Speakers: Ken Allen, CEO, DHL eCommerce Solutions
Ken Allen, CEO of DHL eCommerce Solutions has fun with Great Place To Work's CEO Michael C. Bush on the mainstage. Ken delivers happiness and shares the importance of taking care of your frontline employees.
Show Transcript
Michael:
One of the things I'm looking forward to after the Summit is a vacation. I just can't wait. And I just can see myself now with my feet in the sand somewhere sunny. And there's only a couple of things I need. One is a good book to read and the other is some great Swiss chocolate actually from Switzerland. And I just imagine one day there'll be an amazing e-commerce company that will read my mind and deliver exactly what I want. That's my fantasy that ... and sing. And sing.
Ken Allen:
Hey.
Michael:
Thanks you.
Ken Allen:
A box of them, all right?
Michael:
Amazing.
Ken Allen:
Yeah.
Michael:
This is some amazing e-commerce company.
Ken Allen:
It only left Bern, Germany at 11:00 last night.
Michael:
Now that's incredible.
Ken Allen:
Overnight. Overnight delivery.
Michael:
Oh, boy. That's the only way you get this kind of chocolate.
Ken Allen:
That's the tomorrow of the world.
Michael:
Now this is my chocolate, right?
Ken Allen:
That's your chocolate, Michael.
Michael:
Okay. All right.
Ken Allen:
I had to keep the girls away from it.
Michael:
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Well, in terms of the book to read, it happens to be your book.
Ken Allen:
My book? Really?
Michael:
What a coincidence. I don't know how that happened, but it happens to be your book, Radical Simplicity.
Ken Allen:
That's amazing. Who would have guessed, right, that somebody would have-
Michael:
It's funny how these things-
Ken Allen:
Known to send that-
Michael:
happen. It's just amazing how-
Ken Allen:
Yeah, that's good.
Michael:
These things happen. And so this is Ken Allen who was one of the winners-
Ken Allen:
Thank you, everybody.
Michael:
Of our For All Leadership Awards. Please give him a round of applause.
Ken Allen:
A great honor. Michael, thank you.
Michael:
Yep, you earned it. You earned it. You and your great people earned it.
Ken Allen:
Thank you.
Michael:
And this book is about one of the greatest turnarounds in business history. Highly encourage you to get this book. This is when Ken was the global CEO of DHL. He's currently the CEO of e-commerce for DHL. First of all, how's it feel to win the For All Leader award?
Ken Allen:
Oh, it's tremendous. And I think like a lot of people have said today over the last few days, Michael, I think your company or The Great Place To Work and that fantastic idea to add For All at the end, it's really building a great foundation that we can put in place and then build on top of that. I think whatever you do, even if you're trying to get soft skills into a business, you still need to have a process behind it and a way to inspect and develop. And I think what you guys have done is terrific. I really do.
Michael:
Okay. Can you share with the audience ... I think it's fairly terrific too and I appreciate it.
Ken Allen:
Thank you.
Michael:
You talk about four things that matter.
Ken Allen:
Yeah.
Michael:
Now the first one ... you know where I'm going?
Ken Allen:
Yeah.
Michael:
Let the people know.
Ken Allen:
Music, sport, love and logistics. As we said, I think on the why because we want to try and get our message through to every front line employee that works for us, right? And these are the things that bring people together. We need a consistent and the simple strategy. We have the classic service profit chain, motivated people deliver great service quality that results in loyal customers and profitability. And our song for motivated people, it must've been written for DHL. If you need me, call me. No matter where you are, no matter how far, I'll be there in a hurry, on that you can depend and never worry because baby there ain't no mountain high enough. Ain't no valley low enough. Ain't no river ... yeah, and people love it. People love it.
Michael:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ken Allen:
Just let me tell you one last piece of that.
Michael:
Please do, yeah.
Ken Allen:
The whole thing caught on so much that when we started we were losing 2.2 billion and we had a goal at one point to make a billion. And one frontline person call me up one day and says, "Ken, I've got the greatest song for you to achieve your ambition". I said, Oh what's that? "Oh, Bruno Mars and Travie McCoy, Want to be a Billionaire". We made it our own. I want to be a billionaire so fricking bad. UPS and FedEx will be sad. Want to stay on the cover of Forbes Magazine. TNT is never to ne seen. But it's really a consistent program for the last 10 years and it's made a big difference.
Michael:
Well, I love UPS and FedEx and I have love for everybody.
Ken Allen:
So do I. No, no, no, they're not all that great competition.
Michael:
But there's only one DHL.
Ken Allen:
Yeah,. Yeah.
Michael:
The multinational.
Ken Allen:
The most international company-
Michael:
In the world.
Ken Allen:
In the world. 220 countries and territories.
Michael:
It's amazing what you do.
Ken Allen:
Thank you so much, sir.
Michael:
All right. There he is.
Ken Allen:
Sorry. Sorry. Just before we finish-
Michael:
Yeah.
Ken Allen:
It's a cash on delivery shipment.
Michael:
Oh, it is. Well, here you go. Yeah.
