Shoppers Spend Big & What's Next for Work | Leading Through Change | Salesforce

We love this time of year. Plenty of shopping, plenty of anticipation of the new year, and best of all, plenty of ways to show gratitude. My favorite. And give back. Happy holidays. I'm Leah McGowan Hare, and welcome to Leading Through Change, a chance for you to hear from leaders who are doing their best to get through these changing times and and support their communities. We've got a little something for everyone today. Make sure you stick around till the end for a big holiday surprise. Hmm. What could it be? Sorry, can't reveal anything just yet. Now, before we get there, I'd like to share my conversation with Karen Mangia, my brilliant colleague whose book Success From Anywhere looks at the future of work and the changes we're all experiencing in our professional lives. Karen is vice president of Customer and Market Insights here at Salesforce, and she's also a member of our Work From Home task force. It's no secret that the pandemic has caused many of us to reexamine their role at work. I turned to Karen to get her thoughts on the Great Resignation and how it might affect us all in this new year and beyond. Karen, thank you so much for being here on Leading Through Change and thank you for my book, Success From Anywhere. So I want to just jump right in. What is causing the Great Resignation?

Employees, I think, are really sending employers an urgent signal that success is about more, but it isn't about more pay, more PTO or more perks. And that kind of got me thinking more of what? And the answer that keeps showing up for me is more of what matters. I mean, people are looking to be connected with deep meaning. And I think when people ask themselves what matters, what they're discovering is, the answer is something different than maybe how they've been living and working pre pandemic and even up to this point.

So when we talk about the Great Resignation, are we talking about workers quitting their jobs for new opportunities? Are they leaving the workforce altogether? Are they looking to be entrepreneurs?

We're seeing a range. You know, some people are leaving to be entrepreneurs and others are working differently. And one example that stands out to me, I mean, we've certainly all read the headlines about how many women are leaving the workforce, particularly and people of color. And when I look in the direction of one of the most well funded new startups, it's called Mom Board, and it's literally women who are leaving the workforce have professional skills and what they're seeking is flexibility, autonomy and choice in their work environment. And this allows them to work in more of a Contractor and flexible model where there's more options. So what I think about is people aren't just stopping working. What they're exercising and flexing is this muscle to work differently.

I like that because there was this thought of people were just quitting.

And I'm like, well, how?

I didn't get that memo. How do you just quit and still keep a living going? Like how that works.

Bills. Right. I mean.

You know, and how are companies reacting? I'm sure many are struggling with how to keep employees from running through the doors, but I assume many also see this as an opportunity to attract new and different talent.

I think about it as it's kind of like hiring is the new housing and it's a candidate's market. And what I'm seeing great organizations do right now is really think about this as a twofold opportunity. First of all, what you said, a time to attract some new talent and think differently about the story they're putting about themselves into the marketplace to attract that talent. The other is there are a number of companies launching what I would categorize as the Great Retention Campaign, which says, hey, perhaps what's important also is not just backfilling these open roles. It's about keeping the talented people that we have. And that begins with deep listening. I mean, everyone wants to feel seen and heard. And people, you know, in many cases want to feel appreciated for the work they've done to help grow this company and keep things going during a pandemic and amidst lots of people resigning.

I love that. And it makes me think about you had mentioned in your first book, Working from Home. It's also is the great pause. So I could see this being the great pause for companies. And yes, they want to attract new talent, and yes, they want to attract different talent, but also taking a moment to look at the talent that they currently have and how to grow the talent that's already there that might have been overlooked. I could see that as a big area.

Absolutely. When I think about the future of work, I mean, I think about kind of four W's. It's my version of how do we take a big topic like the future, which feels so overwhelming right now, and break it into a smaller piece. And I think about the first of you as work. I mean, what is the work that needs to be done now in your team or organization and how has that shifted?

Right, right.

Second, is the workforce. Right. I mean, what are the highest aspirations of this workforce and kind of near and dear to your heart and mine, as well as what Are the new skills this workforce needs to be successful. And then we move into the workplace. I mean, where do people do this work? Can it be asynchronous? And finally workflow. I mean, how do we put workflows in place that help this new workforce realize these aspirations and discover new skills?

It's so funny because when you say workforce, the geek in me automatically thinks automation. How do we build automation and workforce?

I know, right? I always think about it as like, automation is a tool to help combat burnout. Right. We can offload our workforce as some of these tasks when we automate them.

