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Marko Sarstedt: Why is Sensory Marketing Important?

As the retail industry faces the challenges of a weakened economy and rising inflation, consumer confidence and spending power are decreasing. This shift in consumer behavior requires a strategic approach to product differentiation through effective marketing strategies. However, in a highly competitive and unpredictable market, maintaining a strong brand image is no easy feat. It is crucial for business leaders to stay ahead of the curve and develop innovative strategies to remain relevant and resilient.  

We spoke to marketing professor and consumer behavior researcher, Marko Sarstedt about sensory marketing, the impact it can have on customer experience, and the knock-on effect it has on customer loyalty.  

 
Marko Sarstedt is a chaired professor of marketing at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and an adjunct research professor at Babeș-Bolyai-University Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Marko’s research on consumer behavior has been published in world-leading academic journals and ranks among the most frequently cited in the social sciences.

He has also made the Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers List several times including ranking as the “world’s most impactful scientific researchers.” In March 2022, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Babeș-Bolyai-University Cluj-Napoca for his research achievements and contributions to international exchange.
 

Could you briefly explain what sensory marketing is and how it relates to customer loyalty? 

Sensory marketing involves all processing of sensory perception. It’s about how certain sensory stimuli – like light, temperature, sound, or haptic elements – impact our perception of products in retail environments. Sensory marketing as an academic field is involved in trying to understand how these different stimuli impact us, what are the mechanisms through which they impact us, and how retailers and other companies such as online shops can leverage these insights to improve customer experience. 

When consumers enter a retail space, there are lots of influences they have to cope with such as music, light, scents, and even other customers. Being exposed to many, sometimes divergent influences, creates dissonance and diminishes satisfaction. By harmonizing at least some of these influences, consumers can process the environment more easily.  

As consumers, we don’t want to go somewhere and invest lots of cognitive effort and capabilities to process all these different impacting factors. We want to have things easy. If this is achieved through sensory perceptions, customers will enjoy the experience enough to come back.  

Harmonizing sensory perceptions improves satisfaction, which then improves loyalty.  

There is a direct causal chain between these sensory perceptions and customer satisfaction, and it is well supported by research. 

 

How has the current economic climate impacted customer loyalty in the retail industry? 

We need to first consider the consequences of the pandemic which has shifted many businesses to the online environment. People who were not used to purchasing goods online were forced to give it a try and they learned that it’s favorable. The pandemic was an accelerator for online businesses because it massively shifted demand into the online world. Obviously, this is an issue for stationary retailers.  

At the same time, we’re seeing high inflation in Europe and other regions in the world because of the war in Ukraine. This means there is less spending power. People want to save, and they typically get better bargains online. So we see diminishing loyalty in stationary retail because people have just shifted to an online world for various reasons. 

Also, brand loyalty in general has been diluting for several years now. This is because there are more companies emerging that are targeting smaller niche segments to adequately address consumer needs and wants. In fact, today’s consumers, especially younger ones, expect this. 

Nevertheless, the fact remains that people still want to experience goods and services in an offline world. They like more tactile environments because humans are social beings. We like to communicate one-on-one and want to experience our surroundings. We don’t live in a social vacuum. Especially after the COVID lockdowns, we can see that people are longing for social interactions and exchanges. So, despite the shift online, there is a countermovement back to stationary retail.  

Sensory marketing has an unbeatable advantage over online settings because it caters to all our sensory perceptions which is more difficult to achieve online.  

That’s how sensory marketing can contribute to customer loyalty for stationary retailers. 

 

In today’s highly competitive retail landscape, how can businesses use sensory marketing to differentiate themselves from their competition? 

Brand managers put a substantial amount of effort into defining their brand image. They define what a brand should look like in the minds of consumers. They then run advertising campaigns on social media with influencers, targeting these brand image elements.  

What brand managers oftentimes forget is the actual experience of the brand at the point of sale. You can have the fanciest advertising campaign, but if the brand experience at the point of sale is opposing that image, then it’s wasted money in the first place. 

For example, if the masculine image of a brand that targets male consumers is not supported at the point of sale – either by the color schemes, lighting, music, or scent – all your brand positioning efforts are ruined.  

Brand managers need to view the experience of a brand holistically, not just through advertisement and communication, but also how consumers experience the product at the point of sale or the experience of the product itself.  

This is something that many brand managers put very scant attention on right now. They focus on how people perceive the brand. But when it comes to haptics, tactile, and what the products look like when a customer interacts with them, that’s regarded to be of minor relevance. 

 

How can business leaders justify investment in sensory marketing? What are the potential returns on that investment? 

There’s ample research showing the importance of sensory perceptions for consumer behavior. For example, we know that when companies implement a pleasant ambient scent into a retail environment, this generates an average uplift in sales of 20%.  

Similarly, we know that music impacts our behavior. If you play specific music in the background, it triggers specific country stereotypes and leads people into buying certain products. For example, researchers have played French music in a wine store, and suddenly, people bought French wine. Then they play German music and people have bought German wine.  

Scent, music, and haptics work together like an orchestra. Jointly, they impact our behavior and increase or decrease our propensity to purchase a product. They also affect our satisfaction with the servicescape and retail environment. 

What’s a good starting point for business leaders who want to start focusing more on sensory marketing in their branding strategies?  

The cheapest way of tackling this is certainly by music. You can play specific music in stores which can have a significant impact on consumer behavior. Of course, the best-case scenario is getting an agency to help you make these decisions. Things like time of day and volume play a role. For example, if the music is too fast, people will move through the stores too quickly. If the music is too slow, they move slower but there’s a risk they may get bored, which creates dissonance. While fine-tuning requires expert help, implementing music is low-hanging fruit and a good place to start. 

Many of these things can be done intuitively without causing harm to the business. Typically, investment in sensory marketing is low while the potential benefits are high.   

You have a book coming out about sensory marketing, Multisensory Design of Retail Environments: Vision, Sound, and Scent. Can you tell us more about it? 

As researchers, we know there’s a wide array of research in various fields – not only marketing but consumer behavior, environmental studies, and so on – that deal with sensory perceptions. However, these studies are oftentimes complicated and heavy with statistics, making it difficult to extract information that is relevant to practitioners who want to grasp the essence of the findings. 

With that in mind, my fellow co-authors and I set out to summarize the most recent research on sensory stimuli that retailers can readily implement themselves. We’ve looked at a huge amount of research from various fields, leaving aside statistical detail and theory, and focusing instead on how to improve the sensory perception of retail environments, as well as next steps for the future. 

What do you hope people will take away from your session next month? 

I hope that they take away how important it is to actively manage the sensory environment.  

We invest much time in the front end of brand marketing, from advertising to the image – but we frequently forget about how people actually experience the brand at the point of sale.  

*The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

**The book: Multisensory Design of Retail Environments: Vision, Sound, and Scent.

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CISO of ICA Gruppen: Limiting the Human Factor in Cybersecurity

Automation is no longer optional in cybersecurity. In fact, it is the fastest and most effective way to deter cyber attacks while also offloading mundane tasks that are traditionally managed by humans. However, improperly implemented automation can lead to significant errors and damage to reputation and financial performance.  

What does that mean for the human factor in cybersecurity? Albin Zuccato, CISO of ICA Gruppen walks us through the different levels of automation and how it can serve to reduce the human factor.

 

What Can Businesses Do With Automation?

 

AI or automation is the automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process, or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the place of human labor. Here, security comes into play because automation concerns processes – how can organizations ensure their network is secure? 

Second, automation is widely adopted as a way to replace human labor, which is directly responsible for a lot of errors in security – i.e. the human factor. 

“I do not see an option in security not to use automation.” 

