are categorized and directed to appropriate individuals. The system wastes no time in collecting information and explaining processes on hold before you speak to a live agent. It’s multitasking at its best. There’s nothing human about it and it doesn’t reflect a customer’s self identity. Unless they are a robot... That’s being efficient. But it won’t make your customers cough out more money for your product. That’s why authenticity is important for your company. A customer will see themselves in an authentic product. They will pay more, and will remain loyal to a company they perceive as authentic. And that’s the key to authenticity. It’s not really measurable. It’s about perception and more specifically the way your customers perceive you. Who wants "Authenticity" anyway? Most business managers don’t have a clue why something is authentic. Why do you stop by the local Starbucks instead of drinking the basic and usually free office coffee? Why is it that the average American eats out of home 4 times a week? Authenticity is about human interaction, it’s about customizing the product to your needs and having it reflect what you stand for. Customers are always on the lookout to make sure you’re backing your product claims. In Our Opinion The Beacon Group’s Keys to being an authentic company We suggest three key points to begin working on authenticity. Tell your story - You can make all the claims you want on TV or in other ads. What matters are real stories. Make your employees believe in your story and heritage. Give them anecdotes they can share with friends and co-workers that exemplify the authenticity of their company. Build a folklore around your corporate culture and watch employees put it into practice when delivering the product. Memorable experiences - Get your team to focus on memorable product experiences. Encourage employees to take customer problems and resolve them in a creative fashion. Focus on one or two organizational objectives (i.e. such as customer service) and encourage employees to go out of their way to satisfy these goals. Every company needs to own a word in the minds of consumers. Your customer - Think creatively about your consumer. How will they connect with your product? How can they customize the experience? How is it a reflection of their values? Make this thought process a standard component of your corporate culture. |
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