Today, customers are looking for the best than the better in everything and want it quick along with seamless digital experience, so will it happen, but how?

Let us look how digital experience and digitalization will help us improve our business.

We should thank companies like; Apple and Amazon who anticipates that every organization should deliver products and services rapidly, with a seamless user experience.  

Consumers are looking for the ablity to login to their electricity account and check their electricity consumption online. They go to the telecommunications dealer and to buys a smartphone and expecting it to activate instantly. They even looking at the banks to approve their personal or mortgage loan instantly. They expect instant approval of services whether it private/public sector.

They even wonder why they need to provide identification proofs and financial statements to the banks when their employer is crediting their pay checks every month on-time.

Customers are demanding for instinctive interfaces, , personalized treatment, persistency and  consistency, real-time accomplishment,  negligible errors and 27/7 availability. This behavior of the consumers are changing rapidly they are looking for more comforts and customizations.

It’s more than a greater customer experience, nonetheless; when establishments get it right, they can as well tender aggressive pricing because of lesser overheads, enhanced and well equipped operational controls, with less risk.

Enchant the Customer

To catch hold of their consumer expectations organizations must gear up the process of digitization of their business. But it should be more that the automating a current process. Organizations must rethink to reinvent the operations process, including a quick decision making strategy, permit the less number of required steps, speeding up the documentation process parallel efforts should be taken with fraudulent and regulatory issues.   

Operating models, skills, organizational structures, and roles need to be redesigned to match the reinvented processes.

Operating models should be accustomed and redesign to facilitate customer insights better performance tracking capabilities, and decision making abilities. The process of Digitization often requires new skills combined with that old wisdom.

Nevertheless to say that There are huge benefits by the digitizing processes, companies can save cost upto 90% and TAT (turnaround time) enhanced by several orders of magnitude.

For example one financial institution digitized its mortgage application, assessment process decision making process, which gave the organization of ability to cut the cost per 70 percent and reducing the time to preliminary documents approval from numerous days to just in minutes process.

A telecom service provider can up with a system where customers get the feasibility to activate their new phones without the involvement of the backend department. Through digitization process insurance companies automatically arbitrate a large share of its simple claims. Upgrading from paper and manual process with software allows organizations to collect the required data automatically which also improves the process performance, while reducing the cost and risks. Digitization also helps manager to address the issues before they become critical. Supply chain quality issues can be acknowledged and resolved by monitoring purchaser business activities and feedback.

Many top organizations are reinventing their processes, testing the whole lot of things connected to an existing process and renovating it using cutting edge digital technology.

This approach is done through series of process combining advanced and traditional process, like lean and agile.

Hit Factors

Companies in every sector can gain knowledge from the practices conducted by other organizations that have implemented this successfully.

The process of Successful digitization implementation starts by developing a scheme for the future state for each process keeping aside the current constraints and reducing the turnaround time from days to minutes. Once the future scheme has been developed constraints will be revisited. Organizations should always focused to confront each constraint.

Recurrently checking the consumers experiences not only boost effectiveness in definite areas but also helps to address some burning issues. But this is not a complete recipe to deliver great user experience. To enrich the user experience the digitization team should receive spport from every corner involved in user experience.

Tackle the End-To-End Customer Experience

But it will never deliver a truly seamless experience, and as a result may leave significant potential on the table. To tackle an end-to-end process such as customer on boarding, process-digitization teams need support from every function involved in the customer experience.

To achieve this, some companies are creating cross functional and start up style units, which is way to involve all the stakeholders and users concerned with the end-to-end user experience. Members are often collaborated to achieve better lines of communication and guarantee a true team effort.

Build Capabilities

Resources on Digitization are in short supply, so successful portfolios put emphasis on construction in house capabilities.

The aim is to provide excellent service with highly skilled staff with the intention that can be called upon to digitization quickly. Organizations should hunt for faculty externally to meet the requirement for new roles, and skill sets, like user-experience designers and data scientists . To achieve this, managers selected in the first wave to pilot the transformation must be carefully picked, and he/she should be ready to commit with the organization for a long time well trusted in the organization,. It is also essential that the staff has the ability to build the necessary technology components in a high proficient way so that they can be able to be reused across processes, maximizing economies of scale.

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Artificial intelligence has been spread over a very large area of computing since the beginning of the computer, but we are getting closer than ever with cognitive computing models. What are these models and why are we talking about it today. 

