A Better Way to Measure & Value Business Relationships: The
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AN ADVISORY SERVICES WHITE PAPER A Better Way to Measure & Value Business Relationships: The Enterprise Relational Quotient™ Assessment © 2010 The Relational Capital Group April 2010 AN ADVISORY SERVICES WHITE PAPER Contents Executive Summary ..................2 Executive Summary We All Know Relationships We All Know Relationships Impact Results Impact Results ..........................3 A recent national survey of VP level and above executives showed nearly universal agreement that relationships have a highly significant impact The Performance on business results each year. And it wasn’t just customer relationships Management Paradox ...............3 delivering the impact, but rather a wide range of internal and external relationship types. If business relationships are having such a significant The Warmth and impact, how can they be better measured, managed and strengthened to drive improved performance? Competence Model ..................4 The Performance Management Paradox What Do We Mean Effective internal and external relationships are critical to the daily by “Business performance of nearly every organizational function. Basic business Relationship” Anyway? .............4 performance levers such as customer loyalty, operational productivity, cross- functional collaboration, employee retention and leadership development The Enterprise all depend on healthy, productive relationships between people. So here’s the paradox: why don’t organizations have more insight, expertise and RQ™ Assessment .....................5 visibility on the key business relationships that are so clearly critical to their success? Perhaps because they’ve lacked a clear, compelling and Relationship reliable method for measuring and valuing them. Assessment Findings .................5 What Do We Mean by “Business Relationship” Anyway? Predictive Validity of Some may have the perception that the words “business relationship” refer the Enterprise RQ™ to the superfluous interpersonal aspects of conducting business. Not so Assessment Model ....................6 according to a national survey of VP level and above executives. Rather a business relationship is defined by all the knowledge, expertise, value Implications for Action and reliability a person demonstrates to others, as well as their integrity, trustworthiness and likeability. Cognitive psychologists have developed and Results ...............................7 and validated a universal model of how humans perceive and judge each other socially. It’s known as The Warmth & Competence Model. References ................................9 The Enterprise RQ™ Assessment About The Relational The Enterprise Relational Quotient™ Assessment was created to address the Capital Group ...........................9 relationship void that currently exists in widely used competency models and performance management systems. The Enterprise RQ™ Assessment was developed by adapting and extending the widely accepted Warmth & Competence Model to a business relationship context. Validity testing of the Enterprise RQ™ Assessment with a worldwide sample of business professionals showed a high degree of reliability and predictive accuracy in measuring business relationship strength. In addition, it revealed compelling new insights about how different types of business relationships each require unique approach. Implications for Action & Results The Enterprise RQ™ Assessment provides a business relationship competency framework and diagnostic metrics that can be applied to a wide variety of relationship types and performance opportunities. This innovative assessment can be deployed on a stand alone basis, or as an additional module within existing customer loyalty or performance assessment systems. For instance the Enterprise Client RQ™ Assessment provides deep, actionable insights that lead to improved account retention, penetration and acquisition. Similarly, the Enterprise Talent RQ™ Assessment provides remarkable visibility on the dynamics of internal relationships that lead to increased cross-functional collaboration, productivity and leadership development. © 2010 The Relational Capital Group 2 AN ADVISORY SERVICES WHITE PAPER We All Know Relationships Impact Results Business executives overwhelmingly agree: strong and Please indicate how significant an impact each effective relationships are essential to business success. In relationship type has had on your company fact, our national survey of VP-level and above executives success in the past? % Saying Very Significant at companies with revenues of more than $100 million annually1 showed just how universal this belief is. Overall, 54% Total 89% Customer/Client 89% indicated that the strength of their personal and 50% Human Resources 93% 50% professional relationships had a highly significant impact Suppliers 65% Marketing/Customer Service on their ability to deliver business results every year.86% 49% Manager/Subordinate 53% Perhaps most notably,Information 90% of Technology CEO/COO/Presidents 87%and Industry/Media 47% even 82% of Finance/PurchasingSales/Business Development VPs surveyed attributed 100% 55% their business results each year to the strength of their Operations/GM 82% Peer/Colleague 46% relationships. 