Perfect. So so before we start, let me, just, share a little bit about myself. I'm Lupita Roldana, as Anna mentioned it.And I'm, born and raised, in Mexico Mexico City. And I hold a computer science, engineer, bachelor and always working on on the technology space in one of the big CPG international companies. And during my, twenty five, years of Turner, I had been working in multiple functions and domains again under the technology space. But I will say in the last ten year ten years, mostly focus on this, digital transformation, ecosystem that has becoming so relevant and disruptive in in our, in our, nowadays. And just to start, let me, go back a little bit on on the context, right, on on what we are facing nowadays from a digital standpoint.

And we know that in 2019, COVID, right, came as a big disruptor, pushing us, not just us as technology leaders, but also, companies and and overall businesses to bring and accelerate their plans to going from offline models to online models. Right? Because that was the only way to somehow keep, delivering their services and somehow keeping the economy running. Right? And that's where ecommerce have this big explosion, across the world. But it was not just the technology and the business that exploited unchanged. Also, from a human standpoint, we have a big disruption. Right? We went from working from offices and traveling to see our clients and customers to be 100% confined in our houses, trying to keep developing and nurturing our relationships through the camera, learning how to mute and unmute our microphones to have, you know, conversations every day.

But also understanding the balance of, you know, of the working hours that suddenly we were more than twelve, fourteen hours in front of the screen, trying to get the job done. And one additional big change was bringing a new, workforce, basically the gen c people, coming on board with us, but 100% virtual and not necessarily, creating these real human connections. So that was a big change for us. Right? And when finally COVID start normalizing itself, then it came artificial intelligence as a technology disruption. Right? That, again, not just changing the way we are, doing technology through, you know, all these, intelligent models, auto generated content, and virtual agents, and robotics, but also changing and reshaping somehow our roles because it's a fact that the way we develop, we do coding, we program, and and even we, do certain type of roles is changing.

And now, the big question for us is how we can catch up on that emerging technology that just came to stay and keep evolving rapidly, while we somehow find, again, a way to to keep thriving in this in this era. And that's where, the con the concept of people is becoming so relevant. Right? In fact, McKinsey, couple years ago, they they shared and published a document where they were talking about that for any digital strategy, the human component, maybe represents 50% of your success or your failure when you are trying to do it. So so having that in context and, again, going through through the topic itself, what exactly implies a people approach? Today, I'm gonna try to give you some, maybe, basic steps and and some insights on how I'm doing it nowadays as we speak that maybe can help you while you are, going through this journey. Right?

But the people approach is somehow challenging us, from a cultural standpoint to go from the traditional, you know, ways we create teams to to to go towards a more grown mindset, way of working. Right? And when we are trying to do this, it's also about talking about how we can build people engaged, motivated, and and again reduce this volatility that we are having of people, you you know, just changing jobs because they do not necessarily feel, engaged and and and and somehow, identify with our companies on the work they are doing.

And finally, how we can elevate the way of working. Again, COVID changed the way we interact, and we know hybrid models, came to stay. So how, we can provide a purpose, for people to to keep coming back and and creating these relationships, but also keeping the balance on their on their well-being and and and their way of working in general. So, again, it's it's a big challenge what we have ahead, but I truly believe, focusing on putting our people at the center may help us to really thrive, on on this big journey. So, moving ahead and before starting talking about the strategy itself, when we are talking about people, I will just, call out three important things that you may want to consider before, embarking into this, amazing journey. And one of them is related to advocacy. When we are incorporating changes that touches our teams and our individuals, it is important that we acknowledge that we are not alone on this change. Right?

And it's important, for you to consider to bring people that can not just support you on the journey, but can also contribute with ideas and cocreate with you the final strategy. Right? And for that, obviously, we have our human resources business partners, our leadership teams. But I will, also invite you to go further and identify that influential talent that you may have that can also be eager and, you know, curious on participating on this kind of programs and help you to pass a positive message when the change is coming because that will help you to rapidly convert and bring people fully on board.

The is that you prioritize this, idea into a plan. Right? And that means that you incorporate this in your annual business plan. Otherwise, if you don't put it on paper with couple couple of, metrics to to somehow measure the result can get, easily diluted, across the year. So I really invited you that if you are gonna do this, you really commit on it. And finally is that you invest. Right? It's not just putting money and resources, but you invest part of your time going through this because the reality is that people requires time. Right? So as closer as you can be, with your organization going through this massive change, they will be more appreciating your your efforts, but also be more, supportive, right, while while you are moving, towards, this this idea. And how how or where to start. Right? So just going to the basics again and trying to keep it simple, the equation.

So a people approach is a philosophy at the end of the day. Right? That what is trying to tell us is how we can, create a different environment for our individuals while we are, somehow trying to, take care of their well-being, right, of their full development, but also keeping them engaged, right, on on our over overall idea. And this is on top of any results and outcomes that that you are trying to achieve. So again, can can be very overwhelming, right, when we are talking about, you know, bringing people engaged and well-being and and fully developed. Right? But there are ways to start doing this this, I will say, work, into a steps that and that that's my intention today to share with you some some couple of ideas that I'm just testing and and doing it, in my current role. And and I will say two big components that I identified that, again, can set the foundation of this big program.