Ken Allen:
Hey. Thank you.
Michael:
Warm round of applause for-
Ken Allen:
Thank you. Thank you.
Michael:
Get out.
One of the things I'm looking forward to after the Summit is a vacation. I just can't wait. And I just can see myself now with my feet in the sand somewhere sunny. And there's only a couple of things I need. One is a good book to read and the other is some great Swiss chocolate actually from Switzerland. And I just imagine one day there'll be an amazing e-commerce company that will read my mind and deliver exactly what I want. That's my fantasy that ... and sing. And sing.
Ken Allen:
Hey.
Michael:
Thanks you.
Ken Allen:
A box of them, all right?
Michael:
Amazing.
Ken Allen:
Yeah.
Michael:
This is some amazing e-commerce company.
Ken Allen:
It only left Bern, Germany at 11:00 last night.
Michael:
Now that's incredible.
Ken Allen:
Overnight. Overnight delivery.
Michael:
Oh, boy. That's the only way you get this kind of chocolate.
Ken Allen:
That's the tomorrow of the world.
Michael:
Now this is my chocolate, right?
Ken Allen:
That's your chocolate, Michael.
Michael:
Okay. All right.
Ken Allen:
I had to keep the girls away from it.
Michael:
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Well, in terms of the book to read, it happens to be your book.
Ken Allen:
My book? Really?
Michael:
What a coincidence. I don't know how that happened, but it happens to be your book, Radical Simplicity.
Ken Allen:
That's amazing. Who would have guessed, right, that somebody would have-
Michael:
It's funny how these things-
Ken Allen:
Known to send that-
Michael:
happen. It's just amazing how-
Ken Allen:
Yeah, that's good.
Michael:
These things happen. And so this is Ken Allen who was one of the winners-
Ken Allen:
Thank you, everybody.
Michael:
Of our For All Leadership Awards. Please give him a round of applause.
Ken Allen:
A great honor. Michael, thank you.
Michael:
Yep, you earned it. You earned it. You and your great people earned it.
Ken Allen:
Thank you.
Michael:
And this book is about one of the greatest turnarounds in business history. Highly encourage you to get this book. This is when Ken was the global CEO of DHL. He's currently the CEO of e-commerce for DHL. First of all, how's it feel to win the For All Leader award?
Ken Allen:
Oh, it's tremendous. And I think like a lot of people have said today over the last few days, Michael, I think your company or The Great Place To Work and that fantastic idea to add For All at the end, it's really building a great foundation that we can put in place and then build on top of that. I think whatever you do, even if you're trying to get soft skills into a business, you still need to have a process behind it and a way to inspect and develop. And I think what you guys have done is terrific. I really do.
Michael:
Okay. Can you share with the audience ... I think it's fairly terrific too and I appreciate it.
Ken Allen:
Thank you.
Michael:
You talk about four things that matter.
Ken Allen:
Yeah.
Michael:
Now the first one ... you know where I'm going?
Ken Allen:
Yeah.
Michael:
Let the people know.
Ken Allen:
Music, sport, love and logistics. As we said, I think on the why because we want to try and get our message through to every front line employee that works for us, right? And these are the things that bring people together. We need a consistent and the simple strategy. We have the classic service profit chain, motivated people deliver great service quality that results in loyal customers and profitability. And our song for motivated people, it must've been written for DHL. If you need me, call me. No matter where you are, no matter how far, I'll be there in a hurry, on that you can depend and never worry because baby there ain't no mountain high enough. Ain't no valley low enough. Ain't no river ... yeah, and people love it. People love it.
Michael:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ken Allen:
Just let me tell you one last piece of that.
Michael:
Please do, yeah.
Ken Allen:
The whole thing caught on so much that when we started we were losing 2.2 billion and we had a goal at one point to make a billion. And one frontline person call me up one day and says, "Ken, I've got the greatest song for you to achieve your ambition". I said, Oh what's that? "Oh, Bruno Mars and Travie McCoy, Want to be a Billionaire". We made it our own. I want to be a billionaire so fricking bad. UPS and FedEx will be sad. Want to stay on the cover of Forbes Magazine. TNT is never to ne seen. But it's really a consistent program for the last 10 years and it's made a big difference.
Michael:
Well, I love UPS and FedEx and I have love for everybody.
Ken Allen:
So do I. No, no, no, they're not all that great competition.
Michael:
But there's only one DHL.
Ken Allen:
Yeah,. Yeah.
Michael:
The multinational.
Ken Allen:
The most international company-
Michael:
In the world.
Ken Allen:
In the world. 220 countries and territories.
Michael:
It's amazing what you do.
Ken Allen:
Thank you so much, sir.
Michael:
All right. There he is.
Ken Allen:
Sorry. Sorry. Just before we finish-
Michael:
Yeah.
Ken Allen:
It's a cash on delivery shipment.
Michael:
Oh, it is. Well, here you go. Yeah.
Ken Allen:
Hey. Thank you.
Michael:
Warm round of applause for-
Ken Allen:
Thank you. Thank you.
Michael:
Get out.
