Cx Network

The key to a smooth transition into the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the ability to seamlessly upskill and reskill the workforce. Cindy Gallagher shares with us the who, what, when, where, why, and how to get it done. She specifically focuses on the why, such as delivering the right product or service to all of our consumers and stakeholders; and the how. Traditional methods of reskilling, such as training programs and schooling, aren’t enough. Engaging the workforce in ongoing training and opening up new opportunities that leverage that learning ensures companywide growth. The leadership team must facilitate this new mindset in order for it to be successful.  Gallagher closes with a soccer metaphor—she was once a goaltender—and offers additional tips on how to achieve that elusive “how.”

Deepak takes us through structured data: what it is, when we need it, and when we don’t. He talks about how to discover the history of structured data at your enterprise and what to do with it. Data comes flooding in in mass quantities and various forms. Is it worth structuring that data? Will it fit into our old ideas of “structure?” Next, Deepak talks about unpacking the value of structured data and how to get the most out of it. He suggests asking the right questions before preparing reports from structured data to eliminate time- and resource-waste. Finally, Deepak suggests identifying “master data” in order to streamline the data processing process.

Max Just talks us through digital environments in this installation of Future of Work. Max opens by discussing the importance of improving the employee experience with a focus on people “inside the tent.” HR and procurement services aren’t enough to satisfy today’s employee. Instead, employees expect a seamless digital experience more on par to the one they experience in their day-to-day dealings. If a company feels archaic to an employee, they are less likely to feel like they belong. Max offers tips on how to adapt to the future employee, such as investing in automation. Finally, Max discusses two future trends he is noticing: internal digital assistants and collaboration tools.

In this episode, Ty Grandison takes some time to step back from this flawed reality we live in and discusses some of the unintended consequences of tech in the past 30 years. First, Ty gets real about the power of AI—or lack thereof—and its tendency to be overhyped. He then lays out the three steps that need to take place before responsible change can happen. Ty speaks candidly about bias in AI, saying, “There are multiple different chasms that are actually being built in the AI machine learning spaces that we need to think really deeply about and try to address.” He then offers ethical solutions that will also appease shareholders.

Rohit Amberker opens this episode of Pace of Change with a clear disclaimer: he is no expert on this week’s topic. However, he does have some experience and insights on the Productivity Paradox. Rohit opens by outlining the definition and history of the Productivity Paradox. Then he moves on to the meat of the topic. Ultimately, the goal of technology is to create customer-centric value from something that doesn’t currently exist. As technology’s capabilities exponentially expand, the Productivity Paradox gap is shortening. Rohit looks to the past to shape the future by exemplifying Facebook and Amazon and examines the current “gap” in AI and blockchain.

The marketplace for third-party AI vendors is huge, but what is the right solution for your enterprise? Anshuman Das, the director of robotics and testing at Warner Bros., discusses the compay’s implementation of some of his favorite tools and the changes they’ve brought. From the OCR reader Textract to UiPath for RPA, Das lets us in on a little secret about intelligent automation. “RPA is the way to go, and the best part of RPA is it can very well go hand in hand with any digital transformation process. Whether you're going to cloud or you're going into IOT or you're going to any of the areas of digital transformation, it is that catalyst which can achieve your digital transformation journey much faster in a much better way.”

Brian Mikkelsen, the CEO of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, talks with us during the Intelligent Automation Nordics in Copenhagen. He discusses the launch of the Digital Growth Strategy for Denmark and how it has kept Denmark’s economy competitive. Training the workforce of tomorrow through a focus on STEM education affords Denmark the opportunity to grow its economy locally. Further, the government has established a digital hub, where small companies can have knowledge about AI, big data, and other new tech for free. Brian concludes the discussion with his thoughts on wealth disparity in Denmark—or lack thereof—and its high quality of living.

Alexander Hubel joins us again to discuss his RPA and automation journey with Ericsson. He fills us in the last two years and their evolution toward a center of excellence. Change management, communications, and automation communities are focusing their efforts on automation and business adoption. Alexander describes the difference between tribes and communities within the organization and what their roles entail. As far as machine learning is concerned, Alexander says, “I think from an Ericsson perspective, we’re quite far ahead, and I think that relates to us being a tech company.” This hasn’t come without its challenges, though, which Alexander also delves into.