Cognitive computing comes from a mash-up of cognitive science which is the study of the human brain and how it functions and a touch of computer science and the results will have far-reaching impacts on our private lives, healthcare, business, and more.

What is Cognitive Computing?

The aim of cognitive computing is to replicate human thought processes in a programmed model. It describes technology platforms that broadly speaking, and which are involved in self-learning systems that use data mining, natural language processing, and pattern recognition to mimic the way the human brain works. With the goal to automate the IT systems that are capable of solving the problems without requiring human assistance the Cognitive computing is growing very fast.

Cognitive computing systems use machine learning algorithms; which repeatedly acquire knowledge from the data fed into them by mining data for information. These systems treat the way they look for patterns and as well as the way they process data so they have become competent of anticipating new problems and modeling possible solutions.

Cognitive computing is used in numerous artificial intelligence applications (AI), including expert systems, neural networks, natural language programming, robotics and virtual reality.  While computers are proved the faster machines at calculations and meting out the humans for decades; these machines haven’t been able to accomplish some tasks that humans take for granted as simple, like understanding natural language, or recognizing unique objects in an image. The cognitive computing represents the third era of computing: it from computers that could tabulate sums (the 1900s) to programmable systems (1950s), and now to cognitive systems.

The cognitive systems; most remarkably IBM and IBM +0.55%’s Watson, depend on deep learning algorithms and neural networks to process the information by comparing it to an education set of data.  The more data the systems are exposed to, the more it learns, and the more accurate it becomes over time, and this type of neural network is a complex “tree” of decisions the computer can make to arrive at an answer.

What can cognitive computing do?

As per the recent TED Talk from IBM, Watson could ultimately be applied in a healthcare setting also, this helps the administrative department of healthcare to collate the span of knowledge around conditions, which include the patient history, journal articles, best practices, diagnostic tools, and many more. Through this, you can easily analyze that vast quantity of information, and provide your recommendations as needed.

The next stage is to examine, which will be proceeded by the consulting doctor, who will then be able to look at the evidence and based on the recorded evidence the treatment options will be released based on these large number of factors including the individual patient’s presentation and history. Hopefully, this will lead to making better treatment decisions.

While in other scenarios, when the goal is not to clear and you look to replace the doctor, and the doctor’s capabilities by processing the humongous amount of data available will not be retained by any human and thus providing a summary of potential application will be overdue. This type of process could be done for any field such as including finance, law, and education in which large quantities of complex data will be in need to be processed and analyzed to solve problems.

However, you can also apply these systems in other areas of business like consumer behavior analysis, personal shopping bots, travel agents, tutors, customer support bots, security, and diagnostics.  We see that there are personal digital assistants available nowadays in our personal phones and computers like —Siri and Google GOOGL -0.21% among others, which are not true cognitive systems; and have a pre-programmed set of responses and can only respond to a preset number of requests.  But, as tech is on high volume we will be able to address our phones, our computers, our cars, our smart houses and get a real time in the near future when thoughtful response rather than a pre-programmed one.

The coming future will be more delightful for us as computers will become more like humans and they will also expand our capabilities and knowledge. Just be ready to welcome the coming era when computers can enhance human knowledge and ingenuity in entirely new ways.

Stressing yourselves and struggling to grab the dream job is not that tough today if you carry confidence, knowledge and most importantly when you are a team player with all the skills in you. You need to stand in the competition and it can be strong when applying and be interviewing for your dream job. But it cannot be a stop to anyone when you have the desired skills. It’s a pretty rare thing that you are the only candidate for a job, in those cases, you will be approached by a company anyway, be rest assured and face the questions and the completion of the interview process. Try to get the edge on the other candidates who are with you by analyzing their skills and if they carry any extra degree.  But how to do that is what we are speaking out on this blog. Try these simple ideas — here are some ways to help you stand-out from the other candidates.

Your Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Reaching out the consultancy or an employer is essential and the first challenge for anyone to get their dream job. But, this will only happen when your CV represents you better than what you are. This plays a vital role to get an interview call or a mail, and then it’s your task to present yourself and grab the job. Make sure that your CV is tailored to the job spec ified and the role offered.

