Kyle Johnson, Author at BluWave

Interview With Forrester’s CMO Executive Partner Sheryl Pattek

April 15, 2021 Kyle Johnson

As Forrester’s Executive Partner serving CMOs and Chief Experience Officers, partner, Sheryl Pattek regularly works with senior-level marketing executives to advance their major initiatives, with a special focus on creating customer-obsessed strategies that drive business growth. She has been named “CMO Whisperer” and “One of 18 People in Marketing You May Not Know, but Should,” as well as “one of the thirty most influential women in marketing technology.” Prior to joining Forrester, Sheryl spent over 30 years leading global marketing organizations for both Fortune 500 and early-stage companies in the logistics, transportation, software, software-as-a-service (SaaS), technology, and telecommunications industries.

Are you impressed yet?

Candidly, as a career marketer, she is both inspirational and intimidating at the same time; but gratefully acknowledges she is continually learning and transforming just like the rest of us. When I requested an interview recently, she graciously accepted and dropped knowledge in areas ranging from how to measure marketing success to why interim CMOs are more important now than ever.

Kyle Johnson: Why is due diligence in digital marketing important?

Sheryl Pattek: When you are doing M&A it is imperative to dig in to see what is really there, versus what you are being told on the surface. As today’s consumers and business buyers prefer to engage in digital channels, it is important to understand the tech stack and get a picture of what products are currently used to manage overall customer engagement. It’s also extremely important to know what the data looks like (is it “clean” data or does it need extrapolation) and who owns the data. To create a connected customer experience in today’s digital environment both a strong tech stack and robust data are critical. Customers will accelerate decision-making if they have a good experience, and if not they will “vote with their feet” (and go right out the door) as the saying goes. So, digging into both areas to ensure they are solid is vital to achieving the value a specific M&A is looking for.

KJ: How do you measure the ability of a company’s marketing function?

SP: In terms of its ability to drive growth, the first thing I look at is the business plan and the marketing plan to determine if they are aligned. In a B2B environment, marketing is seen as a driver of growth, owning part of the pipeline and new customer acquisition, in addition, to cross-sell and upsell opportunities. So, alignment between the business and marketing plan ensures that the marketing team will deliver or exceed expectations. Next, I look at the KPIs to see if they map to business outcomes: I want to know the length of time it takes for a customer to make a buying decision, how many “touches” until someone buys, what the ROI looks like, and if they are doing attribution in a way that is actionable. Once I understand the baseline, I try to assess whether or not the existing marketing team has the core capabilities in place to implement go-to-market plans, customer acquisition strategies, or continuous improvement processes. Beyond that, do they have the ability to make data-based decisions and a 360-degree understanding of their customer base.

KJ: Is interim/fractional CMO a thing? Are you seeing this trend post-Covid?

SP: It is definitely a thing and a model that is growing quickly for several reasons. For midsize companies, the interim model is an efficient way of covering a tremendous amount of ground in a short period of time. Typically, as you likely know, it takes at least four to five months to find a full-time marketing executive. Then, once they are on-boarded, understand the business, and start having an impact, you are talking at least six to nine months. Even then, you don’t really know if you have the right fit.

The fractional model allows you to hit the ground running with very specific deliverables in a short period of time. It enables you to then iterate quickly. If you are midsize to a smaller company, you may have a marketing organization of doers in place. An interim CMO can quickly provide strategy and some leadership to kickstart results and accelerate growth. Then, you’d have the flexibility to bring in a fractional CMO episodically, as needed.

KJ: Any insight for hiring a fractional CMO?

SP: If you’re a CEO looking for interim talent, my number one suggestion is to not do it on your own. By tapping into experienced, robust networks, you can find a resource that fits culturally, skills-wise, industry knowledge-wise, and many times even geographically. The typical CEO is not going to have a deep well of interim experts at their disposal.

KJ: What is marketing’s role in creating value for a company?

SP: First and foremost, building and driving a growth engine. Second, bringing customer understanding to the c-suite so decisions are made from the outside in. Third, typically marketing is thought of as owning the company brand. But I prefer to think about the value marketing creates as going beyond just the brand. It’s marketing’s role to link together the brand’s value, the customer’s experience, and employee’s experience to provide the necessary underpinnings of the growth engine.

