Why do we need people anyways?
I have a great idea.
I have the money to invest in it.
Let me start my own start up.
That’s easier than done, because you are forgetting one key thing here my friend…
The Human Element.
What is that you may ask?
Every business needs this element. Businesses are run by people and they are there to serve people. An understanding of this topic can lead to a considerably effective market research as well as an efficient work force.
Before delving deeper into this discussion, let us first understand why we need this essential element to be incorporated in the first place.
This very approach, if employed on the workforce, which consists of the most important people behind the scenes, can lead to great business success and better individual as well as team performances.
Just like after every football match victory, the players and coaches give credit to their team work, the same holds true in the corporate world. A lack of cohesion can distort the working environment, which is why team spirit should be encouraged. Team building has numerous benefits, from increased productivity to greater focus and conviction. Moreover it has also been seen that it provides a profound increase in personal satisfaction as well as an increase in candor and social intelligence.
It is essential to understand that a strong team cannot simply be made by hiring the most qualified people. We have to dig further into the roots because after all, any business boils down to its people.
Unfortunately many businesses do not value people and forget that their people are their most important asset. Due to this they fail to incorporate team building which could have led to greater growth and prosper.
In the year 2014, a flight attendant from Virginia America created a video on Pharrell Williams’ song, “Happy”. We know Richard Branson is doing something right when his staff admires his style of leadership with a crazy dance.
What is he doing?
“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients,” said Branson.
Virgin always looks after its employees and invests in regular team building events to strengthen relationships which is crucial in highly competitive organizations.
It is sometimes hard to believe but in today’s era, businesses revolve more around people than capital. From the traditional manufacturing businesses there has been a major shift to service businesses and due to this, the cost of people is nowadays more than capital, in most industries. However majority of the people believe that businesses are simply made up of technology and money and fail to acknowledge that people matter as well. They like to believe that it is all about numbers and that’s why many a times end up cutting employees’ salaries.
You can NEVER cut your way through growth, especially when you forget to look at the very foundation of your organization.
Now that we have looked at why it is crucial to value people within the business, let us have a look at how individuals can make a major impact during Market Research.
Market research is all about collating and analyzing data surrounding the market. In our discussion, we will primarily be focusing on the impact of people in Field research i.e. Primary Research.
Primary Research is collected first hand and is used for a very specific purpose. The most common ways of obtaining this research includes:
· Interviews
· Sampling
· Focus Groups
· Surveys and Questionnaires
Businesses need accurate and up-to-date data and that’s why we cannot solely rely on secondary research, which looks into the already existing sources.
By looking into customers views, we can get a more detailed insight about the changes in consumer taste, technology and economic conditions.
For example with the increase in digital study products, the demand for printed textbooks has decreased. With the ongoing pandemic, it is obvious that people will look more into their necessities rather than their luxury. Products are affected differently with the changes in economic climate.
With a deeper understanding of consumers’ needs, we can tackle various issues such as products’ pricing, packaging, advertisement campaign etc. Moreover with the help of the information regarding the current state of the market we can forecast future trends, that can help us make any required adjustments.
In the year 2017 market research drove a rebrand of Coca-Cola Zero. This was the most significant product launch in the UK at a cost of £10m, a Coca-Cola brand was renamed and re-launched- all due to market research. Coca-Cola Zero was re-launched as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar after market research found out that most of the potential customers didn’t know that Coca-Cola Zero had zero sugar!
After pumping £10m for promoting a rebrand, you would have expected some major impact. Well there surely was one, a good one mind you. Coca Cola claimed that their rebrand was a huge success in terms of sales. According to the numbers, the sales went up by a quarter since their new campaign had been launched compared to the same time, the year before that. The company also went onto to say that the consumers’ reactions were “really positive”.
This example clearly articulates how important peoples’ views can be and how this kind of information can make a massive change to our product/service.
I hope you are now able to understand how IMMENSELY IMPORTANT of an asset people are to any business in any industry.
Let us learn to value and appreciate people since at the end of the day we’re all in this together…
“YOU DON’T BUILD A BUSINESS — YOU BUILD PEOPLE — AND THEN THE PEOPLE BUILD THE BUSINESS” ~ ZIG ZIGLAR
An Article By
Misri Parikh
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