• Add objective and your aim and goal to help the organization
• Include most relevant experience in chronological order
• Make a list of all your background information, and then organize it into categories
• Experience and training should be listed in
• Highlight your skills and Accomplishments
• Rewards and Awards if any
• CV should be well laid out and easy to understand
• Make sure the details are accurate and do not forget to spell-check

Don’t Fail to prepare & prepare well to fail

Once your interview is secured, and you are all set to join your dream job. Set aside time to prepare well and try to get all the relevant information about the company you are joining. This is the exercise you need to follow before you are hitting the interview and the time you are joining the company too. Before you are hitting the interview you need to make a note of the company’s history, teams, what are they into and what they do to others?

• Prepare for the questions you need to answer and you need to ask also
• Read the job description thoroughly and make notes on key skills and experience required
• Be able to explain your relevant experience
• Research about the company well
• Be prepared to answer questions like; why you want to leave your current role and why should we hire you? What can you bring to us?
• You should also prepare some questions to ask at the end of interview around the organization, team structure, management etc

STAR Method

This is a simple method, which will help you to answer the most challenging and competency based questions. Today organizations are very keen to know what was the situation that you have met, how did you deal with it and what was the solution you gave. This is the stage you can prove yourself and how your employer did grade you to be the best player.

A situation or Task: Describe the situation you were confronted or the task; that you needed to accomplish in a shorter time.

Action: Brief how you reacted towards the situation and what you did; this is where the interviewer will be looking for the explanation and how you used skills and attribute that they are testing. Make sure that you take the personal approach as the interviewer needs to hear about your actions, not the teams.

Result: Explain how it all ended. Use this as an opportunity to describe what you accomplished and learned from the situation.

Appearance

No matter what the role is or the organization you are attending; remember that for all little things you need to pay.  Make sure for the grammar check, spell check in your CV and what you are wearing. Do not select the clothes which make you feel sick, wear right clothes that fit you the best.

Most of the people aren't going to notice the difference, but some will, of course, do it; but don't go to impress people, which will land you somewhere else. The most important thing is to look professional. Tattoos covered up. One pair of earrings for women; or none is also fine, no earrings for men. No facial piercings at all .

• No matter what level or position the interview is for you, just remember to dress sharply.
• If you are going for the senior position then wear a full suit that is comfortable and fit you well.
• Avoid loud colors.
• If you have any dress code, then make sure you are on it.

Attitude

Your attitude plays everything when you are facing interviewer.  Carry positive body language and attitude. Greet, smile and give the interviewer a firm handshake when you meet him or her. Make eye contact and actively engage with the interviewer, and lean slightly towards the interviewer to show your engagement in the conversation. Do not look up or down, not even to the sides of the interviewer when speaking, as this can be interpreted as disinterest or apathy.  Thank the interviewer sincerely for the time and opportunity and express your excitement about the employment possibility.

• Listen intently and then answer & ask relevant questions at the appropriate time
• Maintain low pace and speak in a minimal voice
• Never criticize or complain about your past employers
• Be confident. This is the time everyone experiences the nervousness for an interview but it is important to show confidence in your skills and ability to perform in the role.
• Be enthusiastic: Talk about your roles, what you can do, what you like about the organization, why you are you so interested in the current role

As a head, it’s the manager’s role to encourage his employees to surpass their expectations by taking responsible risks.  An efficient leader can either embrace diverse thinking to measure one’s talent to innovate or distract the whole team to fall down.  Never undervalue an employee’s ability as it will break the employee to perform. Have proper understanding before you evaluate or test your employee's abilities and potential.

A manager or a head should carry the skill to motivate his employees; as this is one of the greatest skills an entrepreneur should hold while leading a process or a team. Every organization goes through some tough growing pains, and this may be because of many reasons; like lack of infrastructure, resources, or cash would also make it extremely difficult to improve the company morale, but cash should not be a reason to discourage your employees. Even if you are wealthier, don’t show the money, which will not work.

Let us look at some better ways to boost the morale.

Be Kind & Praise

Everyone wants it and this is one of the greatest and easiest things to give. A praise from the CEO goes a lot beyond then you might think, but a small appreciation from the head is a good gesture to any employee. Praising every improvement that you see in your team members make them happy for sure, but it also increases their confidence and love towards their work.

Get Divest of the Managers

Can we not think any project without a project manager in any organization? That doesn’t seem to be happening also? But can we try it? Putting aside a project lead or a manager and empowering your staff to work together as a team rather than everyone reporting to one individual can do wonders. But which organization will think about it? The question here is what’s worse than letting your supervisor and your team down?

