Evolve Insights

Is your culture reactive or proactive?

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on May 29th 2018 by Lucy Kiruthu We often hear people say, “that is how we do things around here”. Others may say that you have to do this or that because that is how it must be done. Most organizations seem to have a natural way of doing things. However, that does not just happen. How things are done in our organisations emanates from our organizational culture. Organizational culture results from the values, norms, beliefs and behaviours of the founders and the leaders. It is the leader’s responsibility to take charge of the culture. Smart leaders guide their teams in building the sort of culture that best suits their organizations. A company’s culture speaks volumes about what the leaders consider important. Numerous types of cultures are evident in organizations. Though every culture is unique, there are elements that characterize culture. I often like to look at culture holistically…
Dr. Lucy Kiruthu
May 31, 2018
Evolve Insights

Making Change Happen

As it appeared in the Daily Nation May 22nd, 2018 by Lucy Kiruthu We live in a changing world. Change is all around us. We change a few things without much hassle but most change is difficult. Many organizations and even individuals have consistently struggled with change. We do not want to change our way of doing things. We are happy with the status quo. As a result, many change initiatives both small and big fail. In my career life both in the corporate world and as a management consultant, I have witnessed many change initiatives. Early in my career, I was involved in quality management systems leading to ISO certification, implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems and introduction of new products. A little later and to this day, I have been involved in guiding company-wide transformation initiatives anchored on customer service excellence. These initiatives are aimed at helping organizations focus more on the customer…
robert
May 22, 2018
Evolve Insights

Safaricom Performance from a Customers’ Perspective

As it appeared in the Daily Nation May 15th, 2018 Last week, Safaricom announced its results for the full year ending March 2018. The results included total revenues that were unheard of in Kenya’s corporate history. In 2008 when the company held its initial public offering, not many of us would have expected that it would be a 234 Billion company 10 years after. Safaricom customer numbers have also grown immensely; the company reported that as at 31 March 2018 it had 29.57 Million customers using its products and services. How can Safaricom’s performance be viewed from the customers’ perspective? Several factors have contributed to the company’s continued impressive performance. I believe that amongst these factors is the company’s focus on the customer. Putting the customer first has been one of the company’s strategic pillars. I am one of the 29.57 Million Safaricom customers and I can attest to the fact that Safaricom is working hard…
Dr. Lucy Kiruthu
May 15, 2018
Evolve Insights

Are your Customers Happy?

As it appeared in the Daily Nation May 8th, 2018 Over the last two decades, the field of customer experience has attracted massive attention. Millions of dollars have been spent in training and retraining staff on the art and science of customer experience. Organizations have invested heavily on systems that support manage the customer experience such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), queue management systems etc. Customer contact centres have been set up to help manage all customer interaction channels from a single point. Customer experience managers have been recruited to steer the customer experience agenda. Today, it is evident that many business owners and leaders recognize that happy customers are good for business and that great customer experiences have the power to increase customer retention and drive sales. To gauge their customers’ level of happiness and loyalty, many businesses are continuously collecting feedback from customers. Every so often, we receive a customer…
robert
May 8, 2018
Evolve Insights

Do our workers deserve to be celebrated?

As it appeared in the Daily Nation May 1st, 2018 Today is Labour Day! Also referred to as the International Workers' Day; it is the day that the achievements of workers in many countries are celebrated. With its origin in the labour union movement, the day focuses heavily on unionized workers and the many gains that the labour union movements have made globally. Many organizations especially those in manufacturing and in service have large numbers of such workers. As I have reflected on the pomp and colour that characterizes Labour Day celebrations in Kenya, I have wondered if our workers deserve to be celebrated. Despite the gains that the labour movement in Kenya has made, fresh in our minds are the significant workers’ strikes that have plagued our country in the last decade. Top on the list have been the doctors, nurses, teachers and university lecturers’ strikes advocating for better pay and better working conditions. The…
Dr. Lucy Kiruthu
May 1, 2018