Albin notes that there are three goals for automation in security. These are: 

  • Speed: Automation increases reaction speed, which is crucial for stopping attacks and containing viruses. 
  • Efficiency: Automation allows for better utilization of resources and replacement of human labor which tends to be less efficient. 
  • Noise reduction: Also known as the human factor. People are creative and very good at solving new problems. But when it comes to solving the same problem over and over, automation is more efficient and consistent in its solutions. This allows organizations to recalibrate and stabilize their processes.  

Having said that, humans are still superior in certain aspects of security. So a balance must be struck. Albin explains that it helps for businesses to think about where they need automation the most by examining their internal security processes.  

 

Three Levels of Security Processes  

 

Artistic 

This is where penetration testers try to find new vulnerabilities in a network while handling critical security incidents, which are never the same. This requires artistry, which is something humans excel in.  

The benefit of automation at this level is noise reduction by utilising a playbook or manual for security incidents that will ensure solutions carried out are consistent. Automation here is a tool to reduce the human factor and as a support to allow humans the flexibility they need to handle such situations requiring artistry.  

Craftsmanship 

These are where processes have some variability and require skilled workers. There may be patterns and repetitive processes with some level of variation that benefits from the eyes of a human who has the larger context of the business network and security goals. 

Here, automation can help with taking over the more repetitive processes to reduce the human factor while still giving human teams to focus only on the variations when necessary.  

Industrial 

This is the most common level of security processes that make up security and where automation is most effective. At this level, processes have very little variability and are mostly repetitive. Generally, humans do not accelerate here, which is where automation can have the biggest impact on noise reduction. With machine learning and AI, industrial processes can be streamlined and made incredibly efficient with little human intervention. 

 

The Challenges of Automation in Security 

 

With any new technology come challenges. Albin cautions that trust will be a big issue as automation is adopted not just by businesses but by bad actors as well. It will be an ‘arms race’ as both sides begin to adopt AI and machine learning. Organizations do not have the luxury of waiting to see how the technology evolves as they risk being behind the curve.  

“We have to learn now and start incorporating AI and automation into our processes.” 

Explaining ICA Gruppen’s use of automation in security processes, Albin says that the company has reduced its dependence on human decisions which therefore has reduced human errors.  

Albin added: “Automation must happen, and I think the most important part here is that we do automation that is purpose-driven.” 

A purpose-driven approach to automation is the way forward, noted the CISO who explained that a company should decide what they want to achieve with different kinds of automation to get the most out of it. After all, there are plenty of tools in the market promising different outcomes. Clarity will be crucial.  

He also stressed the need to focus on where humans can be most effective.  

“With automation, the creativity of humans can be boxed into areas where they will be most effective – let automation take care of the rest and reduce and correct errors.” 

 

No Escaping the Human Factor 

 

Finally, Albin advised that human error is something every security team needs to accept because it is unavoidable. However, it can be curtailed with the effective deployment of automation.  

This is because while most attacks, which are carried out by machines, are best counteracted by machines, smart humans can still outclass them.  

Albin added, “I believe strongly that we need to reduce the human factor, but I do not believe that we should eliminate it.” 

He went on to say that the best thing organizations can do with automation is to just start because like every new approach, it is a learning process. Start by defining goals and then jump straight into experimentation, learning, and adapting. 

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Microsoft Europe CSA: AI & Humans Must Evolve Together in Cybersecurity

The digital evolution brought along automation which enabled transformations of economies and businesses on a large scale. What does the rise of artificial intelligence tools and machine learning in the digital landscape mean for cybersecurity and how can humans evolve together alongside these technologies? 

We caught up with Sarah Armstrong Smith, Microsoft’s European Chief Security Advisor about the impact of AI on cybersecurity and what the future of cybersecurity could look like.

 

1. Digital Acceleration Brings Evolved Threats

 

It’s estimated in the next five years that over half of the world’s data will live in the cloud. With that comes huge computational power that is available on demand and at scale, giving us the agility and flexibility to innovate.  

A clear effect of this is the accelerated development and use of smart technology in recent years. For example, more companies are investing in digital twins which enables them to try different things and run diagnostics without having to do it in a physical environment.  

However, this comes with concerns about security, particularly in high-tech areas that deal with intellectual property and other sensitive data.  

The global spending on cybersecurity is estimated to grow to about 1 trillion in just a few years. 

What does this mean for security? Multiple factors must be considered to ensure privacy, security, and compliance with regulations. Beyond that, there’s also the defensive side of anticipating and managing evolving threats. Not only do we need to obtain information, but we also need to know how to act on it efficiently in real-time. This is where AI comes into play. 

 

2. Security is in Transformation

 

The early discourse on AI verged on alarmist with warnings that the technology would eradicate jobs and leave millions of workers out of an income. In fact, the World Economic Forum projected that AI and automation would displace over 5 million jobs by 2020. However, the open market now has about 6 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs alone. In fact, there is a huge demand for talent in robotics, machine learning, IoT, big data, and AI.  

The mass migration of businesses to the cloud at different levels of maturity has shifted expectations on the type of connectivity provided, devices used, and trustworthiness of those devices. Most enterprises are running a hybrid business model due to challenges with the legacy estate. This complicates cyber security efforts. Security leaders are compelled to understand the integration between the IT, IoT and cloud environments in order to ensure a connected ecosystem that is smart, reliable and safe.  

With all that combined, there is an increased attack surface and multiple blind spots. Particularly, organizations are still deeply fragmented when it comes to their approaches. At the same time, cyberattacks are rising exponentially.  

Moreover, attackers are becoming more sophisticated. They can move very quickly and outmaneuver security operations and technologies of even larger organizations because they are not constrained by regulatory requirements. Attackers are also investing heavily in automation and scripting.  

Every time attackers bring out new malware or new attacks, we learn those, we counteract them, we have detections, we’re automatically blocking the malware, and different attempts that they’re trying. However, we know that resources are at a premium and we can’t just add and throw more money at it.  

“We have to think of ways in which we can increase the attacker’s cost and reduce our cost with our ability to act and respond as quickly as possible.” 

 

3. What Can CISOs Do? 

 

A. Prevention of threats 

The first imperative is we need to prevent as many threats as possible with automation. We have to detect, we have to respond quickly and we have to continually learn. As much as the attackers are learning our defenses, they’re learning about the technologies that we have, they’re learning how to counteract that. When they’re counteracting that, the whole cycle starts again. We’re seeing this perpetual cycle of prevention, detection and response. 

B. Understand human attacker decision cycle 

With human operator attacks, particularly ransomware operators and nation-state actors, part of their attack profile is really their ability to observe. They have to sit, watch and learn about your environment.  

We know that attackers understand IT infrastructure very well. What they don’t understand is how you specifically deployed technologies in your environment or other technologies you are utilizing. They have to learn and orient across your environment, and potentially keep elevating privilege. They have to get access to different parts of the infrastructure to learn what to do and what attack is going to work best in this environment. 

This is the kind of cycle we’re really looking at when it comes to that human attacker decision cycle. From a security operations perspective, our job is really to understand this cycle. Irrespective of the fact that they probably have been in that network for weeks or months, it’s really at the point where they have triggered some kind of action that we respond. 

We need to get better. We need to be proactive and preempt. We need to understand how the attacker is operating, understand this cycle, and get into the mind of the attacker for us to be able to make some decisions.  

Where this comes to is our ability to defend and act quicker across that entire cycle, meaning we need to maximize the visibility of our network. We need diversity of threat intelligence, and we need that from different sources. Importantly, we need that real-time information.  

C. Automation + humans in threat detection and response  

The other thing that we need to do is reduce the number of manual steps or potential errors that may occur. Part of this is about the ability to automate that detection and response. From security operations, we don’t want to be pivoting across different technologies because that decreases the time that we have to act. It potentially means there are going to be more errors because we’ve got conflicting or duplication of information. 

