NDS white paper on best practices for adding value to peers, teams, and customers.

1. Dynamic Value:
The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
White Paper
Lars Ray
Consultant, Network Data Systems

3. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
Table of Contents
The Art and Science of Providing Added Value ............................................................................................ 0
Executive Overview....................................................................................................................................... 1
Applying the Equation towards the Client ..................................................................................................... 2
Applying the Equation in the Organization .................................................................................................... 3
Applying the Equation as an Employee ........................................................................................................ 4
Connecting the Dots ...................................................................................................................................... 6
About the Author ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Author Statement
This document contains the views of the author and should not be considered as the views of Network Data Systems. It provides an
overall discussion of practical steps for adding value to clients, organizations, and personal careers. This White Paper reflects the
author’s views based on his experience and knowledge of the subject matter.
© 2011 Lars Ray i

4. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
© 2011 Lars Ray ii

5. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
Executive Overview
In today’s business, competing on price and service offerings isn’t enough. Customers expect more for
the same dollar spent. Organizations are constantly challenged to offer more, spend less, and maintain –
if not increase – its quality outputs. Likewise, employees must perform more than the basic expectations
of their role.
How do companies, organizations, and employees exceed expectations and differentiate themselves
from others while contributing to the bottom line? We do it by understanding and actively pursuing the art
and science of providing tangible true added value.
The Value Proposition
As a favorite topic of executives, sales teams, career coaches and business leaders, the concept of
"adding value" or “value-add” is well on its way to the graveyard of overhyped phrases. It is the one
element of business today that often remains fluid, has multiple and contradictory meanings, and is
applied to everything from products to services, and from organizations to human capital.
It also happens to be one of my favorite topics.
One of the reasons adding value is so overused is because it is positioned as more of a what rather than
a why or a how. In truth, value-add is in the eye of the beholder. Simply put, it is the client or customer
that determines what adds value to the service or product they are receiving, and ultimately to their
bottom line. This is not a difficult concept to understand, so why is it so often misapplied and over used?
There are a couple of reasons for this. First, let’s understand value. Depending on the context in which it
is used, value can be either static or dynamic. Static value is a noun and measured by a fair rate of return
and is packaged like a commodity. Static value is determined by many factors, such as supply and
demand, fair market exchange, historical significance, or world events. Dynamic value on the other hand,
is a transitive verb, something to be considered or rated highly and prized. Dynamic value is subjective
and is determined by the person or organization doing the valuing. A good example of both of these
elements in play is the television show Antiques Road Show, where people bring items to be appraised of
its financial worth by professional appraisers. While everything is reduced to a monetary static value
based on market and collectible trends, I wouldn’t give two cents for half the stuff shown – dynamic value.
This paper discusses dynamic value or true value as I call it, and how to use it as a successful
differentiator. By understanding and applying the simple equation Knowing Value = Adding Value, we will
explore how to develop true value and apply it for our customers, our organization, and our careers.
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6. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
Applying the Equation towards the Client
The equation is just as it reads; in order to add value, one must know what the client values. As an
example of this equation applied in the business sector, Network Data Systems (NDS) has incorporated
this equation as a part of its business strategy. As a result, NDS has built a profitable IT professional
services business by meeting more than just their client’s needs.
NDS is not a unique business in the Enterprise and Telecommunications professional services
marketplace. Google “IT professional services” and you’ll find there are about 452,000,000 listings. It is
an employee owned IT professional services company specializing in providing consulting,
implementation, and management services to clients who require help in implementing and managing
their Enterprise networks.
Operating in a business sector that is always changing as technology evolves and client demands grow,
positioning the static values of service solutions is not necessarily the best tactic to use when trying to
compete in a pack of 452,000,000 potential competitors. So how does NDS set itself apart and provide
value-add for its clients in performing its services?
NDS starts by being intentional in how it will perform its business and align its own operating values to
those of their clients. NDS has six core values:
Integrity
People First
Customer Service
Earn a Profit
Give Back to the Community
The sixth value, although not listed, is instead woven into the fabric that makes NDS what it is and
underpins how it performs its business – Relationships. NDS knows that to sustain a long-term and
profitable business, it requires a strong and healthy relationship with its clients, business partners, and
employees.