A manager or a supervisor will help or make the people to work together as a team, and this will often produce better projects faster. If the team is strong and united all the team members will enjoy the work and like to  come in early, stay late, and devote more of their energy to solving the problems and deliver the project as estimated.

Respect their Ideas

Instead of always being the boss and telling people what they need to do. Make them share their ideas and see if that may work well. People hate being told what to do; they like others to respect their ideas and this has also worked well in many scenarios.  You can add your idea to what they say to mix the ideas and promote them or proceed.

Do Not Criticize or Correct

No one will be ready to take criticism or corrections in their work. This will not only de-motivate them but also pull them down, which is not a good task for any organization. Try different options to explain to them why it will not work. Or you can even take an indirect example to get people learn and improve, from their mistakes, and fix them at the earliest. Ask, instead of pointing them for the mistakes you can ask them the best way to approach the problem and how best you can fix it.

Treat as Leaders

Making everyone leaders may sound different, but it’s not making them leaders, but making them feel that you give importance to their decision and respect it. Have top performers’ get introduced in the teams and organization and highlight their performance and strengths to let them know that because of their excellence, you want them to be the example for others. Set-up appreciations and calculation bars to show-up their performance; which will motivate them to live up to their reputation as leaders.

Give a Surprise

Take your team out and have a good talk. Introduce new policy which will help them and company grow.  This is an easy way to remind them that you notice and appreciate their work and this may also help others to be close to the team and think what they are missing out.  

Rewards & Recognitions

Both of them play a vital role in motivating your employees. This is an old technique, but believe me, it works wonders. When an organization thing or recognize their employee's performance and it is rewarded its self-makes your employee feel positive about their company. Announce their performance in front of teams, or stick on whiteboards or treat them with goodies. You can do this every quarter or by the half of the year. Start reward and recognition policy which will help the organization to walk closer with their teams.

Have Company Get Together

Doing things as a group will not help in many scenarios, instead, plan for a company get together once in a while; as this can go a long way. Have a company picnic or anniversary. As many companies are even missing their anniversaries due to lack of time. Holding happy hours is a good idea now and then; don’t wait for holidays to do such activities. Organize events once in a year or the time your project is out will remind your staff that you’re all in it together.

Share the Rewards

When your company does well or your project is success start celebrating it. Do not postpone your reward as this will be the best time to let everyone recognize your efforts. You can share the project in and out and if you have any disappoints too with the teams.  share your future plans how you want them to support you.

Your CV plays a vital role in explaining you better without your presence. This is the first step that makes you through to reach the right door. Once your CV reaches out the right place it’s up to you to impress the recruiter and prove that you are really worth of the position offered. Here are the key points which will help you make good impression from the get-go.

What makes you visit this interview?

You need to be very active when you have this type of question asked. The interviewer wants to see how serious you are about this position and how good you have prepared yourself.  Research well before you hit the interview panel; your homework on the company will help you to stand out of the crowd. Be very clear why they need to get in to their company and the reason you are looking for new job should also be very impressive.

Why should I hire you?

This is the universal question asked by any interviewer. Before you starts explaining yourself list all your skills and how they will be directly applicable for the company if they pick you. Project your achievements from your previous employers, preferably quantified sales, and savings on paper clips. Do not focus on what you want to get out of this job you are interviewing for, as this should be only all about you and what they will get if they hire you.

Are you a Team Player?  

When you get this type of questions, you have to well prepare yourself and explain how well you can work with the team.  Elaborate yourself and give the best examples of your team achievements and recognition you have received. Tell how strong you are alone and how well you will be equipped when you are with a team as per requirements.

Why are you unique?

It’s the time you have to praise yourself before the interviewer. While doing that give specific examples that you have achieved greatness in the past and tell them if you have solved any serious issue for your company’s biggest client. Whatever nice and tangible achievement makes you special can be memorized and get ready to deliver it when prompted.  

What’s the best time to start?

This is the final question which gives you a hint that you are probably doing well. Be very clear and indicate how much you are expecting. So that the interviewer can calculate how much money they can make from you and when to begin doing so. Do not look so desperate, which will not help you any way. Indicate that you will be flexible and that there will be a way to work out both the financials and start date, should you get to that stage.

Finally, what is your experience of these five questions vs. small talk in interviews?