Reflections from P&G: How to Make Recommendations

As a student and young knowledge worker, I’ve noticed that recommendations are what my teachers, managers and stakeholders care the most about. Why do they care so much? In response, how does one make recommendations?

This post shares my learnings about why recommendations matter, what recommendations really are, and how to make recommendations that work.

Why are Recommendations Important

Upon reflection, I realise that recommendations are important because:

• Great recommendations solve problems, therefore creating value.

• Great recommendations make decision-makers’ lives easier.

Clear, concise recommendations that solve problems are so valuable that entire industries (Consulting) have been built to do this.

But recommendations go deeper than merely a solution. As a student and young knowledge worker, I’ve come to realise that understanding what recommendations actually are can help me go a long way in making a lasting impact.

What are Recommendations

Simply put, recommendations are solutions to existing problems. More specifically, however, recommendations are operational variables to change in response to an issue.

Great recommendations are crisp, sharp instructions telling decision-makers what they can and should do to solve a problem, why they should do it and how to do it.

For us knowledge workers, great recommendations reflect our abilities as a knowledge worker. They are tangible outputs of our knowledge work, and show stakeholders the extent of our skillset.

I’m by no means an expert knowledge worker. But below, I share three characteristics of crisp recommendations from my experience:

Great recommendations are logical

Great recommendations are clear and logical responses to existing issues. They must directly address the problem you’re trying to solve.

Here’s an example.

Great recommendations are simple and specific variables that result in a ‘Yes/No’ decision

Great recommendations consist of simple and specific variables/drivers to change. The affected variable/driver is so clearly and specifically identified that stakeholders merely have to say Yes/No. This makes their lives much easier.

Here’s how to enhance the recommendation in the above example.

To make this decision as easy to make as possible, great recommendations must be direct and persuasive. They must be specific, data-validated, and perceptive.

Great recommendations are feasible to implement and operationalize

Lastly, great recommendations must be feasible to implement by the stakeholder’s organisation.

Naturally, a simple and specific recommendation will be more feasible than a convoluted, overly-imaginative and vague “life-changing” idea, packaged under the guise of “creativity”.

As a student, I’ve found it so easy to be overly-imaginative. This is especially true in Marketing. For instance, if a large firm is only posting content on Instagram, it could be easy to say “Why not grow marketing by posting this content on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Snapchat?” The bigger and more features packed into a recommendation, the better it must be. Right?

Having worked at multiple firms, however, I’ve realised that there are reasons why these “revolutionary” ideas did not come into fruition. Perhaps I’ll share these in another post. But I realise that often, firms are looking for feasible next steps to step-change, rather than full makeovers of their entire corporate strategies.

I’ll share an example below.

What are not Recommendations

Recommendations are not Ideas

Recommendations are not world-changing ideas. They are crisp, sharp operational variables to step-change in response to an issue.

I learnt this during my experience at UNIQLO’s Global Management Program. In the program, my team was presented with a challenge to enhance UNIQLO’s in-store experience to drive more consumers to physically visit the store.

Other teams introduced novel, highly creative ideas, inspired by top consulting firms like McKinsey. These included Smart Mirrors in Fitting Rooms, Virtual Shopping Carts to reduce queues, and AR/VR technology. These are brilliant ideas that bring UNIQLO’s omnichannel visions to reality. In contrast, our team presented a hilariously ‘tiny’ idea - to allow customers to try on outfits outside the store. No fancy tech or gadgets. No consulting firm raised such a recommendation. And we were awarded ‘Champions’ by the judges.

This experience led me to realise that recommendations are not big, broad ideas. Rather, recommendations are tasks to step-change in response to an issue. They should be feasible and in line with the company’s current operating ethos.

Recommendations are not Insights

Lastly, recommendations are not insights. Insights spark clarity on what to change. But recommendations drive the change.

So, how could we make recommendations?

How to Make Recommendations: Actionable Takeaways

• Identify the right problems to solve. Great recommendations begin from solving the right problems.

• Learn how to build insights. Clear, specific insights inspire sharp and impactful recommendations.