With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1425269
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 BCBUSINESS 53 going virtual has only helped. "It has opened up doors for shar- ing that we never have really seen before," Graziani says. "So, because we have technology, because we can do this type of a meeting across space and time, we've been able to invite a lot more people to participate." One way that Best Buy fosters an inclusive environment is through Continue the Conversation, which lets employees across the company share and respond to personal stories. Recent sessions focused on Indigenous History Month and Pride Month. Another program is Inspire Talks, which sees one person pick a subject for the group to explore. But the company has always been an ally. "Nobody celebrates Pride like we do," Graziani says. "Our work on helping LGBTQ employees feel accepted has been long-standing and ongoing." In recent years, Best Buy has found different ways to step up for LGBTQIA+ employees, such as provid- ing pronoun options on name tags in support of nonbinary staff, financial benefits for people undergoing a gen- der transition and toolkits that help leaders and employees support their coworkers through the process. Loud and clear Although Best Buy was already mov- ing toward remote work, no one was ready to transfer online at the start of the pandemic. Graziani says that chal- lenged her to grow as a leader and to adapt to a new normal. "The best leaders know that they do not have to be the smartest person in the room, but they have to be the best listener," she observes. "I've always thought that was a strength of mine. And the experience during the pandemic has served to amplify my belief in that." But Graziani says the digital shift presented its own barriers for the technologically challenged, with cer- tain departments doubting it could work. "And that, I would say, is one of the best learnings of this process," she notes. "When you go to folks and say, How do we make this work, they step up." –S.Z. Course Correction The pandemic has pushed leaders to be more transparent with their people than ever, says YVR boss Tamara Vrooman When Tamara Vrooman was committing early last year to take over as president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, her new employer gave her an out. "The board and my board chair, to their credit—it was clear that the pandemic was already in full swing and was likely to have a huge impact on our business," recalls Vrooman, who started the job in July 2020 after stepping down as president and CEO of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union. "And they said, Are you sure you want to do this, to take this opportunity at this time? It's going to be a chal- lenge. And I said, Absolutely, and I'd answer exactly the same way today." After traffic volumes plunged in COVID's wake, YVR took the opportunity to do things like invest in technol- ogy, modernize its food and beverage services, and prepare for higher cargo volume due to e-commerce, Vrooman says. But for her, people are the airport's greatest assets. "[I'm] very much a believer in achieving our purpose through our people," she says when asked what it's been like for her as a leader. "The way I normally do that is by connecting with people and understanding their work and supporting them and devel- oping and coaching, being transparent and having open, collaborative exchanges." That's been tough, partly because Vrooman still hadn't met all of her 400 staff, many of whom work remotely. She also finds talking to people onscreen more formal than in person. "You don't get the body language and the cues," Vrooman notes. "The interaction between people is hub-and-spoke as opposed to a collective, which is key to collaboration." Then again, the pandemic has shown that hybrid and flexible work can be produc- tive, she says. If striking the right balance is tricky, she doesn't see YVR going back to the old way of doing things. "But I do think contribution to the culture of organizations is really important to our per- formance and to our business outcomes," Vrooman says. "So building that cohesive culture is a work in progress, and I think we have to rebuild it a bit using this hybrid way of working." Since the pandemic began, Vrooman says, employees have come to expect their leaders to lead not only in business but in other areas that matter to them, whether it's diversity, community or climate. "The expectation that leaders are transparent is height- ened, I think, because they don't get the opportunity to just see the leader casually in whatever busi- ness context," she adds. "So I have found that you have to work even harder at being transparent." At YVR, that situation has turned Vrooman into something of a video personality. Every two weeks she hosts a virtual open session, nicknamed Live TV after her initials, that gives all staff a chance ask questions and share what's on their mind. The connec- tion isn't quite as deep as it would be in person, Vrooman admits. "But they're very much, What do you think about this? How are you see- ing that? What are you doing?" On that note, what advice does Vrooman have for aspiring leaders? Soft skills–the ability to communi- cate, listen, motivate and display empathy–have been the "glue" throughout the pandemic and will remain important post- COVID, she says. "But we also know that the soft stuff is actually the hard stuff," she adds, describing it as the most difficult part of leadership. "So for new leaders, thinking about how to cultivate, take advantage of and pursue opportunities that allow you to do the hard work of developing soft skills is vital." Vrooman's second tip: "I read somewhere, and I believe it, that the most important business skill in the next 10 years is going to be the ability to recruit and identify talent. And I see that. We are going into a different period in the labour market." –N.R. ASK ME ANY T HING