KJ: Last but not least, what is one marketing trend you’re seeing emerge in 2021.

SM: There are quite a few, but the one companies need to adjust for now is related to data privacy and the changes being made with regard to third-party cookies. These sweeping changes underscore the importance of first-party data. In short, companies who own their own data will win.

Why Diversity is Key to Productivity and Innovation

April 6, 2021 Kyle Johnson

BluWave has worked with hundreds of companies across a variety of industries ranging from manufacturing and consumer goods to information technology and healthcare. Despite the differences that exist between them, one thing remains constant: for today’s companies, innovation and diversity are inseparable. There is no bigger obstacle to the introduction and refinement of new ideas than groupthink, which is why the most creative companies are the ones that encourage robust discussion and debate from multiple perspectives. Diversity is not just a matter of recruiting employees with different backgrounds – it is an ethos that your company should seek to cultivate at every level.

How Diversity Can Be An Engine Of Productivity

Diversity is not just a goal companies should pursue for its own sake – it is a way to pressure test ideas and come up with novel and effective solutions to problems. This is why it should come as no surprise that diverse and inclusive work environments often lead to higher performance. For example, a 2018 Boston Consulting Group study found that “increasing the diversity of leadership teams leads to more and better innovation and improved financial performance.” Meanwhile, according to Deloitte, companies with inclusive cultures are twice as likely to meet or exceed financial targets.

Certain forms of diversity can lead to a reduction in negative outcomes for companies as well – a report from MSCI ESG Research found “fewer instances of governance-related controversies such as cases of bribery, corruption, fraud and shareholder battles” with boards that included women. However, while eliminating bias and increasing representation are essential to the health of a company, these are ways to address a more fundamental issue: diversity of thought.

When companies prioritize diversity of thought, they do not just become more innovative – they are also better able to identify and hedge against risk. Companies that value diversity of thought have access to a broader range of viewpoints and insights, and they make employees feel like stakeholders whose contributions are welcomed and appreciated. In turn, these employees are empowered to offer their perspectives without reservation and speak freely to managers about problems that need to be addressed.

Challenges To Diversity & Inclusion

A commitment to diversity and inclusion begins with equitable hiring practices, but this is an area that has always been rife with bias and discrimination. For example, studies in Sex Roles and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences have found that female, black, and LatinX candidates were viewed as less competent and hirable than their peers. There is also evidence that women think they need to be more qualified than men do when applying for the same positions.

There are many ways to address these inequities in the hiring process. First, determine exactly what you are looking for in a candidate and consistently measure potential hires against a specific set of criteria. This can reduce the bias associated with subjective in-person interviews and identify a larger pool of qualified applicants. Second, develop lists of pre-vetted candidates (this is what BluWave provides to our clients) so you know everyone under consideration already meets your requirements, regardless of race, gender, etc. And third, consider hiring employees on a project-to-project basis (what I call the agile workforce). This will naturally bring a broader range of perspectives to the company because it means new employees are being hired on a regular basis.

Diversity in all its forms is becoming a top priority for companies in many different industries. To compete, the first step is building your hiring strategy around the discovery and recruitment of candidates who meet your needs and bring unique skills and experience to the table.

Promoting Diversity In All Its Forms

Companies are increasingly prioritizing diversity across a broad range of categories. As we discussed above, this does not just mean increasing demographic representation – it also means creating an inclusive culture that facilitates open dialogue and cooperation at every level of the company. Real diversity and inclusion require companies to listen to employees, take their contributions seriously, and amplify the widest range of voices possible. There are many forms of diversity – from racial to geographic to socioeconomic – and companies should celebrate and learn from all of them.

According to Gallup, one of the reasons one-third of employees feel disengaged at work is the perception that their viewpoints and concerns are not taken seriously. The survey found that just 30 percent of American employees strongly agree that their opinions seem to count at work. This should be a disconcerting fact to any company that values the diversity of thought – the majority of employees feel like their contributions are being dismissed, which will make them less inclined to offer suggestions and point out problems when they arise.

