How FedEx is Attracting the Next Generation of Talent with Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere

I think too often we're in our functional silos, right? You know, we're thinking about our function, our project, and not listening and thinking about the broader business and doing our homework before we show up. It matters. And even if you don't get it approved, let me tell you, people will notice if you've done your homework. And the more context you have in the business, the more successful you will be overall.

At FedEx, we move about 2% of the world's GDP. I think it's two trillion in GMV that we move every year. And so, you know, not continuing to work was simply not an option, right? We move healthcare. We were actually ended up being the first to move the vaccine. It just wasn't an option to not continue to rise to the challenge. And actually, demand surged because, of course, everybody was at home. So I think a couple of things. One, and at first, to be really candid, we struggled with this from an employee perspective. We have two massive organizations. You know, we have our frontline team members who are delivering packages every day that all of you interact with around the world. And then, of course, we have a lot of team members whose jobs do not require them to be on the frontline. And so we had to recognize that fairness was not treating everybody the same and that we had to have strategies that were different for both these groups. And that was a bit challenging because the frontline had actual physical risks to themselves. So from a talent acquisition, I think first and foremost, we had to recognize and really promote that everything we do, we do with integrity. And that one of our core culture pillars is Safety First. And we leaned into that principle, and it guided us on how we treated both groups. Once we got beyond that, and we had to go to market, we had to be really authentic. We had to recognize what the job was. And there was no point from a talent acquisition trying to minimize, you know, what the rules required, that they are physical, that they are difficult, that yes, you were going to be out in the public in the middle of a pandemic. So we had to be really honest about the reality of the job. And then we leaned into that purpose that I just talked about to attract people who really understood that in this moment of insecurity, of how do I help, how are we, what do we do next, that they could in a really big way choose to come and work at a place where they would value that, they would be able to deliver healthcare, that they would help the world move forward, you know, baby formula, you know, those types of issues that were very real every day. And so I think that was sort of our guiding principle is first be authentic and be honest about what the job entails, and then two, really help people understand the role that these team members play every day. And it was very successful.

Yeah, great question. And I get these similar types of questions all the time at FedEx, right? Like you've said X, and then we're trying to understand decision Y and how they're connected. So I think the first thing, and we talk a lot about this at FedEx, you know, one of our founders' principles when we started 50 years ago was People-Service-Profit. You treat your people well, you get great service. Great service means great profit. You put the profit back into your people. What people often forget is that the word is people, not person. And so a CEO's job is to manage the collective, to do what's best for all of the people, which sometimes means compromise at an individual level or a decision that might be really, really difficult. And I think for all of our HR teams and all team members, I think that's really important perspective. I think when you get into, you know, a CEO said this is important and yet they're not approving my project, or I'm not getting the resource, or I'm not getting the funding, well then I don't think you've made a case as to why that project or that funding or that resource is going to support your CEO's strategy. And that's sort of a bottom-up job. You know, often I hear, you know, teams like, well, he doesn't get it or she doesn't get it. It's like, well, how did you make it, you know, an obvious decision? What was the P&L decision? What was the ROI? How did you elevate the work that you're doing so that it does connect to the business strategy? Because I do think that that's sort of a gap is that value creation or connection doesn't always show up when we're talking about HR initiatives. And I think that's an opportunity for HR leaders to be far more strategic. And when I say strategic, connecting that to the P&L. And if you can't connect to the P&L, then what are the alternative KPIs or outcomes that you're going to drive so you can measure your success? I think that's what most CEOs are looking for.

That's a great question. So I think one of the things that I always did is, you know, when you're looking at your objectives or your projects, is literally map them up. And so that sometimes requires a little bit of understanding or taking the time to understand not just your boss's objective, but probably your boss's boss. What are their objectives? What are they trying to get accomplished? And then honestly asking yourself, do I have a project that I'm in love with and I'm trying to find a home for, or does this project directly support what they're trying to get done? If it's close, you might need to iterate and really spend some time with your leadership to understand what the objectives are. But then assuming that this idea does support what the business is trying to get done, then I think you have to make a really thoughtful case. And a couple of, you know, tools that I always use is trying to figure out what's the alternative. So if this is the recommendation, is there another alternative? You should ask yourself that first versus, you know, waiting till you're in the boardroom and then thinking it through. And then as I mentioned before, how will you measure success? And then another great tool is, you know, from a leadership perspective, is this a difficult decision? You know, and what do I mean by that? Well, can they course correct? Can you make it a safe and easy decision? Hey folks, here's what I want to do, and here's how we can course correct or adjust if it doesn't work. You know, sometimes that's, you know, from a leadership perspective, you're making a lot of decisions. So if you can make a decision just a little bit easier because you can give someone a little cushion or a way to course correct later on and take some of the risk out of it, that's a pretty successful strategy usually.