Jack Cheng covered a lot of ground in this interview. He described NIO, the company he co-founded, as “an EV provider, a mobility company, but [ultimately a] user enterprise engaged with the use of directory.” From swappable batteries to vehicle “living rooms,” Cheng takes a visionary approach to everything he does. His views on globalism are just as unique. He discussed with us the dangers of indoctrination and group think. He gave us his optimistic insight on the tension between China and the U.S. He even shared some ideas on how we can bridge the generation gap at a fundamental level.

Pfizer’s Anil Bhavnani discusses the future benefits of digital transformation and intelligent automation. Within the medical and pharmaceutical industry, there are a lot of moving parts and little room for error. Technology and automation is saving lives through the accuracy and timesaving processes it deploys. Bhavnadi walks us through what has changed throughout his career, and what he believes the future holds. “At one point in time, we were just kind of doing a very rule-set based kind of process. And here we are changing the entire process. We are automating it. So obviously a lot of people get impacted. You have to work with multiple stakeholders to be able to manage that change. I think that's where the challenge is.”

Deepak Subarao joins us and shares the value of working smart and not hard: "If it doesn't add value to the business and if you don't get paid more, really there's no value by working more. So how can you get the same job done in eight hours, is it possible? Let's see now."

In this episode, Vartul Mittal discusses his RP agenda across industries and geographies. He also shares with us his favorite third-party software and other tips and tricks to convert big data into something usable. 

Charelle Wigley is the Global Head of Employee Health and Wellbeing at Bupa, a global healthcare company with 80,000 employees. Bupa’s stated purpose is to help people live longer, healthier and happier lives, starting with and including their own employees. This is inspiring to Charelle: she feels privileged to be able to make a meaningful and tangible difference in people’s experience at work. She chats with host Kevin Monroe about how wellbeing is linked with employee experience.  

Steve Kato-Spyrou is the UX manager at John Lewis. He joins us at the Omnichannel Forum to discuss organizational change. Today’s consumer involves so many touchpoints it takes a corporation a collaborative way of thinking to reach them in an effective way. In order to get everyone on board from the top down, Steve creates workshops and provides us with some specific examples. “Now they've got to work together on these ideas that have come up. And that's going to be the next step: how we truly get away from the business functions, silos, buying, merchandising, trade, product, design, creative, slam them all together into a cross-functional team.”

Annie Forsmark is one of the presenters at the Employee Experience Forum in September. She started her career 20 years ago as a Health and Wellness Consultant, and now runs her own company in Sweden. She trains organizations, leaders, and employees to perform sustainably at work over time by making and acting on good decisions.  Her work is focused on training leaders to lead sustainably, to take care of themselves and their resilience, and on helping employees to find their own resilience in their work life.  

Edda Blumenstein is a Ph.D. researcher at Leeds University. In this episode, she discusses her efforts to “…identify how honest retailers are supposed to survive in this dynamic environment that is constantly changing at a speed never seen before. I'm looking at how they can actually develop capabilities to do that.” Edda zeroes in on big data’s role in the transformational process. Today’s buyers expect an experience and a relationship from the brands they choose to do business with. Edda explains why businesses need to implement educated decision making in order to stay competitive prepare for an unpredictable future.

Kevin Monroe welcomes Jo Bartnicke, Global Change Manager at Unilever, to the Employee Experience Express conversations. Jo is from South Africa and spent much of her career at Unilever working across Africa. When it comes to employee experience, she is passionate about creating a simpler and better life for all Unilever employees: the woman picking tea on their plantations, the permanent workers in their offices around the globe, as well as their contractors and freelancers.  

In this podcast special, Seth leads an Omnichannel Forum Panel discussion touching on topics such as CX, IoT, GDPR, subscription services, and the future of business. One thing the panelists agree on is the importance of building a customer-centric model even throughout the digitization process. Seth asks each panelist, “What do I do right now to transform into the future IoT organization that I need to be?” Each panelist answers with their own unique insight. Finally, the panelists take questions from the audience before wrapping up.

Claude Silver is the Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia, a global digital creative agency.  Her role, as she sees it, is to help employees thrive by spreading empathy, self-awareness, and EQ. She chats with host Kevin Monroe about common themes and challenges in employee experience around the world, and how to effect culture change in an organization.   

Chanice Henry has been in the B2B news world for over six years. Currently, she is the CX Network editor. We asked her what is keeping CX professionals up at night, and Henry touches on financial return, and building a customer-centric—not business-centric—corporate culture. Henry encourages the utilization of tools like NPS and other metrics to meet goals and gets granular with a specific case study. Her latest report is on the digital experience. In her words, “This report just kind of gives a bit of a benchmark for how CX practitioners are going about defining the digital experience of their customers, looking at it internally.”