Humanity in Times of Uncertainty: Key Takeaways from the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit

I look forward to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit every year. There is nothing quite like coming together with brilliant women from a diverse mix of industries and backgrounds to discuss the issues impacting business and our broader communities. Although this year’s Summit was completely virtual, I still thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with this amazing community of trailblazers. To no surprise, this year’s event centered on COVID-19 and remote work, as well as diversity equity and inclusion measures, issues we will continue to discuss and take action around into the next normal.

This year, Deloitte designed a session which I had the pleasure of moderating called “Humanity in Times of Uncertainty” based on innovative Deloitte Digital research that explores how the human experience (HX™) changes in the face of widespread uncertainty. The panel, featuring Sabina Ewing, Chief Information Officer at Pfizer UpJohn; Raj Seshadri, President of Data and Services at Mastercard; Kim Seymour, Chief People Officer at WW; and Alison Taylor, Chief Customer Officer at American Airlines shed light on how organizations are elevating human experiences to adapt to the changing human condition in this time of transition.

To start off our conversation, we examined the recent Deloitte Digital research, led by Amelia Dunlop, Chief Experience Officer, Deloitte Digital which found that organizations that focused on the human experience are twice as likely to outperform their competitors. Our research also revealed that 32% of people want to connect with organizations more through emotion—a major point of discussion being, how can organizations foster more ‘human’ connections in our virtual world?

Our research also identified three mindsets that define how all of us, as humans, react in times of uncertainty. There are the Protectors, who feel anxious and act with concern; there are the Pragmatists, who feel calm and act with balance; and there are the Prevailers, who feel skeptical but act with confidence. (No surprise to my friends reading, that I fall in the Pragmatist category 😊)

Some of my key takeaways on people-first solutions from our brilliant panelists included:

• Alison Taylor of American Airlines discussed the need for organizations to show vulnerability during COVID-19. With reasons for traveling evolving and more first-time flyers in the air than ever before, Alison also discussed the need for humility and transparency in communications with customers – even when you don’t know all the answers.
• Raj Seshadri, who self-identified as a Pragmatist, shared how Mastercard pivoted to a customer-centric approach through improved client service at the onset of the pandemic. By proactively reaching out to customers and asking them what they needed from Mastercard, as well as sharing best practices, the organization was better able to help people navigate the pandemic.
• Kim Seymour of WW explained the importance of empathy and authenticity as a cornerstone of a human-centric approach. Especially when evaluating talent, both internally and externally, Kim noted that empathy is one of the top considerations. She posited that with empathy comes inherent inclusivity, which I could not agree with more.
• Sabina Ewing of Pfizer also identifies as a Pragmatist. She discussed how her mantra at Pfizer, “science will win,” has helped to ground her throughout the course of this pandemic – a message that definitely resonated with this panel. Sabina highlighted that the decisions organizations make now will impact how customers and employees will view them in the future, which is why it’s critical to take a people-first approach, even during challenging times.

The second part of our panel focused on trust and Deloitte Digital’s proprietary Human Experience (HX™) TrustID™ research, led by Ashley Reichheld, principal, Deloitte Digital and the leader of the Customer, Brand & Experience practice for the Automotive, Transportation, Hospitality & Services sectors. Trust is the new measure of success—it drives loyalty and motivation. In today’s world, conventional measures of trust and loyalty are not enough—leaders must bridge the gap and connect feelings and beliefs about trust to how humans act based on these feelings.

Deloitte conducted extensive research and analysis to understand both the components of trust, as well as the specific, quantifiable behaviors driven by these elements. The result of our work is a new measure of trust: HX TrustID. The measure predicts how emotions will impact customer & employee behaviors, and identify what actions organizations need to take to (re)build trust. It breaks trust into 4 integrated signals: Humanity, Transparency, Capability, and Reliability. Through our research and accompanying analyses, we have concluded that each of these signals is a critical contributor to trust. For example, customers who believe a brand is Transparent are 2.8 times more likely to continue purchasing after a data breach, and employees who believe their employer is Humane are 2.6 times more likely to feel motivated to work.

Some of the key learnings from this fascinating panel include:

• Alison Taylor of American Airlines discussed her experience working with Deloitte Digital on HX TrustID, and how analyzing the results are keeping them accountable. She explained how amid the pandemic, American Airlines pivoted to communicating more information online than usual in order to build transparency and reduce barriers with travelers and employees. She shared optimism for HX TrustID as a more relevant metric than NPS to take critical action and build trust.
• Kim Seymour shared that her team found empowerment and a new level of capability by relying on one another and showing vulnerability. Through trust, the WW team was able to shift their entire business model online in only six days as COVID-19 shutdowns began.
• Sabina Ewing described how Pfizer has taken an ethics-first approach to technology, which has been amplified by the pandemic. She notably said, “trust is earned in drops, but lost in buckets.” So, it requires proactive thinking and to not just make decisions for this moment, but with an eye toward what it will mean going forward. 

Overall, I was humbled by the empathic and sophisticated leadership displayed through this dynamic panel. They demonstrated how the evolving human experience is changing how they are guiding their organizations through these uncertain times. Whether they fall into the Pragmatist, Prevailer, or Protector mindset, these women are truly working humanity into their everyday business practices. This conversation confirmed my long-held belief that through humility, transparency, and empathy, we will get through this together.