With that, we have to maximize human impact. We’ve got to get this information and intelligence in front of our humans because it’s humans that understand the context, it’s humans that understand the business risk, and it’s humans that understand consequences. 

“We’ve got to get the human and automation layer right. This is about continuous learning.“

 We need automation, we need those evasion techniques. However, we also can’t stop every single attack now because attackers are evolving at pace. Instead, we have to assume a compromise mindset. 

 

What the Future Looks Like in AI & Cybersecurity? 

 

In terms of the future, we’re going to see more use of virtual reality and mixed reality. We’ve already talked about how AI and automation are going to really shift our ability to get deep insight. Looking at how attacks are evolving, it’s estimated that we’re going to see an IoT botnet, which is probably going to be able to launch one of the biggest DDoS attacks that we’ve ever seen. We will probably also see a cyber attack of such magnitude that one of the countries will be forced to carry out a physical attack against the nation state that targeted them. 

We will also start to see not just digital buildings, but digital cities which increases the attack surface. We’re going to see the proliferation of cyber-attacks at scale, infiltrating the IT the IoT, and OT simultaneously. That’s going to drive the need for regulatory control and human oversight with regard to how these AI and ML machines are working, the decisions that they’re making, and the ability to cause a disruption at that scale. 

 

AI & Humans Must Evolve Together 

 

We’ve got to use AI and ML, but we have to also understand the behaviors of those humans and overlay these technologies with human expertise. We then have to increase our speed and quality of detection and response to be dynamic in real-time to threats as it happens. We have to keep speeding up the response with our orchestration and automation. 

As we’re moving farther into that mixed augmented reality, the real value for security operators is to actually visualize that infrastructure. When they can see the attackers coming through the network, they can see them literally moving across the estate, it means they can start to take action at scale.  

“Ultimately, we are not going to take any humans out of the equation. In fact, the reality is we’re going to have more augmentation between the AI and the human combined.“

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7 Tips to Rock Your Virtual 1-to-1 CxO Meetings

With customer satisfaction being the number one measure of sales success (Salesforce), sales professionals are having to constantly step up their game to stand out and close deals. This is increasingly difficult at a time when you must fight for people’s attention which is being pulled in every direction by compelling pitches.

So, once you have secured that 1-to-1 virtual meeting with a C-level prospect, you need to not only be interesting and engaging, but you must also be efficient – the people you are meeting do not have time to waste, after all.

So, how do you maximize a virtual meeting, especially if it is only 15 minutes or less? How can you get the most out of your limited time with a prospect? How can you set yourself up for success in a meeting room?

You excite. You impress. You follow up.

Here are some tips to help elevate your performance in a 1-to-1 virtual meeting with a CxO:

 

1. Know your prospect, know your product

Alexander Graham Bell once said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success”.

It is always good practice to brush up on your prospect’s organization and needs, as well as what you can offer them specifically. Think about what makes your offer better than any others and design your pitch around that.

If the option is available, you may also want to prepare an agenda and send it over before the meeting, along with instructions on the video conferencing platform and schedule. This will allow attendees to be prepared for the virtual meeting and be as productive as possible throughout the session.

Even if you do not send an agenda to your prospect before the meeting, it is good for you to have one for yourself – a game plan for the structure of the conversation based on the goal you are trying to achieve.

Agenda Example: HR Software Pitch Meeting

In this meeting, you are pitching your company’s HR employee management software to a potential client who is looking to upgrade their legacy systems.

Meeting goal: Explain HR Software packages to a CHRO of Big Company

  1. Warm-up and introductions. Run through meeting agenda.
  2. Clarify what the prospect is looking for.
  3. Explain how your product works and how it can benefit your prospect.
  4. Q&A about your product, if any.
  5. Discuss the next steps – what does your prospect need to do next?
  6. Set up a follow-up meeting.
  7. Wrap up & summarize actions required.

Having an agenda sends the message that you know exactly what you are there for and that you value your prospect’s time. Before you even meet them, you are making a good first impression by exercising efficiency and professionalism.

 

2. Do a pre-meeting technical check

With a virtual meeting, technical difficulties are inevitable. To mitigate any problems and ensure that the meeting is as smooth as possible – and that you are not wasting precious minutes trying to solve a glitch – do a pre-meeting technical check.

An hour before your meeting, check that you:

  • Have a stable internet connection
  • Have a functioning microphone and camera
  • Have a charger that is connected (if using a laptop)
  • Have access to the meeting platform
  • Know how to present your slides/materials

You should also consider where you are setting up for the meeting – are there background noises? Will there be people walking in and out of the room? You should pick a space that will allow you to have a smooth meeting with little to no disruptions.

These are things you should do at least an hour before your meeting so that you have time to sort out any bugs or find a different space to set up, if necessary. Starting out a meeting with technical difficulties on your end will not breed confidence.

 

3. Enter the room early

It’s a no-brainer that punctuality makes a good impression, both online and offline. In a virtual meeting, it is even better etiquette to be early so you have time to sort out any kinks that may crop up at the last minute on either end. Despite your pre-meeting technical check, you may encounter unforeseen issues. Being early in the room will give you time to fix any issues.

Being the first one in the virtual meeting room also conveys preparedness and reliability. After all, it is a long-established belief that most people make a first impression within 7 seconds of meeting someone – and you want to make the most of that by putting your best foot forward.

 

4. Warm things up

When you start out your meeting, do not jump straight into business. Take a minute to break the ice. Get everyone comfortable and warmed up. It will work to your advantage if both sides are relaxed and engaged.

This is also when you can go over the meeting structure and expectations.

  • What are your agenda and expectations?
  • What are the prospects’ agenda and expectations?
  • How long will this meeting be?
  • What is the intended outcome?

It is important to swiftly go through these points to ensure that everyone knows what to expect from each other. It will also help both sides stay focused on the agenda throughout the meeting.

 

5. Keep it concise

When you are meeting with C-level prospects, a great meeting is a concise one. Do not waste time on overly detailed background information about your company or yourself. You are there to tell the prospect how you can improve their business.

One way to do this is to keep your presentations to just one slide with the most relevant and specific information. You may also include a useful case study. Avoid a multiple-slide deck that is packed with every bit of information you can find. Instead, focus on your prospect and what you can offer them. 

There are several formulas for creating a winning pitch but one example by Forbes is the three-part pitch:

A powerful step you can add to this formula is to talk about the decisions that need to be made after this meeting. This is your push for action. Whom does your prospect have to talk to in their organization about your product? What other information do they need from you?  

 

6. Wrap up with actions, decisions & conclusions

Once your meeting is over, do a quick wrap-up. Mention any future actions and decisions that need to be taken following this meeting, on both sides. Include soft deadlines for these because it will things keep moving forward. A lack of a timeline for the next step can end up stalling your discussions altogether.

A summary is crucial to ensure that your presentation is clearly understood and that everyone is on the same page about what they need to do next. This is also the point in the meeting when you will have the chance to confirm potential follow-up meetings.

 

7. Follow up!

Your job is not done when you leave the virtual meeting room. Rocking your meeting also means putting in effort afterward to follow up with the person you spoke to. Particularly in B2B sales, this is something that should take place within 24 hours of your meeting. It can be something as simple as a note or an email. You will want to thank them for the conversation, provide a short recap of what was discussed, and book follow-up meetings if needed.

Be careful not to make the email or note too casual and with a lack of focus. Consider the client’s needs and be as concise as possible.

Pro Tip: Connect on LinkedIn as well! This will allow you to further strengthen your professional relationship.

