I work in HR. Who is my customer?
Eileen is an HR business partner working in private banking. Her boss, Neil, recently came across a podcast on customer-centricity. The presenter suggested, "Start with the customer, then work backward." It soon became Neil's leadership mantra, with a giant printout of the quote hanging behind his desk.
And so, during her weekly 1:1 with Neil, Eileen was reminded of the quote. Neil advised Eileen to "Think about our customers, our private clients, think about their needs, and use that as the basis to shape your role as an HR business partner."
While Neil's approach seems laudable, it often leads to frustration. Why?
Because the end-customer, the customer that pays the bill for your services, the customer on which your entire business model depends, is different from the customer employees working in a support function should primarily focus on.
For Eileen, deep knowledge about the different private banking customer segments or personas (e.g., the young successful entrepreneur, the ultra-high net worth family, the 45-year-old couple owning a real estate business) is relevant and essential. Still, it won't automatically make her a more effective HR business partner.
For Eileen, the primary customer group is the private bankers who work daily to serve the end customers, those who pay the bill. These private bankers may be categorized into different personas with unique employee journeys. A crystal clear picture of who these private bankers are and what they need to thrive in their jobs is a valuable starting point for Eileen's contribution to fostering customer-centricity.
Leaders who manage support functions that want to enable customer-centricity should adopt a "both/end" mindset when defining the customers they work for.
For instance, it is relevant for Eileen to know that wealthy families, one of the bank's end-customers, often seek financial counsel from their trusted advisor during 'odd working hours.' Think about holidays or weekends, typical moments when the family meets and could benefit from their private banker facilitating an in-depth dialogue. And, when private bankers complain about excessive workload, the above situations are often described.
When Eileen has this insight, she can focus on her primary customers, private bankers, to design tailor-made solutions that help them remain resilient in dealing with odd working hours.
Customer-centric leadership is the ability to clarify who your customers are and what you can do to generate value for them and the organization. Transforming a support function toward customer-centricity means you get to start from home by helping the employees who serve the end customer.
Leaders who bring this clarity to their teams can remove much friction I've often encountered, enabling teams to focus on their most valuable customers.