55% Finance/Purchasing 83% Shareholder/Board 46% 53% CEO/COO/President 90% On a scale from 1 to 10, how significant an impact Family/Friend 36% has the strength of your personal and professional 48% relationships had on your ability to deliver business Total CEO/COO/President results each year? % Rating 8, 9 or 10 Total ImportanceSource: RCG National48.7 Survey of Executives, February50.7 2010 Supplier* Total Performance 44.7 54% 47.0 Total 89% Customer/Client 50% Peer* In particular, CEO/COO/Presidents expressed the Colleague Importance 49.2 51.4 50% Human Resources 93% Suppliersstrongest beliefs that a broad range of relationships are Supervisor* Colleague Performance 41.1 44.8 65% Marketing/Customer Service 86% impacting their business performance,49% especially those Colleague Manager/SubordinateCustomer Importance 48.8 53% 49.8 Information Technology 87% with suppliers. Moreover, it seems clear that building Customer Performance 45.7 47.0 Customer Industry/Mediaand maintaining strong and effective47% relationships, both Sales/Business Development 100% 55% internallySupplier and Importance externally,50.2 is widely viewed to be53.2 a critical Total Operations/GM 82% Peer/Colleague 46% driver Supplierof sustained Performance performance.49.0 55% 50.3 Finance/Purchasing Relationship Dimension Perceived Impact of Performance Ratings 83% Relationships on Results 46% Shareholder/Board Warmth Dimensions Competence Dimensions Relationship Dimension Potential Impact of 53% CEO/COO/President Importance Ratings 90%Relationship on PerformanceThe Performance Management Paradox Family/Friend 36% Total 48% 7.6 Effective relationships are essential to the daily Source: RCG NationalTotal Survey of Executives, February 2010 7.6 Human Resources 7.6 performanceTotal CEO/COO/President of nearly every organizational function. Marketing/Customer Service 7.8 Supervisor 7.5 Basic business performance levers such as customer loyalty, Total Importance 48.7 50.7 But which relationships impact business results most? Information Technology 7.4 Supplier* Peer 7.9 operational productivity, cross-functional collaboration, Total Performance 44.7 47.0 After all, a variety of internal (supervisors, peers and Sales/Business Development 7.7 Subordinate 6.7 employee retention and leadership development all depend subordinates)Peer* and external (customers, suppliers and other Colleagueon Importance healthy,Operations/GM productive49.2 relationships between51.4 7.8 people. So stakeholders) businessCustomer/Client relationships are in play at all times. 8.0 Supervisor* Colleaguehow Performance doFinance/Purchasing companies41.1 and their leaders44.8 know7.3 where they This same survey of VP level executives revealed that while Supplier/Service Provider 7.7 stand on their most important business relationships? Can client/customer relationships were most broadly viewed CEO/COO/President 7.3 Colleague Customerthey Importance be reliably48.8 measured, managed, developed49.8 or valued to have significant impactOther on company success, nearly all 8.3 Customerto Performance drive improved45.7 performance? 47.0 other relationshipCustomer types are also having significant impact Total 8.6 on results. Supplier Importance Supervisor50.2 53.2 8.8 Total Supervisor/Peer/Subordinate 56% Well, as it turns out, that seems to be a bit of a problem Supplier Performance 49.0 50.3 Relationship Dimension Perceived Impact of right now,Peer as 58% of CEO/COO/Presidents strongly8.4 agreed Performance RatingsCustomer/ Relationships on Results 25% thatWarmth “there Dimensions isn’t any widelyCompetence accepted Dimensions method for building Relationship DimensionClient Potential Impact of Subordinate 8.0 WhyImportance isn’t Ratings there moreRelationship insight on Performance and lasting business relationships”, much less a reliable way Supplier/ to measure,Customer/Client manage or value them. To address8.5 this void, 13% Service Provider Total 7.6 the Enterprise Relational Quotient™ Assessment was visibilityTotal on the key business relationships7.6 Human Resources Supplier/Service Provider 7.6 8.5 6% Other Outside developed, building on decades of academic research Stakeholder Other 8.7 Supervisorthat are so critical to success?7.5 Marketing/Customerby cognitive Service psychologists and the universal7.8