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Antonietta Mastroianni, GAIA-X: The Key To The Future of Data Is Partnering

As cloud takes over as the mainframe of business with more and more tools and applications being transferred over, questions of security, reliability and privacy arise. Currently, there are three major cloud service providers, and they are all US-based. For European companies, how does this affect business? How can leaders ensure that their data is safe in the hands of these organizations and that they comply with EU regulations? 

We tackle these questions and more with Antonietta Mastroianni, Chief Digital and IT Officer at Proximus and Vice Chair of Finance at GAIA-X. GAIA-X is a project that is part of the broader strategy under the von der Leyen Commission of European Strategic Autonomy to develop a federation of data infrastructure and service providers in Europe to ensure European digital sovereignty.  

 
Antonietta Mastroianni is the Chief Digital and IT Officer at Proximus and Vice Chair of Finance at GAIA-X. She is an influential IT leader with over two decades of experience within the telco industry and was recently named the Telco Woman of the Year 2022. 
 

Tell us more about your role at GAIA-X and Proximus. What do these roles have in common? 

 

Both roles are linked, and they are both very interesting. At Proximus, I’m the Chief Digital and IT Officer, meaning I am responsible for all aspects of planning, building, and running IT and digital functions. This includes rollout in production, digital strategy, and application. These are particularly important in Proximus as we are expanding our offerings into an ecosystem, moving beyond just telco services and products. Beyond that, I’m also responsible for the data architecture because it’s not only about having all businesses running, but also about innovation and transformation, exploring different ecosystems for B2C and B2B customers. The role of data in digital transformation and acceleration is extremely important as it drives automation and AI.  

At GAIA-X, I am the Vice Chair of Finance. It’s an interesting project because, for the first time, Europe is getting together to set some standards that define not only the infrastructure but also the architecture, labeling, and rules for data. It is to make sure that we not only have the technology but also the governance in place for a fair exchange of data creation and storage in a secure way according to European guidelines. Both roles support each other.  

 

Why do you think US-based hyper-scalers have managed to secure such a big market in data?  

 

I think they’re extremely good at what they do. They had a very focused target and some of the technology has become part of our daily lives. Without the solutions they produce, our lives would be very different. Of course, if you provide a solution that helps people and you’re able to do it at a certain speed of innovation while maintaining a high-quality of product, then it is easy to scale. When it becomes a fundamental part of people’s lives, there is power as well.  

 

Where does GAIA-X stand in terms of working with these hyper-scalers? 

 

I think partnering is the right approach. For example, if you have a level two or three cloud, we have a strategy for partnering with a hyper-scaler. At the same time, being part of GAIA-X means being an active contributor to setting regulations. You cannot stop the technology and it’s important that the right level of partnership and transparency is established in terms of the “what, where, and when” of data usage.  

“Technology is advancing fast and the key to the future is partnering.”

 

To what extent can Europe become independent from US-based hyper scalers? And does GAIA-X have a strategy for this? 

 

There are well-defined levels of cloud. At levels three and four, of course, the data is stored in Europe and there are certain levels of confidential computing that guarantee you have control of your operation and privacy. At GAIA-X, we have worked out the labeling for level three. These are a set of regulations that should provide the highest security and protection. If everyone follows these rules, technology can evolve safely.  

In terms of sovereign cloud offerings in Europe, I hope we can do that soon. Right now, we’re still behind compared to US providers. We must accept this and accelerate the evolution of European providers. However, it will take a while to reach that same level of performance and durability. 

 

Why are Europe-based cloud providers running behind? And what can they do to catch up to their US counterparts? 

 

In the past, we’ve focused less on this. Also, technology has evolved so fast, especially with the enormous digital acceleration due to COVID. I think we are behind because we did not expect such a rapid rate of adoption of these technologies, and we were unprepared.  

 

Would you suggest that people should change from US providers to European ones, to aid in this growth? 

 

No, I’m very much in favor of partnering. I think there is no point in taking a radical approach. We live in a connected world. Instead, I think it’s a question of following the right rules and choosing the right ways to implement solutions. This includes finding partners and ensuring that everyone’s interests are protected.  

 

Legislation is often adaptive, a reaction to something that has already occurred. But Proximus and GAIA-X have a more proactive approach that emphasizes collaboration. Can you expand on that? 

 

Different members of GAIA-X share solutions and we have been working on various projects that take in these various inputs to create more end-to-end cooperation. The project is still young, so it’ll be a while before we see any huge impact. However, it’s heading in the right direction.  

I emphasize that it’s not a competition.  

“We are working together to create an architecture and a standard that can be implemented to enable everyone to make the best use of technology.”

 

How can good data organization, ownership, and governance benefit society at large? 

 

I’ll give the example of the flooding in Belgium last year. We have been building a solution to create an alert system to prevent people from getting caught or exposed to such conditions when it happens. This is an example of how data can be used for the good of society.  

This technology can also be steered in different directions and GAIA-X is about helping ensure that it is going in the right direction. 

 

What are the benefits of a Top 500 company in Europe working with GAIA-X? 

 

There are benefits in terms of cloud infrastructure and data labeling. The future will be all about data more than software development, in my opinion, and GAIA-X will be able to steer innovation in this field. That’s a major benefit for companies that work with the project.  

Beyond that, there is the benefit of interconnection with other companies – sharing information, creating partnerships, and exploring funding opportunities. The project is a collaboration of the best professionals in this space, so there is also the benefit of knowledge sharing and growth.  

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4 Ways to Generate High-Quality Leads in B2B Marketing

Quality lead generation is the top goal of approximately 79% of marketers worldwide, according to eMarketer. HubSpot found that the best approaches for B2B lead generation include search engine optimization (14%), email marketing (13%), and social media outreach (12%). Other valuable methods are networking events, trade shows, and industry-specific panels and forums.  

However, about 19% of marketers find lead generation very challenging (LeadG2) while only 10% say they are consistently effective at generating leads (Invisible Technologies). Ultimately, the quality of the leads you generate via those channels is what determines positive outcomes. With good leads – and an effective pitch during a one-to-one meeting – you’re closing deals and driving profits up.  

We walk you through several B2B marketing strategies that can generate high-quality leads and improve business outcomes. 

 

1. Expand opportunities at networking events 

 

Networking at industry events is as direct as you can get with lead acquisition. In fact, the Demand Generation Report noted that events are the most effective lead generation strategy, at 68%. Content Marketing Institute also found that marketers believe that live events (19%) and online events (16%) are the best approaches to securing high-quality leads. Chief Marketer found live event specifically to be one of the most effective lead generation strategies at 32%.  

Your prospects are in the same space, and they are already in the mindset of looking for potential solution partners. Whether it’s a convention, industry talks, panel discussions, or even online seminars – your brand presence at these events will build credibility and awareness among your target audience. 

What’s more, you can connect with your audience directly, either in-person or online, which allows you to create a stronger relationship than a typical ad. Participating in network events relevant to your industry and engaging potential clients is a great way to humanize your company and answer any questions they may have on the spot, converting them into leads. It’s a chance to not only increase awareness and trust in your company but also build interest among potential clients. 

 
Fill your leads pipeline and create connections with top decision-makers at exclusive networking events with ME Matchmaking.
 

2. Utilize lead generation partners 

 

An effective and efficient way to generate leads is by engaging lead-generation partners who will do much of the legwork for you, thus enabling your sales teams to focus on perfecting their pitch and closing deals. 

Data storage company Pure Storage faced challenges securing meetings with the right decision makers from enterprise-level and commercial high companies using traditional lead generation tactics such as telemarketing.  

With the help of ME Matchmaking’s lead generation service, the company managed to secure virtual one-on-one meetings with their ideal prospects. The service provided qualifying services and a summary of investment data and target group insight which helped Pure Storage refine its approach when pitching and closing deals.  

