Authenticity for Delightful Customer Experience

The Towers Watson in their research study on Manager Redefined: The Competitive Advantage in the middle of your Organization, shares an interesting perspective to redefine manager’s role to drive sustainable engagement. It was shared that authenticity and trust are the foundation on which the manager will be able to drive sustainable engagement and to carry out his/her key roles. This perspective further supported our views on Authenticity as bedrock for delivering a mind-blowing customer experience to both internal and external customers for Results.

So for you readers, the moment you hear authenticity, it may ring a bell that something then is fake.In their book on Authenticity what consumers really want authors James Gilmore and Joseph Pine share two standards against which to measure authenticity. One of it is being true to itself (for organizations)/being true to your own self and the other being what it says it is (for organizations)/being who you say you are to others. They combine the two standards to form a Real/Fake Matrix.

Authenticity thus flows from these two principles of thought and action. First,the importance of being earnest, consistent and self-directed centers one on one’s perception of one’s self. Second, being trustworthy, honest and compassionate focused one on one’s behavior toward others. While one of these may overshadow the other, but individuals must contend with both simultaneously.

While deconstructing authenticity, the authors have identified 2 elements out of the 5 which is about

• Sense of Purpose- your intentionwhy you or the organization exist at all beyond making a profit and the interest that an organization or you may have to meet this aim. Any interest pursued with disregard for how the world is affected by your actions invites others to see your intention as inauthentic.
• Beliefs and Behaviors– expression in action of what you believe in or Congruence.

According to Neil Crofts, who is the founder of Authentic Business in the UK, believes that “purpose beyond profit” is fundamental to making a business authentic. It shines through in every aspect of what it does. In this way, everyone coming into contact with the business will experience the integrity of its purpose- the absolute congruence between what it says it stands for, what it thinks, what it believes, and what it actually does.

The purpose of luxury hotel Ritz-Carlton is “ The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission”. Each and every Ritz-Carlton employee tries to live this out on every single day. Therefore only employees with congruence can foster authentic customer experience.

Kevin and Jackie Freiberg in their book Boom, have shown that congruence can happen at the intersection of

• One’s natural, God-given Gifts and Talents. Think of what are you good at?
• What are you passionate about. Deep seated desire to apply your talent in a particular way, project or with people. Think what turns you on?
• Where can you make the greatest contribution. It is about using your gifts and talents to serve your customer, organization or some part of the world to make it better. Think what needs to be done?