This is the opposite of inclusion, but companies can change course by actively seeking feedback via the voice of the employee platforms (which can highlight instances of bias or discrimination), encouraging managers to be receptive to all points of view, and breaking down silos that can separate departments and teams from one another.

Diversity is a word that pops up on corporate websites and in training handbooks often, but company leaders often have a superficial commitment to making their workplaces more diverse. But this status quo is rapidly changing as companies increasingly recognize that an emphasis on diversity does not just make the world a fairer place – it also leads to happier, more innovative, and more productive workforces that will have a greater economic impact.

The original version of this article appeared in People Talk.

March 2021 Roundup: BluWave Client Insights

April 1, 2021 Kyle Johnson

BluWave works with over 500 PE funds from around the globe, connecting them with pre-vetted, best-in-class, interim executives and small groups across a variety of resource and functional areas. From information technology and manufacturing to healthcare and consumer goods, our clients are paving the way for “Industry 4.0.” In other words, they have their heads in the game and their hands on the pulse of news you can use.

Check out the latest, curated collection of reports, insights, and musings from a handful of our PE funds…

Demand is increasing for automation technology solutions in warehouses and distribution points. Baird lays out “a set of advanced, fully integrated solutions that deploy differentiated technology to support supply chain executives as they tackle these challenges.” These include warehouse management software, machine-to-machine technology, real-time tracking, robotics, and interoperability. Despite progress made in this area, “there is still much work to be done in the face of accelerating demand drivers.”

As the global economy recovers from the 2020 fluctuations, Heartwood Partners lays out key areas that they observed successfully generated value “within our investments in addition to the straightforward improvement of growing sales and profitability.” Among the list are: broadening or adding key functional management, reducing concentrations, enhancing throughput and capacity, improving customer service, upgrading IT systems, and developing succession plans.

“While you might think you’ve picked a great time to launch your fundraising, it’s not so easy to sync up your timing with prospective LPs’ forward calendars.” In this deeply retrospective blog post, partners at Parker Gale revisit their lessons learned from their experience raising their first fund. Plus, they share insight into landing and maintaining relationships with Limited Partners.

We can learn a lot by watching the failures and successes of some of the world’s most profitable companies. Netflix is one such example. In this case study analysis, TCV examines the journey of the company from its origination to its recapitalization to its current value. As TCV puts it, Netlix’s “drive to market leadership includes plot twists and cliffhangers as surprising as those in the company’s original films and TV shows.”

Q1 2021 Private Equity Insights Overview

April 1, 2021 Kyle Johnson

Working with over 500 of the world’s top private equity firms gives us insight into what the industry is focusing on. Every quarter our team analyzes the projects we work on with our PE fund clients to get a bird’s eye view of the market. We analyze behaviors across the large variety of clients that we work with on a daily basis and synthesize the data into a comprehensive private equity industry report. You can access the valuable data in this report such as the following:

If you would like to get a copy of the report, reach out directly to your BluWave contact or our team at insights@bluewave.net and we’ll be happy to assist.

Elements of Value Scorecard Revealed

March 24, 2021 Kyle Johnson

What makes a what are the elements of value for a company?

Its people? Definitely.

Its products? Absolutely.

Its patents? Very likely.

But these are the obvious, high-level answers for anyone with a rudimentary understanding of how business (and the economy) works. But it’s the more nuanced elements of value that can make or break a company, particularly during vulnerable times—like an economic downturn or a barrage of new market entrants.

Whether your company is investor-backed, customer-supported, or a combination of both, investors have a significant amount of knowledge about the core elements of value for any business beyond the usual suspects. In part, this is because they are in the “business of growth”—and growth only happens when the products and services being sold have value and can hold value in their specific market.

In a recent CEOWORLD Magazine article, our founder and CEO Sean Mooney offered eight core elements of value that any company can benefit from when prioritized, based on his 20-plus years of experience in private equity. How does your company measure up?

Based on his experience, both from the investor and company founder side, he notes: “By taking the perspective of outside investors, business leaders will identify more opportunities, reduce the risk profile of their company, and drive accelerated value creation over time.”

