Shaping 2022 into a New Normal

I have the good fortune to live in New England and near the Atlantic Ocean.?One of my favorite activities is taking a walk on Plum Island, MA beach with our dogs – Tess and Ollie.?It’s a chance to decompress, relax and think.?My visit to the beach this past weekend was quite different than the past.?The storms that battered the East Coast over the weekend had a sizeable impact on the beach landscape.?Net – the sands had shifted. It reminded me of our lives over the past 2 years. Our sands have shifted in unforeseen ways. It highlights the importance of being adaptable to adjust to a new environment and succeed both mentally, and physically at home, in our community and at work.?With this in mind – I thought it valuable to share a few thoughts from my perspective on the new landscape for HP and our team.?I hope you appreciate – Todd

?I recently shared on LinkedIn my personal goals for 2022 and my intention to focus on continuous learning, new ways to connect in the new normal, and seeking experiences that will push me to be more aware and intentional in my personal and professional life. I’ve also thought deeply about what I want the next year to look like for our organization, and to rally behind this goal: to shape a more connected, sustainable, and equitable environment.?

I’m excited about the real opportunities we have for change after an intense two years of adaptation and innovation and look forward to getting back on the road to see HP colleagues, partners, and customers. To achieve our 2022 goal, I plan to focus on the following priorities:?

Advancing sustainability

One of our team’s top priorities is to communicate the value of sustainability in the government procurement processes. Meeting minimum specifications is far from a new requirement for government contractors. Generating some sensible, agreed-upon sustainability measures at the federal and state level will be a key step in expanding upon and amplifying the sustainability and climate action work that HP is already deeply committed to.

The government spent $665 billion on IT contracts in fiscal 2021, according to the GAO. That’s a massive amount of buying power. Initiatives like the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program mean environmental sustainability factors are increasingly getting baked into the lowest price, technically acceptable standard. Working together with key decision-makers and policymakers, we can help the federal/local/edu government ensure that sustainability continues to move from a “nice-to-have” element of procurement contracts to a must have.

Becoming more aware of diverse voices

HP has an ambitious set of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals. As I’ve shared, one of my personal goals this year is to continue learning how to be an ally and be an agent of change to create a more diverse and inclusive environment.

In 2021 we piloted a new hiring approach, and I hope to keep building on this in 2022. Instead of looking to the same hiring pools – the same schools, the same professional background – to find candidates for our sales team, we broadened our applicant criteria and made some fantastic hires with nontraditional technology backgrounds that are already making an impact.?This is an important part of the DNA of our team and I personally appreciate the inclusiveness of the entire organization.?

DEI also applies to diverse and inclusive perspectives. Gen Z and digital natives have an innate understanding of the technology that’s shaping our world today, while folks from my generation have the historical knowledge of how technology and sales have evolved over the last two decades. When brought together, our experiences can unlock new areas for success. The more we learn from people with experiences different from our own, the more we discover what we’re missing. And the better we understand where we fall short, the better equipped we become to fully embrace the perspectives of our colleagues and customers.

Finding normalcy where we can

One thing I’ve missed over the last two years is getting on the road to see customers. While I often had a packed travel schedule pre-pandemic and have appreciated this new era of connectivity via Zoom rooms and video calls, there’s just no substitute for being face-to-face with other human beings.

I’ve shared meals with state governors, leaders of U.S. federal agencies, and had the opportunity to meet with the CIOs, CTOs and procurement leads for many of our customers. No matter who I’m with, it’s always a great reminder that behind every title is a human being. The ability to look people directly in the eye – a teammate, customer, industry colleague, family member or friend - makes it easier to connect with them on a human level.

And at the end of the day, that’s what motivates me to succeed and to have the greatest impact on behalf of HP. As we work with our customers to understand and respond to the new normal unfolding around us, these personal and in-person connections are critical. They produce more durable relationships and more effective solutions.

When we go beyond taking an order for a certain number of devices and instead invest the time to figure out what a customer wants to do with those devices, we become more than just a provider of technology; we become a source of knowledge and advice. Instead of focusing purely on transactions, we help our customers understand and solve their real-world problems—and that’s what will move us forward in 2022 and beyond.?