Focus on Customers and Employees for 2015 and Beyond

By Jim Lundy

As we embark on 2015, I reflect back on what an interesting year 2014 was.

There was a big buzz around customer and employee engagement. We saw businesses everywhere start getting on board with predictive analytics and using familiar mediums such as video in new ways to enhance specific business processes. We also began to work how we live as mobile devices and apps became an extension of the individual. We moved on from BYOD and made it clear that it’s not about bringing a device; it’s already a part of my life—accept it!

The Future of Work

So, where do we go in 2015? I think the journey continues and the work-how-we-live phenomenon becomes ever more real as businesses realize that all strategies have to center around people. And by center, I mean people first in all aspects. This spans customer and employee engagement. It’ll be interesting to see how business strategies get adjusted and what part social media plays.

I think external customer communities will get more focus as well as internal employee communities and networks with a more strategic look at leveraging analytics to really understand behaviors. Success with customers will only be achieved by fostering relevant interactions and getting better insights to wants, needs, and behaviors. Success with employees will come from fostering a similar environment of engagement.

Video will be leveraged to a greater degree across the board for applications such as recruiting, hiring, learning, corporate, and customer communications. Visual communications will move beyond an IT investment to something business leaders primarily procure for specific business apps and use cases.

My colleagues and I at Aragon Research have published several prediction reports for 2015, discussing these trends and what is coming next.

Bottom Line

With engagement becoming a top priority for customers and employees, technology investments will continually shift to reflect that. Mobile-first application design principles will permeate to focus on customer engagement initiatives. Applications will have to be mobile-enabled to support customer engagement. Also, CEO initiatives will unify employee and customer engagement with the realization that engaged employees have a deep impact on customer relations and the bottom line.