One is around adaptability and change change management, And the is around building trust and an engagement environment where people can, feel more confident in speaking. And both together, eventually, will drive you long term results, and and you will see it as as you move ahead. So just to start with adaptability and change management, what exactly means and how you can start working, on a plan around this? So change management is just as well a framework that will help you to organize the current state of where you are, to the future desired state of where you want to go. Right? But it's not just helping you to map the current and the future. It's also helping you to deal with the fear and uncertainty that people may feel when you are incorporating, a change.

In fact, even you can bring, lovely and amazing visuals. If people does not understand what exactly you are trying to do, it is most common that you are gonna fail. Right? So so to to deal with this fear and uncertainty, what things you may may want to do, to help, people to understand better? So the one is related to really growth, and focus on a growth mindset. And this basically means how you prepare yourself as leader, but also your next level of leaders to bring new skills into play. And what the skills I'm referring for is not just technology skills, but it's mostly skills that are related to people.

How to manage better emotional intelligence, how to manage more effectively coaching and feedback. Right? How to provide, better support when you are having tough conversations. These kind of skills need to be developed, and you need to, have a purpose with your team and commitment to to make it happen because that will help you to have a stronger, set of leaders that can again support the people while while they are going through the change. Right? And obviously, monitoring and reinforcing the importance of this. The is when we are talking about individuals is also how we can provide them certainty of where they are going, and that can be done through, training and, obviously, having, career and specific development conversations with each persona. Nowadays, it is a fact that we need to start personalizing more these training, plans that we're working with our people. Because when people knows where they are, where they want to go, and what are the things they need to develop as an opportunities, provide them, a sense of belonging.

Right? And they can be more engaged and committed on the work because they have more clarity, of the work that needs to be done by them. And lastly is how you protect your people in terms of their well-being. Right? We know when we're, working with digital strategies is, that you can have a very large number of projects to deliver, but it's important for us as leaders that we can prioritize the work, right, that is really required and that matter the most, that will give the most impactful and value to the company.

Right? So here it is important for us as well to set clear objectives and routines for our people to keep focus on the work, to have clear expectations on what what is their, contribution and also offering couple of options where they can disconnect, you know, take their holidays, and and even train themselves.

So all this together at the end is a combo that needs to be considered when you are starting talking about change management. And if you are setting the foundation on change management, what I can tell you is that eventually, this will bring a more mature team and and a team that is gonna be more ready to talk about trust and engagement. At the end, the word trust can be very overwhelming, but the reality is that to build a trust organization, you're required to create safe space where people can feel, comfortable to speak up and share more how they are feeling. Right? So, again, if you are preparing yourself and your leaders to deal with the change, providing opportunities to people to thrive, plus you are prioritizing their time and their work to be more effective, The trust will become more naturally, and opening a space will be more smooth so people can again share with you how they are looking the change and contribute as well with ideas that can help you to refine your strategy.

The is you need to communicate all the time what is happening, around the change. And it's not just for the individuals, but also in the entire organization. It is also being proven that when people is, has information, right, and you prioritize transparency on what is happening, people reduce the anxiety and also, they're they they are more focused and and and less distracted because what's happening around because they have, information enough to know where they are going.

So it is crucial that you define a strategy plan while you are, working on these changes so people can be always informed. And last is how you can provide new opportunities for people to keep stretching and growing their roles. And this is exactly what means empowering people. Right? It's how you can give them more autonomy, so they can take decisions. Obviously, again, depending on the maturity of your people, you can provide them, certain projects and initiatives that where you can control the risk. But, again, you can open the door for them to take decisions to play around the initiative and somehow innovate and iterate as they are growing and enhancing somehow their roles and making them more, solid. So so, again, I believe change management and trust and engagement are key when we are talking about a people approach.

And you may want to, again, make sure you follow certain steps to make sure are enough, solid because at the end, when you are putting a people approach, it's something that will that will keep evolving and does not have necessarily an end. Right? And finally, to start closing, these two eventually will bring you the long term results you are expecting. But it's also important for us as leaders to acknowledge that this will not happen in one month, two months, or three months. This all will depend again on multiple variable factors that, again, when we are working with teams and people may may be variable, right, depending on from one or on one organization to another. But what is a fact is that we need to consider that it's not gonna be perfect. Right? It's gonna be something that we keep iterating along the way. Right? And it's important for us to always look for the progress and not necessarily the perfection. Right?

Because that will reduce a lot of the stress, we are gonna have when we are navigating this journey. The is that you eventually will have small wins, right, small changes that will happen when you are going through this. It is important that you celebrate those small wins because when you acknowledge and celebrate the small wins, your people will also realize the change, and they will be more engaged and more motivated to keep going on. And the last piece is if this becomes very overwhelming and at certain point you feel stuck because there is too much happening. What I can tell you is that it's also fair to take a pause, right, to breathe, to go backwards and see what has been happening in the last six or twelve months. But, again, not doing it alone, bringing your team with you to figure out what exactly is working, what needs to be changed, what you need to stop, and then re reignite somehow your strategy, changing some of the components that can help you based on your learning to keep adjusting and adapting.

And, again, restart and ignite again with a I will say, breath of air. But, again, very, focused that the the result will keep coming and will be stronger as you keep discipline, intentional, and, again, very focused. So so, again, I invited you, to to go through this. I'm very passionate on people. I know people is quite important. But, again, maybe these steps, again, that I'm sharing, with you hope can help you to go through this kind of journeys. And and, again, thank you, Anna, for inviting me and share a little bit about my own experience when talking about digital transformation and people approach.