Approximately 75% of the introductory meetings resulted in follow-ups. As Pure Storage Field Marketing Manager Nordics, Marwin Kroon, noted, the leads they received were “warmer than usual” and meeting decision-makers directly has reduced the length of their sales cycles.  

 

3. Build social proof 

 

In order to attract and convert leads into customers, you need to show your target group that you know what you’re talking about. Social proof is a powerful tool that can move your buyers along on their journey.  

Whether it’s case studies, informative infographics, free and interactive tools, a magazine, or tutorials – social proof can help potential clients make more thoughtful decisions when investing. After all, B2B buyers tend to be highly analytical and risk averse. They also tend to require multiple signoffs from decision-makers before investing. When your company can provide valuable data about your products and services, and build credibility among your target group, it enables you to funnel better quality leads into your sales pipeline who are ready to invest.  

For example, Method CRM released a video tutorial of their product in their own unique voice and brand identity. The tutorial strikes that precarious balance between humour and professionalism while being informative about exactly what their customers need to know. These tutorials help them stand out amongst their competitors and can channel high quality leads their way. 

 

4. Create optimized content campaigns 

 

Creating content related to your products and services is a growing marketing strategy despite the seemingly oversaturated state of the internet. Content creation is among the top three lead-generation strategies in the US according to Chief Marketer. Companies that are able to fine-tune their content strategy – including search engine optimization – will see favorable results in the form of better B2B leads.  

Your content should be relevant to your target buyers. This can include everything from your specific offerings to industry challenges, trends, and evergreen content which will continue to funnel leads into your pipelines.  

A great example of this is Snack Nation being ranked #1 on Google despite being a niche company that initially targeted only low search volume keywords. Boosting their SEO efforts led to increased traffic to their sites and leads generated via their content.  

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How Group CFOs of NIBE and Signify Are Future-Proofing: “Never Waste a Good Crisis”

The unprecedented crisis over the last few years has thrown global supply chains into further chaos, jeopardizing revenue streams across industries. As organizations scramble to find their way onto stable ground again, future-proofing supply chains have reemerged on the CFO’s agenda with urgency.  

We spoke to Hans Backman and Javier van Engelen about how finance leaders can navigate the continental complexities of the current economic landscape.  

 
Hans Backman has been the Group CFO of NIBE Group since 2011, with prior experience in major companies including Alstom Transport, Plastal Group, and SKF.
Javier van Engelen is the Group CFO and Board Member of Signify
 

How do you plan to protect yourself from disruptions and prepare for the coming year? 

 

HANS: What I’ve seen as a finance manager, looking into the numbers, is an enormous increase in working capital, tying up more money on components and raw materials. But we hope that situation will ease going forward. The price increases we’ve seen are tremendous as well. It’s been a vital role of the finance community within the company to ensure and push for price increases so that we are not stuck.  

Looking forward, we see a new type of price increase coming on the fixed costs side, like utilities and wages. We need to cater to that. Because while the prices of raw materials and components seem to be decreasing a little, it’s escalating on the other side. We need to make sure that we compensate for that with price increases or cost savings. Going forward, keeping decent profitability is very important.  

 

JAVIER: First, we keep on working strongly to lower global dependencies. I think products and sourcing can be more regionalized than globalized. But relooking at our footprint and reducing dependency is not easy because the system of electronics is ingrained in the East, especially in China. It’s going to take years to develop an ecosystem on a different continent.  

Another thing is dual sourcing and taking significant price increases to protect our gross margin as a company. Raw material prices are going down, but labor costs are going up. There is inflation and there is a need to do some hardcore cost savings to protect profitability.  

 

“As I say, never waste a good crisis. We’re going to get stronger from the crisis than when we came into it. So, plan for the worst and hope that things will be better.”

– Javier Engelen 
 

What role does a CFO have within a company? 

 

HANS: We’re part of a team and we need to keep discussions ongoing with our colleagues in finding ways to solve this. Of course, the primary focus of a CFO is to look at the numbers and ensure profitability and a sound financial setup. But that is achieved by cooperating with colleagues in the company. I think the benefit of a CFO role is that you have the possibility to meet different people within the group and be part of several different discussions and highlight the importance of making money. If you do make money, that is when you have the possibility to invest in people, new products, and the business.  

So being active with your colleagues about having a good flow of products and ensuring a decent margin is very important.  

 

JAVIER: The first thing I’ve done in the crisis is to stress the importance of fiduciary responsibility in finance. We are here first and foremost to make accurate records and accurate data on time. In situations like these, I’ve found that it’s extremely important to have one source of data. Because if everyone starts inventing their own numbers, you can’t make decisions. Accurate data available on time increases the speed of decision-making. Without doing that, the rest is no use.  

The bigger role comes in how you influence decisions. There are a couple of things we’ve been trying to do. As the CFO, I think there’s a unique opportunity given to us – it’s a blessing and a curse – that in a crisis, you can bring things together. The first part is making sure we help people anticipate. Some things we couldn’t foresee, like the COVID pandemic. But some, like the supply chain issues, there were early signals. There was an overheating of the economy, and chip manufacturers cut down production. There were things hinting that a problem was coming up.  

What I’ve always advocated is that the typical old finance function was looking backward and reconciling numbers. The new finance function as a business partner has to be much more anticipating – scenario planning. What indicators do you have that will give you certain direction? 

Another thing in a crisis is to provide options. Having a more objective view of the business as a finance person allows you to step back and see that there is more than one option. You always must have a backup because you never know what the world is going to throw at you next. 

One of the key things we’re also leading out of finance in this company is risk assessment. Every year, we do a macroeconomic risk assessment looking forward and we translate that into strategic plans. One of the roles of a CFO is to make sure that the rest of the company doesn’t panic. We can take a step back and make sure there’s more rationality in the business. We have to communicate and make sure people don’t panic. 

 

So, communication is very important. What other qualities make a good CFO and leader? 

 

HANS: The fiduciary responsibilities of course are a basis. But then coming into the communicative part, that is certainly very important. Mirroring what Javier said earlier about numbers, it should be the same across the company. You need to ensure that you have a manual that is agreed upon by everyone and it’s understood. You need to keep it simple and based on common sense.  

We only have four financial targets within the group which are clearly communicated. Below that, we look into certain areas that need focus, but these four financial targets are the same for each company.  

 

“Knowing your numbers and the tools around them is important but being able to communicate and bring the message across is also crucial.”

– Hans Backman 
 

JAVIER: Especially in the current situation, being able to anticipate versus explain. The weight put on a CFO’s shoulders now is more on helping to make business decisions without having lost that fiduciary responsibility. It basically means that we are here to anticipate more than to reconcile, to find solutions more than to control. To do that, we have to challenge existing practices and you only get a license to operate if you understand the business.  

The profile has changed. You have to be able to talk business and be more creative in finding new solutions. You have to bring all the functions together. I often find myself in a mediation role between different departments, bringing them back together on the same page, which means communication and interpersonal management skills in a global company become absolutely important. We have to instill trust in people to believe that we’re doing the right thing. 

 

And collaboration with different C-levels is also crucial and something you have to do more, right? 

 

HANS: Absolutely. We try to keep an open dialogue as much as possible. 

What is also important for us with the empowered structure we have with more or less independent companies is setting clear targets for each company rather than telling them what and how to do it. We tell them what they need to achieve. Of course, we also enable people to communicate with each other and take responsibility for the targets that we set. 

JAVIER: I would echo the same – clear values and key operating principles. I will admit that I also see the drawbacks of what Hans was saying. We have a lot of dispersed KPIs and that sometimes does not help as it drives a more siloed mentality.  

I think it’s important to bring cohesiveness to the company through messaging – clear priorities, strategic planning, and setting frameworks. We should not get into micromanaging how to achieve the set targets, but you can count on the creativity and expertise of people at the lower level to tell you how it can be done.  

