The groundbreaking methodology Six Sigma changed the face of manufacturing quality. Now, HumanSigma is poised to do the same for sales and service. In the face of widespread perceptions of abysmal customer service and disengaged employees — and all-too-real declining profit margins — the need for change is obvious. Human Sigma addresses this need with an exciting new method for managing customer-employee relations that increases both productivity and profitability. It incorporates cutting-edge research in the neurosciences and behavioral economics — including brain imaging research into customer’s emotional connections to the companies they love — with proven techniques for improving workforce performance and revenues generated from existing customers. This practical handbook appeals to senior leaders and line managers alike who are looking for a way to dramatically increase productivity, retain high value customers, and enhance organizational performance.
Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter
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About the Author
John H. Fleming, Ph.D., is a Principal Fleming is a co-author of the Harvard Business Review article "Manage Your Human Sigma." Jim Asplund is The Gallup Organization's Chief Scientist for Strengths-Based Development. He leads Gallup's global research on the science of human strengths, and how to apply them to improve organizational performance.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In this volume, John Fleming and Jim Asplund present and then examine with both rigor and eloquence what they characterize as "a new set of rules and a different way of thinking about managing [a] company's complex human systems, which we believe can serve as an antidote to Terminator Management. It's about a model and an approach that we call HumanSigma."
Many of those who read this brief commentary have seen the second Arnold Schwarzenegger film in which the Terminator acknowledges to John O'Connor (portrayed by Edward Furlong) that he has been programmed not to think. Fleming and Asplund suggest that is also true of a common management style, "an institutional mind-set that views people - customers and employees - as a necessary evil, a nuisance, or in extreme cases, as adversaries in doing business. Rather than viewing people as the reason a business exists, the Terminator School of Management views them as impediments to business that breed inefficiency, cost, and errors."
They offer HumanSigma as an alternative, indeed an antidote to that mind-set. They characterize it as a "map of the terrain" within which employee-customer encounters occur. They recommend five "new rules" that are best revealed within the narrative, in context. These rules have been validated by studies of 10 million customers and 10 million customers around the globe. They note that a recent Gallup study of 89 companies showed that the companies that built a critical mass of engaged employees grew earnings per share at 2.6 times the rate of low-engagement companies. Fleming and Asplund's conclude their book with the assertion that people who own their improvement makes them "more innovative, productive, and confident. Are there a better set of characteristics for companies facing an unknown future? We think not, and millions of employees and customers agree." As do I.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Paul Spiegelman's Why Is Everyone Smiling? The Secret Behind Passion, Productivity, and Profit.
Many of those who read this brief commentary have seen the second Arnold Schwarzenegger film in which the Terminator acknowledges to John O'Connor (portrayed by Edward Furlong) that he has been programmed not to think. Fleming and Asplund suggest that is also true of a common management style, "an institutional mind-set that views people - customers and employees - as a necessary evil, a nuisance, or in extreme cases, as adversaries in doing business. Rather than viewing people as the reason a business exists, the Terminator School of Management views them as impediments to business that breed inefficiency, cost, and errors."
They offer HumanSigma as an alternative, indeed an antidote to that mind-set. They characterize it as a "map of the terrain" within which employee-customer encounters occur. They recommend five "new rules" that are best revealed within the narrative, in context. These rules have been validated by studies of 10 million customers and 10 million customers around the globe. They note that a recent Gallup study of 89 companies showed that the companies that built a critical mass of engaged employees grew earnings per share at 2.6 times the rate of low-engagement companies. Fleming and Asplund's conclude their book with the assertion that people who own their improvement makes them "more innovative, productive, and confident. Are there a better set of characteristics for companies facing an unknown future? We think not, and millions of employees and customers agree." As do I.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Paul Spiegelman's Why Is Everyone Smiling? The Secret Behind Passion, Productivity, and Profit.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book will transform the way you think about your company's employees and customers.
November 8, 2007
Format:Hardcover
You have heard several business leaders say something along the lines of "people are our greatest assets". But from an accounting and financial perspective, more focus is given to tangible assets that are easier to put into metrics than to intangible things like the contributions of humans. This model was alright for the industrial age, in which approaches such as TQM and Six Sigma (and their emphasis on materials and processes that behaved predictably) resulted in improved production. However, over the last few decades the center of gravity of business has gradually shifted from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. For sales and service firms, value creation is dependent upon human interactions (between employees and customers) that are not as consistent and predictable as materials and processes.
HumanSigma is a model and approach that will transform the way you think about your company's employees and customers, and the interaction between them. The concepts in this book are drawn from research involving over 10 million employees and 10 million customers across the globe. This book presents an alternative to what the authors call "Terminator Management", in which customers and employees are considered a necessary evil of doing business. Through five new rules, examples, case studies and research drawn from a variety of sources, the authors explain how to improve the performance of human assets. This book will help you think of employees as assets to be optimized, instead of costs to be minimized.