There is not enough. I think too often we're in our functional silos, right? You know, we're thinking about our function, our project, and not listening and thinking about the broader business and doing our homework before we show up. It matters. And even if you don't get it approved, let me tell you, people will notice if you've done your homework. And the more context you have in the business, the more successful you will be overall.

That's a big, tough question. So I think when I think about attracting talent to FedEx, the first is we are big, right? And sometimes people don't love that, right? You know, there's certainly, especially as we're trying to hire young talent and make sure that we keep our thinking fresh and current. And as a marketing perspective, it's really important to me that I have talent that understands not just our current customers but our future customers. So attracting young is actually a huge focus for us at FedEx. And there is some perspective that we're big and therefore bureaucratic. And so making sure how we express ourselves to the customers or to the teammates that we're trying to attract—I use customers all the time, that's my marketing background, folks—but as we're trying to attract team members, that, you know, there's an old saying, Marshall McLuhan, the medium is the message, right? The way in which you communicate says a ton about who you are as a company. And so that has been something we're really focused on from an acquisition. You know, if we say we're not big and bureaucratic, well then our process better not be, right? Then the tools and the technology better be fresh. The way that we talk to new team members in our recruitment perspective better reflect the brand. And I'll be really honest, we weren't great at this. You know, our processes for a while were bureaucratic. There was a lot of paper—not paper forms, but digital forms—that weren't necessary because you can use AI to glean all of that, you know, from ZipRecruiter to use all of that. So I think that's a big part of what we're trying to do is we're really trying to make sure that our talent recruitment process reflects the brand and the experience we want team members to have once they're in. And when you are this big, that's a challenge. I think the second is, you know, yes, the labor market has changed from where it was in COVID or during the pandemic, but I do not think talent acquisition is a one-way dialogue anymore, right? If you want the very best talent, which is what we seek every single day, that talent has choice. And to make sure that your point of differentiation as an employer is coming through, and that would be kind of our second priority from a talent acquisition perspective, is to make sure that everybody understands, yes, FedEx, you can have a job, but you also can have a really meaningful career doing something that matters in the world. And going back to that purpose and how we treat people, you know, I feel really good. I get to raise four kids and do this job and still have some semblance of a life. You know, to be able to tell that story—and mine isn't that special at FedEx, quite frankly. We have so many cool stories about people who have had these incredible global careers and had a personal life and raised their family and, you know, had such a rich life. So we try to tell those stories as well.

We have a saying at FedEx, it's called a Purple Promise. Yes, it's a little cheesy. It's to make every FedEx experience outstanding. And that's internal, that's external, it's customers, shareholders. You know, the ultimate goal is if you interact with a FedEx team member or digital experience, that you're like, wow, that was awesome. And we live and breathe this. And so it's really important to us that anyone coming through our process, through our doors digitally or physically, is treated with incredible respect, integrity. Their time is precious. Don't make them do things that aren't necessary. Be thoughtful about their interactions. The sales and marketing organization, we were just talking about this, you know, every once in a while we lose a customer, they decide to use the competition. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, our sales team goes above and beyond to transition that business to the competition. And that has worked incredibly well from a brand perspective, from an NPS, from a people come back. And that's the same thing from an employee perspective. I have that personal belief, even when someone chooses to leave FedEx, we treat them incredibly well. We do a thoughtful exit interview, and actually they're welcome back because they'll bring back with them new experiences, new ideas. So I just, you know, that constant integrity is just built into everything we do, and certainly our talent recruitment process.

I think something that I learned way back, I was actually on a panel and it was not a great panel. You know, I was with two colleagues and they wanted to see who was smartest, including them, in the room. And it just became a like, what can we ask the toughest, hardest, most difficult questions? It was just a total waste of time. Your job is to get the very, very best out of the candidates coming in, see them at their very best. Because let's be honest, most jobs, we're not doing brain surgery, and there isn't that extreme high pressure that we set up in an interview process. So my tip is I want people to be comfortable. I want them to have the freedom. I literally just did interviews, three interviews today, so it's very fresh. I want them to feel like it's as much a dialogue as it is, you know, me asking them questions. But most importantly, I want to see every candidate at their very best because then I can make the most informed decisions.

Well, the first thing is, again, going back to know your business and know your customer, which in this case is me. Know my priorities, understand my challenges, be a student of the business, not just of talent acquisition and HR. So probe more than talk, I think, is really a great opportunity. And then I would follow through what you're doing to help me be successful in that acquisition. Here are the three things I've done already. You know, look for guidance and feedback. You know, be open to that, but to be really clear about, I know what you need done, here's what I'm doing, and then pause to get, is there anything else I can be doing? I think that would be a great interaction.

Oh, happy to be here, Dave. Thank you.