 

How do you know that you’re ready for future disruptions? 

 

HANS: You never know about the future, right? Just making plans for the next months is hard enough. We tried to broaden our setup. If we talk about supply chain disruptions, having one partner is not good enough. That also puts more demand on your ERP system. Also, redesigning. Is there more we can do in-house? On top of that, we are beefing up our purchasing department and being more struct with suppliers.  

As Javier mentioned, we are also looking ahead with the numbers, doing forecasts to try and anticipate what’s coming and be prepared. In this lies increased flexibility.  

 

How can CFOs ensure they are future-proofed? 

 

JAVIER: It’s going to be hard because you can’t predict everything. Having said that, one of the best practices I’ve seen, at least in Signify, is the risk assessment process. What I appreciated when I came in was having an annual dialogue with the supervisory board about the risk environment. Starting with a good dialogue at least once a year and taking a step back from the day-to-day business to see what is happening around the world – political tensions, natural catastrophes, labor increases – those are predictable, and you can take those into consideration. The risks are often there but incorporating that into your plans is important.  

So having your finger on the pulse of what’s happening outside of the company, you get some predictability of the future and what core things will impact the company, and what you should pursue. This gives you the agility to adjust for what comes next.  

The second thing is to do regular scenario-planning fire drills. This is easier said than done. But doing drills for cybersecurity or business continuity shows a living situation.  

 

“The name of the game is to anticipate as much as you can and be ready to adjust when course corrections are needed.”

– Javier Engelen 
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HP’s Formula to The Future of Work: Co-Creating with Employees

Director Future of Work at HP Olga Martens-Stuurman, takes us through HP’s experience of creating a future-ready workspace, the importance of co-creating a future with employees, and the role of leadership in establishing an ever-evolving and inclusive culture.  

 

What was the philosophy behind HP’s Future of Work initiative? 

 

The questions we asked ourselves were what does it take as a company to be ready for the future? And how can we do it in a sustainable manner? 

The future of work is not so much about hybrid work, although there are some hybrid implications. It is really about rethinking what is important for you as a company. When you talk about the future of work, do not limit yourself to where people work. Instead, look at why they work, what kind of work they do, when, and with whom. 

The focus is also on empowering future-ready people. People are the center of many things that we do and if you want to be future-ready, you need to make sure that you offer enough growth opportunities for your employees.  

Though there are lessons to be learned from the hybrid work model, what the pandemic taught us is that people can change and stretch quickly. We saw a lot of collaboration and creativity. Of course, there were also challenges. It was important for us to take the learnings from this hybrid period and ask ourselves how we can capture those learnings. 

 

What are some key principles when it comes to preparing for the future of work? 

 

When we look forward to the future of work, we follow three principles: empathy, a focus on culture and talent, and co-creation.  

Empathy really starts with the assumption that not everything can be the same. One size does not fit all. The key is listening well to what your employees need because it is easy to implement something globally but often, you need to look at local rules and needs. 

We have different generations in the same workforce, and they have different needs. Also, people are at different parts of their employee lifecycle. There is no single way that will lead to success.  

We need to understand how we can create the best conditions for everybody to deliver their best work and that demands a lot of scenario planning. No one knows for sure what the future will look like, but you can prepare.  

What is clear is that this is an iterative process. One of the things we learned from the pandemic is that we really need to adapt and learn. This is our culture.  

Culture is not something that you just say, it is something that you do. It is something that we co-create together with our employees.  

If you are going to ask employees for input, you had better do something about it as well. At the same time, make sure that you are very transparent because there is no way you can do everything that everybody wants.  

Be clear that some of the skills that you currently have might not be enough for the future. So, you may need to upskill and have people undergo agile training while also allowing them to help you overcome challenges together. The most important thing is to keep the conversation going. 

People are passionate about the future, and people are passionate about the company, but they need to have a voice. You have to make sure that these voices are not processed in silos without coming together.  

 

How do you ensure people feel safe to share their ideas? 

 

Psychological safety is not something that you just describe, it is something that you really need to ingrain in the culture.  

It is really an important part of our culture at HP that we can be authentic, that we respect each other, but also that we are there to challenge the status quo and challenge each other. We focus on making sure that people really respect each other’s opinions and are inclusive in the way they invite others in and act upon that feedback. It is also something our leaders and employees talk about regularly so that it keeps improving.  

 

How do you balance employee flexibility and organizational values?

 

Certain values are non-negotiable. That is really the heart of our company goals. But flexibility and values do not have to be in contradiction. There are times in a business environment when you need to save cost and invest, you need to optimize and increase. That is the same with flexibility. I do not think you need to choose. There are some core values like human rights, respect, dignity, et cetera you can never compromise on, but those do not conflict with flexibility.  

Still, it is important to be aware of the challenges that come with flexibility and how to overcome them. There may be certain unforeseen or unwanted implications of flexibility that you may need to discuss and then adapt to.  

 

What is an initiative that you implemented as part of your Future of Work program that was most successful? 

 

I was doing this for customer support, and I asked everybody a simple question: Are you ready? 

That had a huge impact on the leadership. Am I ready for the future as an organizational leader? What kind of trends maybe do I need to follow? How will my business remain relevant? And those questions were very true for managers and employees as well.  

Some of our leaders said that we should make our own plan or someone else will do it for you. As an employee or first-line manager, life is already pretty complex. There is a lot to manage, so thinking about the future is a bit overwhelming. But the idea that maybe somebody else will make your plan for you might motivate you to free up your agenda a bit and think about some of the trends or expand your learning. That was a big aha moment in customer support. 

We had so many people trying to invest in their learning and pick up new skills. And this was contagious in a way. People were so enthusiastic to get ready for the future. There was so much passion to learn and share, to get better together. 

Sometimes a simple question – ‘Are you ready?” – can have a huge impact on an organization. 

 

What are the challenges and opportunities in creating flexibility and autonomy, and how do you overcome them? 

 

I think many people want to work for companies that offer flexibility. So, it is a way to attract and retain talent. There is much more technology now that makes it possible such as new working tools, asynchronous working, and remote mentoring. Also, employees have shown that they are very capable of stepping out of their comfort zone to do something new and challenge themselves. So, I think there is an opportunity to tap into a talent pool that maybe was not used before. 

On the other hand, some people may not feel completely included or might have difficulties building up a network. It could also be that people work a bit too much and that can have an impact on work-life balance or work-life integration. You must be careful with the potential digital burnout. We need to be disciplined on how to say no and determine what is really relevant and what should be a priority.  

So while flexibility opens opportunity, it also depends on people’s ability to deal with it as an individual or as a team. It is something that should be reviewed occasionally. You need to remain alert so that you do not miss some symptoms of fatigue or a lack of wellness for employees.  

I think you need to be transparent and clear in your prioritization and really offer enough support to your employees so they can feel empowered and work flexibly. 

 

How do you make sure these efforts for creating an agile, future-ready workplace are successful? 

 

If something is important in your culture, you should model it. You should do it early, and you should do it often. Also, avoid big words and big concepts. Your message needs to be clear and simple. It should also be relevant for people in their local situations.  

The other important thing is to remember not to strive for perfection. Sometimes you need to move quickly, so you may have to say “I do not know that yet” or “We will come back to that”. People appreciate that clarity.  

Beyond that, communicate and be aware of how you do it. For example, younger generations communicate in different ways. You may need to try different mechanisms for different groups because even with the best intentions, you might have missed something.  

Culture is not one thing you can define. It is evolving just as people evolve. We want to move fast, we want to learn, and we want to adapt. So, we cannot just talk about it. We need to show it in the culture. We need to keep on engaging with employees and building on that shared purpose. 