Exactly. So is the Great Resignation still ongoing? Is the end in sight?

I believe there's still more to come. And some people will use this phrase also the great reshuffling. And it's kind of back to the point you were talking about, which is people are reconfiguring who they work with and what this work arrangement looks like. And so yes, I believe we will see some of this continue. And I'm fascinated. I've been following and I've written about an organization that did actually launch a great retention campaign because what they had discovered in their own organization is when people left, they made another job hop within eight to 10 months, which means they didn't find what they were seeking. So I think one of the most powerful tools we all have to construct a future of work that works for everyone is curiosity. I mean, what else could this be, right? Tapping into more of that imagination and creation opportunity.

Well, I think curiosity is always the thing that keeps you growing and evolving to the next level. And as I shared with you earlier, I always say if you're not learning, you're not living. So that's very important in that next piece. You know, when you think about this whole Great Resignations, what advice would you have for people that are thinking about leaving or looking at other opportunities? And what advice would you give to companies about trying to retain their talent?

Conduct the stress free experiment would be my advice. And here's how it works. It was originally created at Stanford as an experiment with really burned out, stressed out university students. And it's since been repeated with organizations, executives, entrepreneurs, all individuals, networks like this. Think about your top value. Choose your one top value. That could be your wellbeing, that could be impact, that could be giving back, whatever that looks like for you. And spend 10 minutes one time writing about how that value shows up in your everyday life. Because really, individually and collectively tapping into what matters and feeling that sense of belonging and creating community really is a function of living in alignment with our values, not just when we're at home, when we're at work too. And so I think about what would happen if organizations took a pause and just thought how have our values shifted and how are those showing up in our culture? And then as individuals before we go out and just look for a job, a new job is maybe the solution or that little juice up that we're seeking, that infusion of something new. Start with reconnecting with your values and using that as a tool to consider what matters so that you can select a work environment and a context that's in alignment with that. I think we all feel better and feel like we live more meaningful lives and can make a bigger contribution when we're living and working in alignment with our values.

Wow. So many great gems. Thank you Karen, and to everybody, make sure you get out there and get success from anywhere. Karen, thank you for joining us today and sharing all this great insight. Happy holidays to you and your family and I wish you a healthy holiday as well.

Thanks for the opportunity and be well.

Wow.

So insightful. Very curious to see what the new year brings. Thank you so much, Karen. One of our busiest colleagues this time of year is Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of retail here at Salesforce. You've probably seen him in the media sharing his smart insight on this year's Blockbuster Cyber Week retail numbers. Now we're living in, shall we say, unique times and I've wondered what that means for holiday shoppers and their spending habits. Let's find out. Rob, welcome to Leading Through Change. Thank you so much for making time for us today. Now, what is the holiday shopping season teaching us about how the pandemic affects consumer behavior?

Well, you know, over the course of the last 20 months, we all turned to digital for dining, for entertainment, for meetings like this and of course, shopping. And in fact, 40% of shoppers shopped online for the first time over the pandemic. And this baseline is here to stay. It's not like a rubber band. It's not going to snap back. And you know, as we all shopped on digital, our whole definition of loyalty change, we're all focused on health, safety, convenience and trust. And really what the common denominator there is removing friction from the shopping process. And that's what consumers look for this holiday season.

Absolutely. I could definitely attest to I have been an online shopper extraordinaire. Now we've seen headline after headline about inflation and supply chain hurdles, real hurdles, how Are these issues impacting holiday retail numbers?

Well, yeah, we saw that too in our shopping index here at Salesforce over Cyber week, we saw an 11% increase in average selling price. So that's inflation right there. And then we also saw about an 8% reduction in discounts. So, you know, consumers, as you just mentioned, saw headline after headline of these issues and they shopped early. Here in the US for the first two weeks of November, we saw an 18% year over year increase in digital shopping. So really, consumers heeded the call and they shopped early. And it's a good thing they did that because they didn't seem the same discounts as they did throughout the course of Cyber week.

That's awesome. So, you know, it makes me think of now that we're living in this post vaccine world, are consumers showing more willingness to shop in person at stores rather than online?

