THE IMPORTANCE OF INSPIRING AND INFLUENCING HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
In this new age of hybrid working, employee engagement is critical to attracting, managing and retaining people, writes JOE BALAMASH of CPM Ireland
At CPM, we create and deliver insight-led sales, marketing and customer experience strategies, wherever and whenever our clients’ customers and shoppers can be influenced. This is our company vision and we work tirelessly to achieve this position for our clients and our people. And now, more than ever, our people are our greatest asset. As we start to emerge from the pandemic, it’s clear that there are now newer, more dynamic ways of working and new expectations being set.
Agility, fluidity and ultimately flexibility have become the new normal. Speed of response and the ability to react to changes in the market have become imperative, and throughout 2020 and 2021, businesses have had to pivot at speeds that were unthinkable pre-Covid. This wouldn’t have been possible without a highly motivated staff, which is the Holy Grail for all companies now as they seek to attract and retain quality talent.
At CPM, our people stepped up to the plate with their dedication, expertise and tenacity, working in partnership with our clients, and this has been at the heart of our company’s ability to drive change. No longer is a good remuneration package sufficient. People now want to work with employers who really care about them, respect their life choices, and find a way to make it work that benefits everybody.
Giving our people the tools to deliver great work
To deliver this change, we ensure that we give our people the tools and platforms that enable them to deliver in a very flexible manner. Our ability to use data that we collect ourselves and also third-party data, is what allows us to strategically define operating models that work for our clients.
This data drives the principles of our Liquid
Workforce approach, which is finding the optimal blend of physical, verbal and digital sales coverage. The data that we create and collect whilst managing our business is an immensely important asset. Therefore, the protection that we give our people and our clients through data security and GDPR compliance has never been stronger.
The new age of hybrid working has changed the way we do things
Remote working isn’t anything new for a field sales organisation such as CPM, but in this new age of hybrid working, employee engagement is critical to managing and retaining people. Establishing and managing some form of hybrid working system is seen as crucial for many businesses, with new ways of working that require new cultural practices. We launched our new Cultural DNA initiative in June 2021 to ensure that we are well prepared right now and into the future. Focusing on people, developing talent and talent acquisition will be a core strategy for CPM and builds on the already great work that we have done as a business.
We are looking at how to adapt and change our management styles to deliver hybrid working – from an individual development perspective – and also effective and appropriate ways of measuring success. We are constantly looking at how we can further leverage technology and reviewing our physical office locations to optimise the environments that our teams work in.
The pandemic is a huge game-changer
As we emerge from lockdown and recovery kicks into gear, driving people development and innovation is firmly on the business agenda. It’s a key strategic driver for many organisations and our focus into 2022 will reflect this, to help drive CPM and our client partnerships going forward and to ‘inspire and influence human behaviour’.