 

How do you build the next generation of organizational leaders? 

 

I do not think there is one simple answer, because I think context is always very important. Where are you leaders now? Where do you want them to go? Is there a big gap? Do you have time to close it? 

I think it is important that you get some idea of what your current status is and where you want to be in the future. From there, you have different routes to choose from such as upskilling, reskilling, or hiring new talent.  

It is critical to realize that what we need in the future will be different than what we need now from leaders. There is probably more attention now on power skills. I think it is important that we focus on empathy. On the other hand, there are a lot of technological changes as well, which means you also need to be at least digitally savvy. 

Either way, ensure that you are not standing still and that you are willing to learn and adapt.  

 

What do you think the future of work looks like? 

 

I think the future of work looks bright for those people who are starting to prepare for it. I think there will be huge changes in why people work, where they work, when they work, how they work with whom they work, what kind of work they work on, and how much they work.  

Also, employee expectations will change a lot. You will need to be able to listen well to employees, to adapt to their needs while keeping a good balance of growth that is sustainable. I think that is one of the keys to success. 

 

*Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

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How Spotify Successfully Approached the Future of Work

In a globally competitive and rapidly changing environment, organizations are determined to create a seamless employee journey during the digital HR transformation. Spotify’s VP of HR Freemium and GUs, Anna Lundström, takes us through their approach toward the future of work during our online insights session.  

As one of the architects behind Spotify’s work-from-anywhere approach, or what they like to call the ‘distributed first work experience’, Anna mentions three key factors to how they developed this formula.

 

Offering Full Flexibility

 

Though it is already a flexible employer, engagement feedback showed that Spotify employees wanted even more flexibility. This led to the company starting work on this work-from-anywhere program back in 2019. Of course, the pandemic in 2020 accelerated their efforts which led to the initiative being officially launched in February 2021.  

Anna noted that everything was based on their philosophy to “become a distributed-first company, enabling our talent to create value for Spotify independently of where they work and remove constraints from scaling the platform”. 

Here, Anna emphasized that every organization would differ in its goals and philosophies.  

 

 “My advice is not to copy just another program and call it a day, but really take a step back and think about what your culture is, what will work for you, and define it with one belief.”

– Anna Lundström 
 

At Spotify, the belief is that work is not something that people come to the office for, it is something they do. This led the organization to put together a whitepaper and a handbook for this new approach of work-from-anywhere. 

Ultimately, they came up with different work modes they could offer their over 10,000 employees around the world. First is a Home Mix where employees spend most of their time working from home with the option of a couple of days in the office per week. The reverse of that is the Office Mix. In regions where there isn’t an office, a Co-working Mix is offered.  

Full flexibility also means that Spotify offers employees the option to work from another state or country where the company has a legal entity. To make this easier, employees are also grouped into different regions – the US, EU, and Asia.  

To ensure that the program runs as smoothly as possible, Anna and her team spent plenty of time before launch to consider every possible question and constraint that might come up. They spoke to management and stakeholders to understand the different jobs and roles within the company and what they can offer in terms of flexibility. For example, some jobs may be tied to specific regions and wouldn’t be able to get full flexibility. However, the majority of roles do have that option.  

For tax purposes, Spotify also instated a 12-month commitment for employees who want to move. Meaning they have to commit to their new address for at least 12 months. Anna noted that this gives the organizations more security in not only knowing where their employees are but allowing them to stay compliant with local regulations and tax requirements.  

 

Adopting a National Compensation Benchmark 

 

With the idea of allowing employees to move anywhere within a specific region came the question of compensation. Do they keep the same salary? The short answer is yes. Spotify opted for simplicity because a complex compensation structure would be difficult to scale, according to Anna. The team worked closely with HR, legal, and finance to consider every angle of approach including compensation policies and travel philosophies. 

For example, a Spotify employee in New York who wants to move to Minnesota would keep the same salary instead of having it adjusted to the regional market rate. This is because Spotify has moved into what they call a national salary band. They wanted to solve any potential issues that might crop up if they lowered salaries when employees moved. 

However, if an employee moved to another country – for example from England to Spain – they would get to keep the same take-home salary in the new currency. Anna stressed that everyone is taken care of when this is done as they are able to make the same level of pay that fits the new market conditions that they are in.  

For now, Spotify is in over 40 different countries – giving employees a lot of choice and flexibility in terms of where they want to work from. If they do decide to move, Spotify will also handle the cost and processes of the visas and employment-related paperwork. The organization is also continually assessing where it would like to establish an entity. Most recently, they established an entity in Ireland.  

Anna mentioned that Spotify has seen incredible results from this level of flexibility and preservation of compensation including reduced attrition and increased applications by top talents. The company also reduced the time taken to fill a position from 48 to 42 days. 

Remarkably, Anna also noted that her team was able to answer every single question that was raised by employees when the program was first launched thanks to how thoroughly they had thought about everything in the playbook beforehand.  

 

“That was the key to success… There were not a lot of things in our program or policy that we had to update or change because we thought it through early on.”

– Anna Lundström 
 

Creating A Dynamic Workplace 

 

Another aspect of the work-from-anywhere program in Spotify is their introduction of a new way to design or think about workspaces more dynamically. Anna talked about how the organization’s workplace services team spent time with stakeholders across the business to understand what drives them and how they work in order to come up with the best set-up for everyone. For example, engineers get plenty of screens while creatives get more space for whiteboarding. Other examples include focused spaces, spacious cafeterias, and social spaces.  

Anna stressed that the goal is to create an environment that fits all employees regardless of their roles because there are employees who work on a range of different things within the company. This kind of thoughtful design enhances collaboration and innovation, she added.  

One of the challenges with such high levels of flexibility and remote working is maintaining company culture. It’s something Spotify takes very seriously. When asked about how this is done, Anna explained that every new employee gets to visit Spotify’s headquarters in Stockholm to spend a few days being introduced to the company culture and leadership, and to familiarize themselves with the organization’s strategies and goals. They also conduct several different virtual sessions throughout the year, including with top management, to nurture and cultivate the company culture.  

Anna pointed out that it is also important to allow culture to evolve while ensuring you remain steadfast to your organization’s values. Trying to stick to the same company culture that was developed at the beginning while you are scaling up – i.e. still using that start-up mentality – will present many challenges. Evolution is key. 

 

Practicing Trust and Transparency 

 

When asked about how Spotify balances the interests of employers and employees when offering flexibility, Anna mentioned trust. Being a values-driven organization, Spotify has a performance development philosophy in which employees drive their own development with the support of the organization.  

 

“We support their growth and we put a lot of trust in our employees to drive it. We emphasize self-leadership.”

– Anna Lundström 
 

Beyond that, Anna mentioned transparency as being another key to empowering employees. This can look like being open with employees about the state of the company, goals, targets, long-term vision, and OKRs. This must happen at every level from the executive team right down to line managers and team members. 

Consequently, Anna notes that advocacy comes into play as well. While employees are given the freedom and power to shape their growth, some may require or prefer a bit more structure otherwise they risk burning out.  

This is where mental health and wellbeing is prioritized. The team at Spotify is focused on destigmatizing discussions around mental health and creating a safe space for people to talk about their struggles and ask for support when they need it. Some questions that Anna notes are important for leaders to ask include: Do they have the right technology, processes, and support? Is there enough investment in important tools to prevent burnout? 

Work-life balance and mental health care have to be modeled by leadership, according to Anna. For example, if a manager chooses to work late at night, they shouldn’t expect their teams to be pulling the same hours. Anna stressed that empowering employees is about being clear on what the priorities are and offering support, as flexibility alone isn’t the answer. 