Well, yeah. You know, the biggest myth in retail over the last decade is the store is dead. It's not, it's alive and kicking, it's transforming, it's looking a lot different. But the store plays a critical role in our digital world. In fact, according to our research, we saw that 60% of digital sales are actually influenced by, by the store, whether demand is being created there or it's being fulfilled there. One other thing I'll say going back to that point around removing friction, so many consumers are thriving for the convenience of buying the product online and then picking it up with the health and safety in and around the store. In fact, on cyber, not Cyber Monday, but on Black Friday, we saw those retailers that offered the ability to buy online and pick up in the store saw a 50% higher increase in digital growth.

So really that hybrid approach to your point of buying online and picking up in the store. So there is a little bit more of a hybrid.

That's right. Creating that seamless experience between online and offline. And of course thinking about mobile as that connective tissue as it becomes the remote control of our daily lives.

Absolutely. Because like when you get there, you can call and they'll come out and bring your bags to you.

That's right. Or via location based services, the retailer will actually proactively know that you're in and around the store and come out and bring you the products.

Awesome. Now what trends are you seeing? What are the categories or sectors are seeing in the biggest boost in sales this holiday season?

Yeah, you know, it's all around experiential categories. We've been living the last 20 months on things like needs and now we're focusing on things that we want. So you think about handbags saw a big boom? Actually we saw apparel and footwear. I mean people haven't seen my feet in over a year and now I have to get out there in the real world again. But you know, one category that has been sustained is home and home furniture and goods, which is quite surprising about we all re outfitted our home office but it's really changed from the office and outdoor furniture where we're spending a lot of time to entertainment categories, thinking about new kitchens, new appliances, new products for your living room. We're seeing a big boom this holiday season.

So folks are feeling a bit more comfortable and confident about entertaining this holiday season. So that makes, that makes sense. Now are there any silver linings here? Are there companies out there that are finding creative solutions, maybe changing the way we source materials?

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know what happened is over the course of the pandemic, retailers got really, really scrappy. They turned on these digital capabilities and really weaved together the online and offline experience both for essential and non essential categories. And consumers now are expecting that. But one thing though is retailers need move from scrappy to scale. They have to think about the economics now and think about how they're serving both their shareholders and their stakeholders. As we come out of the pandemic.

That'S such a key word, scrappy to scale, because I think that is something that transcends all industries. Like we often adjust and we start with a very scrappy solution and then when it sticks we're like, okay, how do we scale this solution? So I love that from scrappy to scale. And also with the challenges in supply chain, are we seeing any major innovations in that space?

We are, we are. We're seeing a lot more inventory visibility which we've been talking about for the better part of two decades. But really retailers collaborating more with their suppliers in real time to understand where the inventory is. And also as we talked about before, relative to stores, the last mile, both, you know, last year's headline was how our products going to get from the retailer to the consumer's doorstep. This year is around the first mile, getting the product through the port of LA and into the inbound supply chain. So just talked about that inventory visibility, availability on the first mile. On the last mile it's around thinking about how we know where the products are, using the stores as distribution centers, partnering with third party ecosystems to get the products to the doorstep and being really flexible, being really nimble as it relates to both the first mile and the last mile.

Now, Rob, really important question. How has your holiday shopping changed in this sort of post vaccine place? Are you out there shopping more yourself?

Well, yeah, my wife and I got going early this year, which I think helped us a lot. And because you know what, if you didn't buy early, chances are the products won't be available. Our research at Salesforce shows that there's about a 6% reduction in average available SKUs. So we started early. We did it both in store and online. So we, you know, kind of had the, the ships rising through all of the tides and were able to really stoke the fire both in retail, online and in store.

Well, that's awesome. You know, Rob, thanks again for being here and you know, have a wonderful holiday and safe holiday with your family and loved ones.

Happy and healthy holiday to you as well.

We so appreciate Rob taking some time to join us during this busy holiday season. So here it is, the moment we've been waiting for, the big reveal. You all know that here at Leading Through Change, we love finding ways to help those who need it most. And the holiday season just makes us want to do more. Now we know the number of people relying on food banks in the US has doubled since the beginning of the pandemic. And we welcomed our friends at Feeding America to the show last month. They are doing amazing things in our communities through their networks of over 200 food banks. Last year alone, they provided, get this, over 6 billion meals to those in need. Wow. And wow. Earlier, I got the chance to visit with one of the terrific leaders at Feeding America, Geeta Ramparsad. Geeta is the vice president of Health Systems Integration. And I want to check in and find out how they're getting the job done this holiday season. And yep, we had a little something up our sleeves. Welcome, Gita. So happy to have you here today.