Once a relationship is started with a client, NDS begins to actively understand what the client needs and
tailors a solution to meet that need – the what, or static value. The value-add is delivered as NDS
understands how it can contribute to the client’s bottom line while delivering the service, and in doing so,
making sure it contributes more to the client in meeting its goals than the cost of the service it provides –
the how and why.
The true value is realized when the client can draw a line directly from its bottom line costs and connect it
to the residual benefits it realizes, such as improved network performance and knowledge transfer to its
employees. From a client’s perspective, elements that provide true value-add and contribute to their
bottom line over the cost of the service often takes the form of
• Technical contributions outside of the client’s core business
• Applied knowledge and expertise on the client’s behalf
• Availability to perform when called upon
• Access to resources not owned by the client
• Agility to act in synch with the client
• Client operational cost reduction or avoidance
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7. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
Applying the Equation in the Organization
At the core of most medium to large businesses providing professional services, such as Network Data
Systems, its organizational structure will incorporate some form of Operations, Sales, Supply Chain,
Administration, and HR or Recruiting. Depending on its market niche, it may also include Engineering,
Field Services, Managed Services, and other support entities that compliment the customer facing
elements.
Each organization exists to perform one function – deliver the business. How well it performs this function
depends on how well in synch it is with its sister organizations. To deliver the business, hundreds of
important little transactions or touch points occur within and between each organization. Understanding
this is important, because at each touch point, the potential for failure is as great as the potential for
success. Large amounts of energy and expense is used to create processes that streamline and
standardize how an organization delivers its business and ensures success.
Most organizations focus only on their part of the business, and typically do not venture past the defined
touch points with other organizations within the company. Assuming an organization has a perfect record
in its performance, how can it provide value-add to the company, its customers, and its employees?
While it’s not rocket science, Knowing Value = Adding Value does take an intentional effort. As the
company promotes and executes on its uniqueness in its market segment, so too must the organization
within the company. If the organization is at the center of the world, then every touch point is a customer,
regardless if that customer is internal or external.
Along with reducing operating costs, avoiding expenditures, and performing process improvement, the
organization must sell its uniqueness. To do this effectively, it must ask the following questions:
• How can our offering uniquely help others improve their efforts? How much more productive
could they be? How much is our time and services worth to them?
• How can our offering uniquely help them reduce costs? How much could they save in labor
costs? How much could they save in overhead?
• How can our offering uniquely help them improve quality? How much could they save
in reworks, scrap, overtime, corrective action costs, and so forth?
• How can our offering uniquely help them improve delivery performance? How much would
they save in canceled orders, expediting costs, airfreight charges, and so forth?
• How can our offering uniquely reduce their exposure to risk and liability? How much could
they save in penalties, avoid project shut-downs, and outages?
Asking these questions defines the economic value of the organizational offering to the customer. Again,
the value-add is delivered as the organization understands how it can contribute to the company’s bottom
line while delivering the business, and in doing so, contributes to overall customer and employee
satisfaction.
.
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8. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
Applying the Equation as an Employee
Now we’re getting to the best part – personalizing the art and science of adding value to your role. We’re
done talking about elements of the business that are out of our individual control, such as company-client
relationships and organizational effectiveness. Or are we?
Here are some hard truths to consider:
• Employees are company resources
• Your skills and knowledge are company assets
• Your role consumes company resources
These are true regardless of the role or position, and regardless of the company. However, there is
another, more positive way of seeing this too:
• Employees are valuable company resources
• Your skills and knowledge are valuable company assets
• Your role consumes valuable company resources
As an employee, Knowing Value = Adding Value can help you connect the dots between you and how
you contribute to the company’s bottom line. If you can’t connect the dots, no one else will either. You
need to map it out.
Make your job more valuable
If there is a secret to succeeding at work, it is to make sure your work is highly valued. Here are four key
elements that increase your value:
1. Understand the business strategy. What does the business need? And what does the
business think is important to get done right now? That stuff = “the value”.
2. Change how you work. Make sure the work you do is impacting those things.
3. Get recognized for it by connecting the dots for people. You have the responsibility to
show how your work is impacting what the business cares about. You need to show how you
are adding value. Don’t wait for others to figure it out or to discover how valuable you are.
