Even the best-managed companies have had to contend with challenges over the past two years that have put their leaders, their employees and even their customers to the test.
What we’ve seen over this time is a powerful synthesis of values, purpose and strategy that has reshaped the way successful companies in Canada operate. They have not only weathered unprecedented disruption, but have made profound changes to their business models that will prepare them for new realities.
It is obvious, for example, that old approaches to managing talent, measuring impact and even selling to customers have changed for good. Trust has become a barometer that determines the health of relationships with all stakeholders, from employees and customers to the wider community.
What truly defines a best-managed company, in other words, looks a lot different in 2022.
Fortunately, leaders have had a fantastic resource for almost three decades now that can provide inspiration on what it takes to reach this level: a Deloitte Canada awards program known as Canada’s Best Managed Companies.
By placing a spotlight on the top privately-owned Canadian companies with annual revenues over $25 million, Deloitte has curated a community of organizations that serve as role models for businesses across the country.
The Best Managed Companies Canada winners serve as a qualitative benchmark for how to lead, how to grow and how to act with purpose. These are just some of the reasons I’m proud to say Salesforce Canada has joined Canada’s Best Managed Companies program as its exclusive technology sponsor for 2022.
Keys To Managing Successfully Amid Change
Elevating this year’s award winners and helping them to build a better Canada aligns perfectly with our belief at Salesforce that business is the greatest platform for change. We’re also supporting the program at a particularly critical time in the history of organizational change.
Having proven their resiliency amid disruptive challenges like the pandemic, Canadian businesses are rapidly transitioning to a world in which the way they operate is being completely reimagined.
For many businesses, this has started with transcending the traditional model of requiring employees to do their jobs in the same building every day. Instead, they are embracing the technologies and processes to establish a Digital HQ, where employees can achieve success from anywhere.
At the same time, customer experiences that might have once been defined by primarily in-person purchases or interactions are expanding into digital-first models. This in turn is making all businesses more conscious of the role data plays in the way they manage their resources, their operations and their people.
Canada’s Best Managed Companies program isn’t just a chance to show which businesses are at the forefront of these changes. It’s also an opportunity for all applicants to receive access to coaches with broad business skills and to participate in discussions with experts on strategy, leadership and governance.
The work we do at Salesforce Canada is also based on the same four pillars that Deloitte uses to evaluate what a best managed company looks like. These include:
1. Strategy
If you’re thinking about applying to Canada’s Best Managed Companies 2022, take the time to reflect on the mythology you use to develop your business strategy. Ask yourself whether you’re truly including all the necessary stakeholders, and whether you’re executing on your strategy consistently.
At Salesforce, our strategy is simple: to build bridges between companies and customers. Our Customer 360 platform is an example of how we do that in practice, but behind the scenes our strategy is informed by our core values. These include trust, customer success, innovation, equality and sustainability. Keeping these values front and centre gives all our leaders, including myself, a framework for moving forward.
2. Capabilities And Innovation
Look back through the past winners of Canada’s Best Managed Companies and you’ll see firms that have worked hard to develop valuable resources and processes that encourage employees to try new ideas.
We believe in the same approach at Salesforce. It’s why we took the leap into cloud computing way back in 1999, and integrated it not only into our CRM, Sales Cloud, but into the full power of our platform. And it’s why we continue to innovate as the world changes. We’re here to be a trusted digital advisor to CEOs and companies all over the world, helping them create and extend the digital strategies that will ensure their long-term success.
Over the last year Salesforce has become more strategic and relevant to our customers than ever before. As the pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of all aspects of society, we transformed our approach to everything from our products to our events in order to meet the needs of our customers, partners, employees and communities.
3. Governance and Financials
Maintaining a healthy balance sheet and paying attention to operating margins are fundamental to successfully managing a company. Canada’s Best Managed Companies have a history of doing much more.
When you consider your wider impact on the local community and the world, for instance, the notion of the “triple bottom line” — which encompasses environmental and social progress, as well as financial — becomes so much more important.
Part of what makes Salesforce an amazing company is our belief that business is the greatest platform for change. We strive to serve all stakeholders including shareholders, customers, employees, partners, communities, the planet, and society as a whole. To achieve this, it starts with trust, our number one value. And the key to trust is transparency. That’s why each year, we produce a comprehensive Stakeholder Impact Report and Annual Equality Update, so that our key stakeholders can stay informed and track our progress.
In order to build greater accountability and accelerate our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, we will include ESG goals as part of our executive compensation programs. Going forward, a portion of executive variable pay for Executive Vice President and above will be determined by four ESG measures. For this fiscal year, the measures will focus on equality and sustainability.
4. Culture And Commitment
Canada’s Best Managed Companies aren’t just effective generators of revenue. They’re also great places to work, because their leaders put principles into action. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues have risen to the top of the boardroom agenda for a reason, for example, and employees are looking for organizations ready to make meaningful changes.
This has to start at the top, which is why I launched a virtual mentoring program called “In The Room”, to bring the women across my team together for an ongoing dialogue about breaking gender biases. Globally, Salesforce continued to prioritize equal pay. In 2020, we spent $3.8 million to address any unexplained differences in pay across gender globally, and race and ethnicity in the U.S. – a total of more than $16 million to date. We’ve also accelerated the hiring of women worldwide, and are now hiring more women than we were pre-pandemic. Our company has also built equality resource groups such as Outforce to connect and empower LGTBQ+ employees.
And through micro-credential programs such as Salesforce for All, we’re working to enable New Canadians and others to partake in the growing digital economy and access in-demand job opportunities.
Support for lifelong learning tends to be another facet of successful organizational cultures. We’ve seen that first-hand by the employees and those in our wider ecosystem who have used Trailhead to reskill, upskill and propel their careers.
Join The Ranks Of Canada’s Best Managed Companies
Running a business of any size requires making dozens of decisions a day. You’re not always sure they’re the right ones. You’re often acting in the short term while trying to consider the long-term impacts.
As leaders, we take our employees and customers on a journey everyday. We’re expected to navigate the path in a way that builds trust and leaves everyone feeling positive about the experience.
Of course, we don’t believe we have all the answers. We’re sponsoring Canada’s Best Managed Companies 2022 because, like Deloitte, we’re excited to see what this year’s applicants are doing to continue traveling along their individual paths to growth. When you get to see exemplary management best practices in action, we all win.