Thank you so much for allowing me to participate.

Of course, now I'm going to jump right into it now. At the onset of the pandemic, unemployment and hunger soared, putting tremendous so much pressure and demand on the local food banks. Is the demand continuing from what you see?

Absolutely. I mean, the pandemic has shifted many landscapes in this country. And hunger, the hunger crisis was certainly exacerbated by COVID 19 and before COVID 35 million Americans were facing hunger. And as of 2020, Feeding America was estimating that 50 million people in this country could be facing hunger. The beauty of partnership and response was that our numbers did not actually those are not the real numbers that we see now we saw an incredible public and private response to the hunger crisis during 2020, particularly in the outset of. And so right now, Feeding America estimates that there are 38 million people in America facing hunger. I mean, that's still 38 million too many. So, you know, we still have a crisis, but the incredible show of support and response has averted a much deeper crisis in this country.

You know, what are the greatest challenges related to nutrition insecurity today?

I'm glad you asked that. There's kind of a two part response to that. I would say, on the one hand, while we didn't see the numbers that we had predicted in 2020, what we do see are the deepening of disparities and inequities in this country. And food security is not immune to those disparities or inequities. So before COVID 19, there was roughly 1 in 13 white households facing hunger, as compared to 1 in 6 Latin Latino households, 1 in 5 black households, and 1 in every 4 Native American households. And, you know, our, our commitment is to ending these inequities, reaching people who are facing the most need in this country, and really solving the food security equation. And at the same time that we're solving for equity. I think the other part to, you know, sort of thinking about what is challenging around nutrition security is we're still figuring out what is this concept of nutrition for the charitable food system. And I think our challenge right now is defining nutrition security and figuring out how to measure it.

Well, you know, you just hit on something, and I would love to make sure all of our viewers understand if you define what is nutrition security, what is that?

Well, you know, that's something that we're still working on in Feeding America. We don't have a formal definition for nutrition security for the charitable food system, but the USDA is starting to convene experts from around the country to really come up with a definition of nutrition security for the country. And some of our partners and our scientists, our nutrition scientists are participating in that. But what I can say is we need to go beyond food. We really need to make sure that we can put nutritious food in front of people facing hunger. And how we do that, I think, and how we measure that is, is still being worked on. But we are pushing more produce, we're pushing more protein, we're pushing more dairy, and we're also focusing more on not only educating our people facing hunger around making the healthy choice, sort of the easy choice. We want to also educate our food banks and our partners on sourcing nutritious foods and really focusing on nutrition first.

Well, that's really powerful because I just had sort of a light bulb moment because what it sounds like you're doing, it's beyond having access to just not food, but nutritious food and education around what is nutritious food. So it's a very holistic perspective. And that was a big aha moment for me. So I thank you for that. As the United States largest domestic hunger food relief organization, Feeding America is working with food banks across the country to reach more than my understanding, 40 million people in need of food each year. How in the world is Feeding America getting this job done?

It's quite incredible. I started with Feeding America in the beginning of 2020, having come from a healthcare background. And I've had a very quick education about the value and the value and the anchor of food banks that are provided to communities on a daily basis. The Feeding America network is made up of roughly 200 food banks. And those 200 food banks collectively work with over 60,000 community partners to reach every county in this country. That's how we start. We mobilize quickly. We also have an incredible core of volunteers, over 2 million volunteers throughout the network. And we really rely on partnership and collaboration to make sure that nobody in this country goes hungry. Our goal is that we want to end hunger in America and we know that we can't do this alone. So in addition to our network of food banks and partners, we also work very closely with external partners. This can't be done in a vacuum. It takes a cross cutting, cross collaborative effort and we're committed to that at our organization.

And that's a great point and brings up my next question. You know, it is such a complex issue, hunger. And to your point, it requires action from across sectors to create this hunger free world. What advice would you give to those viewers who want to help?

Well, I would say if, you know, if you're interested, join us, join us, start, you know, donate your time, donate your resources. I'll give a special shout out to my mom's hometown of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Fredericksburg Food bank is always looking for volunteers, always looking to meet new people. It's been a life changing experience to step into this world. I've spent many, many occasions at food banks. There's so many wonderful people that work there. They're truly anchor institutions in the community. And there's, there's quite a bit that can be done just, you know, whether you, whether you want to volunteer your Time or resources or just come and take a tour and really understand what ending hunger is all about.

