The definitive book of human design
The third that I would highlight: you know the old method of top down managements, you take a bunch of smart people, they define what to do, and they tell other people what to do, they put incentives in place? That doesn’t work, right? I think motivation is leadership from the inside out. And so you align the entire company around this.
So as companies are hit by this crisis, sometimes you need to grow, you need to redefine what ultimate needs you are serving. We’re a company that’s in the business of enriching lives through technology by addressing key human needs.” And the beauty of that is, number one, it’s inspiring, but also it vastly expands the addressable markets. And we said, “We are not actually a consumer electronics retailer. And so what we did a few years into the journey was to redefine who we were. If I had joined the company and said, “The key thing we’re going to do in the next few years is double the share price or the earning per shares,” who would’ve cared at the company? This is not motivating. The second phase, which is also very relevant today, is about purpose. The ‘how’ is very important in finding ways to create that energy by co-creating the plan, getting going, celebrating wins. And so as leaders, sometimes we focus too much on the ‘what’ to do. A company at the end of the day, you and I have talked about this, is a human organization made of individuals working together in pursuit of a goal. So a lot of people focus: it’s about creating energy. Of about $2 billion we took out in terms of cost, about 70% was non-salary expenses.
And with cost, first focus on what I call the non-salary expenses, which is all of the elements of the cost structure that have nothing to do with people, which at most companies is the majority of the cost structures. As leaders, we need to first focus on growing the top line. The other thing, as relates to people, is that headcount reduction is the last resort. So we talk today about empathy, I think it was empathetic listening to the front liners and to the customers addressing the pain points. They had all of the answers and our job was easy. Cloud with my blue shirt and my khaki pants, the badge called “CEO in Training”, to just listen to the front liners. And I spent my first week in a store in St. No, it started with listening to the front liners. Everybody was saying, “You better cut, cut, cut, close stores, fire a lot of people.” The usual recipe of turnarounds. The first thing: it was a very people-centric turnaround. I think there’s a few lessons that can be learned from that, that are actually very relevant to this challenging time we’re in. There was zero buy recommendations on the stock. I mean, back into 2012, everybody thought we were going to die. How in the world is Best Buy still around? If there was ever a company that seemed likely to be wiped out by the forces of e-tail and Amazon, it would be Best Buy. Let’s start with your role in the amazing turnaround at Best Buy. If you’re a subscriber, you can sign up here.ĪDI IGNATIUS: So Hubert, welcome. He also shares an inside look at these conversations -and solicits questions for future discussions - in a newsletter just for HBR subscribers. Each week, Ignatius interviews a top leader on LinkedIn Live - previous interviews included Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooryi. “The New World of Work” explores how top-tier executives see the future and how their companies are trying to set themselves up for success.
#The definitive book of human design series
HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius sat down with Joly, author of The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism, in the fifth episode of our new video series “The New World of Work,” to talk about:
Hubert Joly, former CEO and chair of Best Buy, says people are not a resource, they are the creative engine of innovation and change that companies urgently need. < span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block width: 0px overflow: hidden line-height: 0 " class="mce_SELRES_start"> & #65279 < /span> < span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block width: 0px overflow: hidden line-height: 0 " class="mce_SELRES_start"> < /span>