Check out the full article in CEOWORLD Magazine for details on each core element of value.

In 2021 Focus on Healthy Communication, Collaboration, and Inclusivity

January 12, 2021 Kyle Johnson

Despite all the uncertainty and disruption still lingering from last year, 2021 offers ample opportunities for companies to refocus on what matters most: healthy communication and collaboration, an inclusive workplace culture, and ultimately greater productivity. While companies need to understand what will be different in the post-COVID era, they should also remember what will stay the same: the need for real human connection, whether it is mediated by technology or not.

#1 – New Ways To Assess and Engage With Employees

Office politics has always been a fact of life – employees have often been rewarded by who knows how to best navigate office politics versus who does the best work. We are now seeing signs that remote work can help companies reward employees based on merit and by giving traditionally overlooked colleagues more of a voice and having more objective processes to measure them. In some cases, the remote work era is even prompting companies to consider new employee performance metrics altogether.

According to a recent PwC survey of U.S. executives in the process of shifting to remote work, most companies are focused on “greater flexibility in work hours” (57 percent) to drive productivity. In effect, outmoded measures of employee performance – such as the number of hours an employee works – are becoming less important. Companies are instead moving to a more merit-based model: efficiency in completing a task, quality of work, and the ability to collaborate productively with colleagues.

While the trend toward evidence-based employee assessment was already underway before COVID-19, the pandemic has privileged some forms of interaction and evaluation over others. For example, a recent Deloitte report explains that remote work is “usually assigned by the outcome, instead of by task, enabling productivity assessment.”

The influence of office politics on managers’ perceptions becomes more limited as they make assessments based on concrete outputs versus subjective impressions. Although after-work drinks or trips to the golf course help colleagues build closer connections, these activities can also be exclusionary and give managers a biased attitude toward employees’ performance.

We will never get to a point where in-person interactions are completely supplanted by technology (nor should we want this to be the case), but managers should take this opportunity to determine if their assessment methods are as rigorous and impartial as they can be.

#2 – Balancing Productivity With “Organized Serendipity”

Many employees have proven that they’re capable of being just as productive at home as they are in the office – in fact, 94 percent of employers say productivity has been just as high or higher during the pandemic as it was before. Other surveys (such as this one conducted by the Boston Consulting Group) have found that a significant proportion of employees have maintained their productivity while working remotely. Meanwhile, 72 percent of office workers say they would like to work from home at least two days per week.

Although productivity has remained steady, employees haven’t been able to interact with their colleagues or clients/customers as naturally as before. Without chance encounters in the break room, close colleagues poking their heads around corners to say “hi,” and the occasional coffee meetup with a client, employees may feel disconnected. As we all know by now, this can eventually take an emotional and psychological toll. What can companies do to address this?

As offices remain closed and people continue to work from home, companies may consider creating what I call organized serendipity – getting people together in a structured but organic way to facilitate relationship building and creative collaboration. For example, at BluWave, we’ve launched a virtual, topic-driven event series to share best practices among our roster of PE fund clients. After a brief panel discussion, clients break out into discussions on sub-topics and network with each other using an interactive technology platform. The organization comes from cutting the groups by functional expertise, but the agenda is loose enough to allow for actual networking that does not feel forced.

On the employee front, while some are still working from home and others are socially distancing at our physical office, we host “Friday lunch hours” that gather everyone together to share a meal and chat about the upcoming weekend.

#3 – Making the Era of Remote Work More Human

“Zoom fatigue” – a term used to describe the lack of motivation for hopping on yet another video work call, joining a digitally-driven event, or getting together with family and friends virtually – is becoming a real threat to remote workforces. No matter how well we integrate remote work into our lives, we will never be able to replace the value of in-person human connection or shared experiences.

According to a recent survey by Slack, 45 percent of newly remote workers report that their sense of belonging has suffered since they began working from home. This is a powerful reminder that companies should focus on building authentic and consistent human connection into their remote work platforms.