Like many other Gallup books, this book links employee and customer engagement to financial indicators. However, you would need the help of Gallup for advanced tasks, like determining the HumanSigma score (a number that "summarizes the overall effectiveness of the employee-customer encounter that is reliably related to that unit's overall financial vitality") at a local unit level. That said, this book contains great concepts that will be valuable to all leaders and managers. I also recommend two other Gallup books - First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently and 12: The Elements of Great Managing.
HumanSigma is a model and approach that will transform the way you think about your company's employees and customers, and the interaction between them. The concepts in this book are drawn from research involving over 10 million employees and 10 million customers across the globe. This book presents an alternative to what the authors call "Terminator Management", in which customers and employees are considered a necessary evil of doing business. Through five new rules, examples, case studies and research drawn from a variety of sources, the authors explain how to improve the performance of human assets. This book will help you think of employees as assets to be optimized, instead of costs to be minimized.
Like many other Gallup books, this book links employee and customer engagement to financial indicators. However, you would need the help of Gallup for advanced tasks, like determining the HumanSigma score (a number that "summarizes the overall effectiveness of the employee-customer encounter that is reliably related to that unit's overall financial vitality") at a local unit level. That said, this book contains great concepts that will be valuable to all leaders and managers. I also recommend two other Gallup books - First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently and 12: The Elements of Great Managing.
20 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am a Doctoral student studing Strategic Leadership. This book is a great resource for people leading campaigns to improve and increase their business's effectiveness and competitive position. By clarifying the differences between Six Sigma and Human Sigma considerable effort can be saved by focusing resources to affect positive outcomes. Gallup's research
builds a solid foundation that challenges the old tenants of usefulness
about customer satisfaction and surveys. This is a fairly thin slice of the process of building out strengths based organizations, but an important one. You may have to read several of their other works to fully comprehend the significance of this book. The field needs a good follow up book on how to build out human sigma in organizations. Gallup saves this (the really good stuff) for their consulting practice. It is a good read. KC in Lincoln,NE.
builds a solid foundation that challenges the old tenants of usefulness
about customer satisfaction and surveys. This is a fairly thin slice of the process of building out strengths based organizations, but an important one. You may have to read several of their other works to fully comprehend the significance of this book. The field needs a good follow up book on how to build out human sigma in organizations. Gallup saves this (the really good stuff) for their consulting practice. It is a good read. KC in Lincoln,NE.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Includes a layman's summary of six sigma as well as removing the...
As a six sigma practioner and someone who is described as very process oriented, Human Sigma is a great reminder that the consistent delivery of outcome is more important than... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Yolande McLean
5.0 out of 5 stars
We Are in the Human Business!
Fleming has done a great job here of explaining what it means to be human in the workplace. It's hard and it's messy, but it can be a beautiful thing when we understand what... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Nancy Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars
Necessary Read
What can I say, every manager should read this book. Learning how to unleash human potential is one of the hardest things to do in the world, for any manager and any leader. Read more
Published 11 months ago by H. H. Nguyen
4.0 out of 5 stars
A new dimension - Human Sigma
Human Sigma offers valuable insights into the world of change management and the dimension of sigma in the workplace. Well worth reading.
Published 23 months ago by Phillip McWhirter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Service
I received this order in a very timely manner and in excellent condition. I would order from this vendor again.
Published on October 18, 2010 by Jessica Newberry
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engineering Customer Experiences is an imperative
Human Sigma is a rich discourse that will assist any customer strategist and customer experience engineer to master the thinking and practices that have made the Ritz Carlton and... Read more
Published on January 30, 2010 by Eric Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars
NICELY DONE!
Book highlights the weakness of purely Six Sigma concepts applied to the service industry such as tourism/hospitality field. Read more
Published on December 5, 2009 by Carlos Campbell
5.0 out of 5 stars
Soon to be the handbook for transformational organizational change
Human Sigma is extremely well researched (no surprise there, coming from Gallup), very well written, and absolutely revolutionary in content. Read more
Published on May 15, 2009 by W. Armstrong
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Introduction to Measuring the Softer Side of Business
A decent book on attempting to measure employee and customer involvement. I found HumanSigma to be an interesting read, and the Appendix with the survey questions as developed by... Read more
Published on January 3, 2009 by Edward J. Barton
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insights for enhancing the employee-customer relationship
John H. Fleming and Jim Asplund make a convincing case for building quality into your employee-customer relationships. Read more
Published on September 11, 2008 by Rolf Dobelli