I love that. And you know, Gita, we're so inspired by all the work you do. We have a little something for you because, I mean, let's be real, just in awe of the work that you and Feeding America is doing. In my mind, you are doing God's work. We are here to support you. And I'm thrilled to tell you that today, Salesforce is pledging to match every individual donation made to Feeding America between now and the end of January up to. Drumroll. $100,000.

Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. So everybody's gonna be so incredibly pleased to hear this and so, so, so eternally grateful. That is wonderful. Oh, I was. You caught me off. She did not know about this.

She did not know. This is all a surprise. So you were seeing this live?

Oh, I'm just emotional right now. This is just such a wonderful thing. You know, $100,000 can turn into 100 or a million meals for people across the country. That's a million meals that you've just, you know, added to people's plates. So thank you.

You are not gonna get me crying on camera, Geeta. That was not part of the deal. My goodness. It's just so wonderful to see your expression to this gift and just the level of gratitude, but just the impact it's going to have and how we can all make an impact together. A positive impact. Thank you so much, Kita, for all the work that you and your team and everybody at Feeding America is doing. Like I said, it is God's work, and it's just grateful for all that you continue to do. Thank you to you and everyone and have an amazing, amazing holiday with your family.

I wish you the same. And again, thank you one more time and a million more times for the million meals you just put on people's plates for the holidays. Thanks again. Thank you.

That was so much fun. What an absolute privilege it was to be able to deliver our support to such an impressive and deserving organization. And we hope you'll consider supporting Feeding America, too. The work they're doing is so critical, and your donation can make tremendous impact. Just $1. Think about this. $1 goes to 10 meals. $1, 10 meals. So please go to feedingamerica.org and donate today. We'll double your impact. Salesforce will automatically match every donation made through now through January 31st, 2022. Sounds crazy to say 2022, up to $100,000. So please, if you can go and make that donation today. Now, before we go, we'd like to share with you a short film from our partners at Southwest Airlines that celebrate their people first philosophy and shares how they been able to support their workforce throughout the pandemic.

From the very beginning at Southwest Airlines we have had a people first philosophy. We hire really, really incredible people who love putting others first.

Some of you may have been on an airplane where you've had a flight attendant seeing during the safety briefing just to entertain our customers.

We hire people who have just a special something for serving others.

It is that thing that kind of sets us apart.

And so it's incredibly important that we put our people first and we show them the same caring attitude that we expect them to have with our customers. So we had this vision to create a one stop shop for our employees for all of their HR related needs. Where's my paycheck? I need to learn more about my healthcare benefits.

With our partnership with Salesforce, we were able to build the employee services portal.

It really couldn't have happened at a better time. We went live with our employee service center in March of 2020. Having this tool in place during the pandemic was incredible because our employees were able to very quickly get answers that they needed and the questions that they had during the pandemic, these are stressful questions.

Employees have access to just a wealth of information and knowledge to help self serve and plan for the moments that matter to them.

I feel like we are just scratching the surface.

I'm grateful for the partnership that we've had with Salesforce.

We are just starting on our journey to really improve the employee experience that.

Feeds right into the culture and really I think is what's made Southwest successful over the last 50 years.

Love that. We certainly understand how critical it is for Southwest employees to have the support they need during this hectic holiday travel season. Now, quick plug for some of my great colleagues if you haven't already. We hope you'll check out season two of the Inflection Point, sponsored by IBM and hosted by Monica Langley here on Salesforce Plus. It's a show where top CEOs share their backgrounds, professional insights, values and yes, their own inflection points and how it shaped their lives and their careers. To find the Inflection point in any of our shows on salesforce plus, go to salesforce.com plus okay, that's a wrap. We'll be back in January and I cannot wait to bring you more stories of inspirational leaders in the new year. Thank you from my heart to yours for joining us through leading, through change. Thank you to all the people behind the scenes that you don't see that has made this show possible. I'll see you all in 2022. Until then, take care of yourself and each other.

This is Nisha. This is her customer, Beth. And this is where Nisha goes to focus. She calls it her Beth tub. But this is.

Sorry.

Pretty distracting.

I have to sit.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.

That's why Salesforce Customer 360 helps you focus with a single view of your customer.

Like Beth.

Honey.