Once it’s safe to do so, companies should swiftly prioritize in-person interactions. Even now, many companies recognize that it’s impossible to shift to 100 percent digital communication – a reality I’ve seen personally with private equity fund managers who still need to shake the hands of the management team before purchasing a company or stepping into the company’s facility. Once the threat from COVID-19 subsides, remote-focused companies should still give employees opportunities to interact with meet-ups, site visits, and other events that satisfy our need for human connection.

The original version of this article was published on Toolbox HR.

Video: Introduction To BluWave

January 1, 2021 Kyle Johnson

How Pandemic-Era Managers Can Level Up By Using Collaboration Tools

October 21, 2020 Kyle Johnson

Effective managers are capable of articulating their company’s values and a clear set of concrete goals, while also maintaining a commitment to diversity and open communication. These principles will help companies move from a rigidly hierarchical dynamic in which workers feel disconnected from their jobs to one in which they feel like stakeholders and partners whose opinions are valued.

As someone working in the area of third-party resources, it’s evident that managers of today are connecting the dots between the agile workforce, remote workers, and full-time employees. This is no simple task, but with a few basic shifts in thinking it’s entirely possible and produces desirable results.

As we enter a new era of remote work, managers will be under increasing pressure to improve communication and collaboration among diverse teams (no matter where they are in the world) and provide employees with a common goal to rally around.

Here are my top four suggestions for building and maintaining high performing teams that will remain loyal long after the dust settles:

#1 – Motivate Your Employees by Sharing Your Values and Goals

#2 – Recognize That Diversity Is an Engine of Innovation

#3 – Keep the Lines of Communication Open

#4 – Build Greater Participation

For more insights, and details on the “how”, please check out my full article, published in Toolbox HR. And as always, if you have questions or need anything from BluWave please reach out!

BluWave Insights: How the Agile Workforce is Impacting the Economy

August 31, 2020 Kyle Johnson

Many hiring managers report that they face a talent shortage, which is why the agile workforce – independent professionals hired on a project-by-project basis – is only going to become more critical in the coming years. In my first article for Toolbox HR, a new platform for executives to learn about everything from cybersecurity trends to the nuances of “people and talent,” I explore topics related to this workforce evolution.

What is the agile workforce?
Simply put, it’s flexible, filled with experts, and moves quickly to help companies address a wide range of talent issues. Companies can access industry- and project-specific expertise with the flexibility to quickly and efficiently adapt to rapidly changing economic circumstances – crystalized in the massive economic fallout of COVID-19. Agile workers are becoming more important all the time.

In the article, I address the following:

Finding Professionals With the Right Skills
Why Agile Workforce Isn’t the Gig Economy
Making the Most of the Agile Workforce

Click here to read the full article, and please feel free to share/amplify to spread the word!

How We Did It: Cost Reduction Case Study

August 25, 2020 Kyle Johnson

PE funds across a broad spectrum of industries often approach us with specific, episodic needs. Our first step for matching them with best-in-class, third party resources is to understand the nuances and unique challenges they face. When a private equity firm acquired a leading plastics company that designed and manufactured innovative plastic-injection-molded products, the firm believed there was room for improvement and cost reductions in the company’s supply contracts. We quickly matched these criteria to the pre-vetted candidates from our invitation-only network, rooted in our founder’s 20 years of PE industry experience.

For the full story, read the case study here.

BluWave Forms Fundraising Consortium to Fight Hunger in Nashville

August 11, 2020 Kyle Johnson

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for food in the Nashville area has jumped from 600,000 pounds a week to a million pounds a week — a 40 percent increase over this time last year, according to Second Harvest Food Bank. 

Between unemployment rates skyrocketing and schools (a source of free or reduced cost breakfasts and lunches) being closed, vulnerable children are at risk. At the same time, donations of food are down, distribution and other expenses are up, and all of Second Harvest’s fundraising events have been cancelled. In response to the massive need in Nashville, we’ve joined CapitalSpring and Bailey Southwell & Co. to form a “Business Builders” fundraising consortium.

We’ve wrangled the support of friends, associates, and other local businesses to fight hunger, raising over $125,000 in the span of a few weeks. To join the Business Builders’ coalition and donate, please visit our fundraising page.

View the official announcement in The Tennessean here.