4. Impact Profit. One way to specifically add value is to make the business more efficient or
productive. That way you impact the bottom line. Profit is always something that is important to
the business!
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9. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
Add value through your performance
Of all the performance reviews I have ever received, those that make note of how I added value to the
team, department, or organization are the ones I treasure most. Providing value-added services in the
performance of your duties is what differentiates you from others. It’s not what you do that makes the
company value you, it’s how you do it and why.
Here are some key actions to take to increase your overall performance and ensure you are adding value
in your job:
Be goal-oriented and outcome-focused: It is easy to slip into the day to day mode of responding to the
myriad challenges and “fires” which face us all. Longer term, however, this narrow reactive focus will
erode progress toward the goals that must be met by the department or organization.
Practicing good time management and keeping focused on the results to be achieved will help to keep
you on track. Remember to prioritize the important measurable activities when the “urgent” ones, such as
voicemails and emails, are nagging at you. Quantifying and documenting your results will provide value
whether you stay or go.
Think profit and loss, even if it is not your primary job: Every proprietary business exists to make
money, and every organization needs to “think” like a business in order to be financially viable and fulfill
its mission. There are two ways to support a healthy bottom line: add to revenue or reduce expenses.
Every employee in every organization has the potential – and the responsibility – to contribute to the
bottom line in one way or the other, or both. The key is for all employees to development awareness and
a desire to help the organization to run as cost effectively as possible.
Take appropriate initiative: Mediocre employees do only what is minimally expected of them, and are
not motivated to go above and beyond their core job description. Employees who desire to add value to
their organization will see opportunities for improvements, and want to act on them. Of course, it is
imperative that these actions are consistent with the intentions and goals of the organization. Even if you
are not seeking career advancement per se, it is imperative to develop the habit of knowing what needs
to be done, seeing a better way to do something, or better serving the needs of the customer. There is no
room today for the attitude of “It’s not my job” or “They don’t pay me enough to do that”.
Collaborate whenever possible: Teamwork is a critical aspect of organizational success. If something
can be accomplished more quickly or effectively with the assistance of others, then reach out, collaborate,
and make it happen. Put your ego aside, and forget the fact that someone else might share the “credit” for
the outcome. The greater reward for all will be the exceptional results that emerge from the synergy of
effective teamwork.
The value-add is delivered as you understand how what you do contributes to the overall effectiveness of
delivering the business, and in doing so, making sure it contributes more to your customer in meeting
their goals – the how and why.
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10. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
Connecting the Dots
We’ve explored what value-add is, how to add value to what is delivered, and why it’s important to add
value at all levels of the business. Dynamic value doesn’t just happen…it must be intentional. It is a
choice to start every day asking the question, “How can I add value today?”
At the heart of this discussion, we talked about why we're offering a service, not what the service is.
By connecting the dots, we see as employees that we must actively seek out how we can add value to
our roles. We need to understand the business by knowing the touch points of our organization, and how
they impact the business. More often than not, that touch point is another person, a fellow employee like
you.
There is the popular belief that the best way to lose weight is to help someone else lose weight. The
same is true with adding value. The best way to add value to what you do is by ensuring what you do is
value-added to your customer.
This in turn provides added value to the organization, and the risk of touch point failures diminishes. As
one organization adds value to another, the cost of operations is reduced, thereby contributing to
profitability.
With profitability comes the ability to provide useful products and services to the client. By intentionally
and strategically imparting value-add elements into the services, the client is able to realize the benefits,
and in turn, provide value-add to its stakeholders.
The value-add is delivered as each layer – employee, organization, and company – understands how
they contribute to delivering the business, and in doing so, making sure it contributes more to the client in
meeting its goals than the cost of the service it provides – the how and why.
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11. Dynamic Value – The Art and Science of Providing Added Value
About the Author
Lars Ray is a contract consultant for Network Data Systems, specializing in project management for Tier
1 mobility clients. Along with a successful career in the telecommunications industry, Lars holds a
master’s certificate in Crucial Conversations, and is a featured contributor in “Everyone Communicates,
Few Connect” by leadership expert and author Dr. John Maxwell.
Acknowledgements
Cover Design: Fractal Image “HeartBurn” © Synaptic Junctions – MARS. Used by permission.
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