As the use of technology has become more common and accessible, it has transformed the way we communicate in both our personal and professional lives. With countless means of communicating, technology has enabled us to create a “culture in the connected world” in offices across the globe, where communication and the transfer of information have become seamless, frictionless, and continuous. 

At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Zoom’s Global CIO Harry Moseley moderated a panel and luncheon co-hosted by Nasdaq and Zoom to discuss the idea of a culture of connectedness. Larry Quinlan, Global CIO at Deloitte, Mike Wright, Global CIO at McKinsey & Company, Laura Deaner, Global CISO at S&P Global, and Andrew Brandman, SVP of Financial Services at Salesforce, joined Harry for a discussion about what culture in the connected world means to them, how they have fostered that culture in their organizations, and what’s next for work culture of the future.

Here are some of the takeaways from their discussion: 

Culture is action, not just words

In the past, potential employees would base their evaluation of a company’s culture on how it described its culture and values, but that is no longer enough. Employees want to join organizations that actively promote their own values and whose actions hold true to their cultural tenets in the way they do business, in the way they operate, and in the way they treat their employees. By upholding and promoting their cultural values, companies can ensure that their employees feel a close connection to the company and drive engagement. 

“We’ve got to walk the walk. Culture isn’t just something you put on a wall, it has to be living and breathing. People have to see you walking and talking those values, they have to understand what we stand for, and they’re looking for the instances when we just don’t live up to the values we profess. And that ripples through the entire organization. So as leaders, we need to ensure that we create environments that our employees can thrive in, but more importantly, that we actually empower employees to live out their own values and create the kind of organization that encourages that.” — Larry Quinlan, Global CIO, Deloitte

Integration will be key to upscaling capability

Innovations in the world of software development and hardware design have made work easier and more productive than ever. And while these tools and products have helped businesses streamline their operations and become more productive, the true potential of these tools and products lies in their ability to integrate with each other and give employees greater capabilities. When employees leverage products in the office that seamlessly integrate with one another, that creates a technology ecosystem that can give them new flexibility and improved capabilities. 

“I think that integration is the next big thing. Taking the technologies we have and working out how we can get the synergies of two plus two equals 10 will be immensely important. The goal is to use technology to do a better job than you can do yourself. And I think that requires an integration of these technologies so that it becomes more of a single capability [technology ecosystem] rather than separate pieces of technology with different functions.” — Mike Wright, Global CIO, McKinsey & Company

Data trust and transparency are so important

When businesses make the decision to start using a new product or solution in their operations, they are also making the decision to trust the companies that offer those products and solutions. And with more regulations regarding protections for customer data, customers and businesses are becoming more cognizant of how their data is being used and who has access to it. In order to retain the business of their customers and also gain new customers, organizations must make a clear effort to handle their customers’ data with care and be more transparent about how they handle it.

“S&P Global is all about data. We provide data, or essential intelligence, to our customers. And, as you can imagine, a lot of our employees live with this data, they touch it, but they’re living with this data in a respectful and responsible way. My biggest advice here is to make sure you are treating data as an asset. You have to look at it as something to protect.” — Laura Deaner, Global CISO, S&P Global

Leadership must set the example

A major aspect of creating a connected culture is creating consistency across the organization. If employees within an organization aren’t using the same tools or products to communicate and work, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain effective communication and productivity. To ensure the consistent use of tools and drive a culture of connectedness, the senior leadership of companies must use these tools themselves to demonstrate their value and set an example for the rest of the workforce. 

“I think what makes our culture so powerful is that it’s not just pockets of people within Salesforce that leverage our technology, it’s the whole company. If the leadership of a company says, ‘Hey, I want our employees to use a technology, but I’m going to use something completely different,’ what suddenly happens is employees wonder, ‘Well, why should I use that technology if management isn’t using it?’, and there’s a bit of dislocation that happens. Every person in Salesforce, from our co-CEOs to our other 45,000 employees, are constantly leveraging the technology to drive collaboration across the organization globally and also drive collaboration with our customers.” — Andrew Brandman, SVP, Financial Services, Salesforce

Watch the full panel recording here:

To learn how Zoom can help you build your own connected culture, set up a personalized demo with a Zoom product specialist today!