 

Final Takeaway: Experiment and Adapt 

 

In the end, Anna’s advice for leaders who are trying to prepare for the future of work is to “think as a futurist, build scenarios of the future, and make bold choices” to fit what is best for your organization. Instead of copying a program, make it your own.  

She also stressed that leaders should not try to do everything at once as they will surely fail. Instead, take it as a journey of learning where mistakes will be made. It is more important to experiment and adapt as that is the only way to create the best possible future for everyone.  

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Zana Busby: Chief Psychology Officers Add Value to Every Level of Business

Many global organizations have a Chief Psychology Officer – sometimes known as a Chief Psychologist or Chief Behavioral Officer – who uses applied psychology to help improve nearly all business processes. As the role continues to expand into the mainstream, we spoke to Zana Busby, Chief Psychologist at Retail Reflections, about what CPOs bring to the table and where they fit into the organizational structure.  

Zana Busby is a Business Psychologist and Chief Psychologist at Retail Reflections. She specializes in consumer behavior, employee mental health and wellbeing, and executive coaching. Zana is also the founder of ZANA.B Psychological Studio – an integrated consultancy. She has been featured in various media platforms including BBC Radio.

 

Major companies like Google, Microsoft, and Uber have had some version of a Chief Psychology Officer. What value does a CPO add to an organization?

 

There are many benefits to organizations that have a Chief Psychology Officer. Firstly, these professionals can identify business goals and challenges that can be reached and resolved through the science of applied psychology. The most important value that a CPO brings is helping organizations get the best out of their people.  

There are many principles of psychology that can be applied to the workplace that help manage the challenges and obstacles of the business world. Some pertinent areas include talent management, inclusion and diversity, and employee mental health and wellbeing, which are very important nowadays. There is also change management, employee engagement, leadership, as well as coaching and development. Basically, working with individuals and teams to raise awareness of their strengths, abilities, and values. For example, you can work with a CPO to discover how people react under stress and pressure and what are their individual decision styles and resilience characteristics. You can gain a deeper understanding of your employees. Of course, all of this has to be aligned with the organization’s vision and mission.  

Psychologists are there to help your organization and people realize their full potential by applying psychological principles to influence workplace behavior.  

– Zana Busby
 

Is a CPO more effective for customer experience or employee experience? Is it better suited for an internal- or external-looking portfolio?

 

I would say a CPO is effective for both. It would depend on their expertise and area of focus. For example, any consumer-facing business certainly needs a psychologist. 

As consumers, we know that we are more driven by emotion rather than logic. Psychologists understand how emotions influence behavior and what triggers certain emotions. We can advise companies on the best possible ways to use that emotion in order to build strong customer relationships and provide a better customer experience at every touchpoint of the customer’s journey. A psychologist can help you better serve your customers by understanding how they make decisions based on internal and external psychological factors.  

That is when it comes to customer experience. Also importantly, employees have certain expectations from employers such as providing a safe working environment, recognition, career development, work-life balance, personal wellbeing, and other benefits that inspire them to become fully engaged with work. Consulting with a psychologist about all these things can bring valuable insights and strategies that greatly enhance employee experience.  

 

What are some characteristics of an effective CPO?

 

Whatever their area of specialty, they must inspire change and motivation. They must energize individuals and organizations to move forward and achieve success. So basically, you need a business psychologist who works in organizations and understands organizational cultures and workplace factors that may have an impact on the psychological health of employees. It is important to start by having a keen interest in human behavior. Great communication skills with active listening are also very important because they create strong connections and constructive relationships with clients and colleagues.  

As a psychologist, you must have high levels of emotional intelligence and be prepared to understand the unique requirements of the organizations you work for. Often, it is a complex and personal assignment. Part of a CPO’s contribution as a psychologist is to leverage their experience about what is necessary, practical, realistic, and what is the best practice.  

No matter what you specialize in, you have to be a good diagnostician. You have to make correct judgments about key issues in the organization and offer solutions. You cannot have a solution if you have a wrong diagnosis of the problem, which can happen if you do not understand the true nature of the problem.  

I would say that there are many values, capabilities, and skills that business psychologists have, and they can specialize in different areas. For example, I specialize in employee mental health, consumer psychology, emotional intelligence, and building strong relationships between clients and organizations.   

 

What industries would benefit most from a CPO and how?  

 

I think every industry needs ongoing people and business development to remain relevant and successful in today’s competitive market. We can have sectors as diverse as hospitality, pharmaceuticals, health, financial services, and retail industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought so many challenges and stress. There have been financial, business, and human effects of the pandemic. Many businesses have unfortunately closed; some entered administration. One of the aspects that the CPO can do is support the mental health and well-being of staff.  

The latest report from Retail Trust in the UK shows that employee mental health has deteriorated during the pandemic which led to many people suffering long-lasting mental health problems and symptoms of mental illness. Retail employees also suffered the lowest mental well-being of any employee group covered in the research. This is really serious. A Chief Psychology Officer in an organization can help tackle the stigma and increase the degree of transparency and open communication within an organization by creating a culture of openness where people feel psychologically safe. They can also enable employees to increase their coping skills through resources like stress management, mental health awareness, and other well-being training.  

Nowadays, we know that looking after employees’ mental health, morale, and happiness has to be at the top of the agenda. Regardless of industry, employers have a responsibility to support the health and safety of employees including mental health and wellbeing.  

 

In terms of employee well-being, how can a CPO work with CHROs and other HR leaders in optimizing employee experience?  

 

CPOs can support HR leaders in creating and implementing agile solutions and long-term strategies for all HR challenges. We know that happy and engaged people are most profitable and productive. They sell more. There is less absenteeism, less presenteeism, and low turnover. One of the most important assets in any organization is its people. In order to create sustainable, high-performing organizations, HR and CPOs definitely need to observe high levels of collaboration.  

For example, psychologists can help plan policies, and carry out screenings and training sessions. Additionally, there is often a power dynamic at play between line managers and HR professionals – CPOs can help manage these relationships and streamline interactions and collaborations as well. They can also work in partnership with HR on different associated issues like culture, change, and individual and team development. CPOs can also create and implement a holistic employee well-being and mental health strategy in collaboration with HR. 

Together, they can develop a culture of psychological safety and a sense of belonging. We know that people try when they feel valued and safe in the workplace. This synergy between CPO and HR makes it easier to create and implement business- and people-focused interventions to optimize employee experience. I would say that such partnerships can systematically improve everything from performance to effectiveness of employee collaboration, engagement, and well-being. 

 

What are some factors organizations must consider when looking to hire a CPO?  

 

The best Chief Psychology Officers are psychologists at all stages. Their role is not restricted to advice. Instead, they should also be able to intervene and implement solutions, tools, and techniques. They should be able to deliver successful assignments.  

You also need to look for people who are the best at what they do. They also need to have the right chemistry not just with the decision-maker but with the whole organization. They should be a professional whom you and the rest of your team feel you can confide in.   

 

CPOs are there to help you navigate strategic shifts and challenges in your organization. So, they must be focused on inspiring positive changes in individuals and the organization. 

– Zana Busby
 

What do you want attendees to take away from your Executive Insights session, “Behavioral Analysis: Why Do Retailers Need a Chief Psychology Officer?” 

 

I would like attendees to have a clearer understanding of the role of a Chief Psychology Officer, what they can bring to the table, and how they can make organizational and individual success a reality. Psychology is critical to the workplace in that it creates a better culture. Healthy behaviors increase productivity and that increases the effectiveness of organizations. Business psychologists have the right tools, knowledge, and experience to help you get the best from people and make lives easier.  

CPOs work with sophisticated human beings and communities in a complex organized commercial world and the main aim is to deliver pragmatic business benefits. Who can be a better fit than a CPO to help you gain a decisive competitive advantage?