|
From 'tidak bisa' to 'pasti
bisa'
(Insight Column for The Jakarta Post 09 August
2006)
"Culture change needs to be rooted in objective
awareness. Awareness that the operating environment
has changed, that there are new entrants showing
more vigor and innovation, that customers' tastes
are evolving, traditional delivery channels are
not working and so on.
The leadership of the company is responsible
for spreading this awareness and undertaking
a frank assessment of the tidak bisa problems
afflicting the business - bureaucracy, lack of
empowerment, aversion to risk, morale issues,
underestimation of competitors, slow pace of
innovation, etc.
Then comes the difficult long haul. Culture
change will not take place overnight, it is often
painful, met with stubbornness and resistance
and invariably involve investment to upgrade
outdated processes. But the most important upgrade
relates to a reorientation of the customer focus.
To start planning, thinking, feeling and behaving
like the customers. Only when credit card managers
call their own call centres and realize how clients
are tied up in answering machine loops or airline
managers experience long queues at Soekarno-Hatta
Airport in front of inadequate check-in counters
or hotel managers realize how old and boring
their menus have become, will they understand
what is driving their customers to other preferred
choices".
" With timely culture change
a new energy is released and felt - one in which
employees are seen to be striving, trying, experimenting,
achieving and winning. Customers are often quick
to sense this energy. Indeed they are increasingly
seeking organizations that can demonstrate this
energy.
For the pasti bisa mind-set conveys to the customer
that the organization sincerely cares and its
business model is really customer-centric. Tunggu
sebentar, or please wait, is no longer an option
- while businesses wait, their customers move
on".
|
