Mansi Welcome, everyone, to the fourth episode of our COO podcast, The Rise of the CEO, bringing together Chief Operating Officers and subjects, and industry expert to tackle pressing topics that matter to CEOs in today's world. My name is Mansi Patel. I'm a capability sector leader at Baringa and the sponsor of our COOnetwork. In today's episode, we talk about the future of operations covering everything from building agile customer centric models to harnessing technology and AI to deliver better outcomes. I'm really pleased to welcome our guest speaker today, Lauren Lewis Chief Operating Officer at Ovo. Welcome, Lauren. It's wonderful to have you here.
Lauren Thanks Mansi Thank you for having me.
Mansi Lauren, many of the COOs that I speak to have quite demanding remits and mandates for their organisations, but they often also vary. Perhaps we could just hear a little bit about what yours is at Ovo about and actually what brought you there.
Lauren So under me at OVO, I have our customer care teams, customer operations, our customer fulfillment teams and our customer enablement teams. So effectively all things customer are with me as COO and it's one of the reasons that I'm so passionate about what we are going to talk about today, about all things customer centricity and how we put that at the heart of everything that we do.
Mansi Given that your my first podcast guest of the year, I'd love to start today's session with a question about what you're looking forward to in the year ahead.
Lauren I'm not normally one to make New Year's resolutions, but actually it's my 40th year this year and I'm really challenging myself to try new things and be a little bit bolder. And that's actually the sentiment that I'm bringing into Ovo this year. So how we harness all the great learnings that we've had in our journey today, but how we really tackle some of the challenges and opportunities that are facing our customers. And that's the piece that I want to do differently this year.
Mansi I love that theme of exploration that you've described in there, both personally and at work, but also the abundant opportunity mindset around what you can do and what the possibilities might be as well, I think sets such a lovely tone for the year. Now let's hear a little bit about OVO. I know you've been on an amazing journey and that you personally have been at the centre of that. I would love to hear a bit about the organisation, but also say what that journey has been like for you, and particularly the journey to COO
Lauren So OVO started as a Challenger brand, so an energy company that was about disrupting the market, that was about making energy simpler, fairer and greener for customers. And just at the point I joined OVO, which is about five years ago now, OVO was acquiring what was then one of the big six energy companies. And so the last five years have been this incredible journey from Challenger brand to scaled energy retailer to going through a pretty complicated integration, but also really a fundamental reimagining of what our business could, be. And my role during that time has always focused around actually how we want to do things differently for customers, how we put them more at the heart of the business, be that changes that we want to make to technology, changes that we want to make to processes or fundamental differences in how we organize so we can see the customer from a more end to end perspective. And then from a cultural perspective, how the customer is always in the room, how we encourage people who are closest to the customer. So our operators to be the ones that are making decisions, helping us understand what we need to do differently, how we show up for customers day in and day out. And that's culminated in me taking on the COO role at the end of last year as they're starting the year with this. As you touched on a huge amount of energy around what really what we're going to do differently going forward, how we harness all of those learnings of everything that's come before, but also how we start to really bring in some of that innovation that we're seeing around technology, around the opportunity that AI and digitalisation can bring, not just for our customers, but also for our operators. And hopefully we'll talk a little bit about that in more detail later.
Mansi One of the things that really resonates in what you've just shared, Lauren, is that customer centricity. As a consultant. I work in so many organisations where sometimes that's one of the afterthoughts or one of the forgotten thoughts, and I love that it's been so central to your thinking. I'm sure there are many CEOOs today listening to the podcasts thinking, yes, I could do with a bit more of that thinking in my organisation. I was curious to understand whether there are any specific strategies or changes that you've implemented at Ovo that really stand out for you.
Lauren Maybe I'll start with a few building blocks of how we've created more customer centric operating models and then can actually come share a few examples. So probably the first thing for me is making sure that we have a vision and a set of goals that speak to the things that we want to do differently and move the dial on for customers, because then everyone can galvanize around that, understand their contribution, and it demonstrates how essential that is to what we're trying to do as an organisation. I think the second one is some of the structures. So actually, how do you organise more around the customer? So in previous organisations that I've been in and even where we were in OVO, we were perhaps organised a bit more functionally. So you end up naturally being more siloed and customers don't experience organisations like that. They're not thinking about, well, this is your commercial department. All right. Okay. Now speaking to your contact centre that they want to experience a seamless journey. So really, the way that we want to start organising is around journeys, is around the lifecycle of the customer. One of the things that we've been doing at OVO is actually bringing people together with all the skills and capabilities around aspects of the customer lifecycle, the customer journey, so that they can work together to deliver brilliant experiences rather than feel like we have got loads of teams in different places that are trying to figure out different problems. It all just feels a little bit, a little bit disparate. So, something about how you organise more around the customer end to end and create more accountability within those teams to deliver those great outcomes for customers. And then the third one for me, and it sounds obvious, but it really is about ways of working. So, you can create any operating model, any structure. But actually, it doesn't really count for much unless you've got the right behaviors, you've got the right leadership. Very much about how you show up, how you're leading, not just what you're doing on a kind of day-to-day basis. And over we talk about this concept of having enterprise leaders, which put simply is people that can see and understand the bigger picture and then make decisions and benefit that whole view. Again, getting away from some of that kind of siloed decision making. It's also about how you adopt more of a coaching leadership style. So when you're working with teams on a day in and day out, rather than you directing a saying, this is what we need to do, you're encouraging those actually are again closest to the customer, closest to the work, to be making the decisions to be drive in the work that needs to be done. And in doing that, what we're finding is that's creating the passion and a real ownership and actually we're unlocking new opportunities and solving some of the things in challenging, be it, you know, some of complaints that we have or some of the big industry change that's coming up. Certainly these ways of working and organising in a different way has been a bit of a game changer for us over the last year in particular, I'd say.
Mansi Now that Lauren sounds like a huge amount of change to take the organisation through with not a small amount structure coming in. Given you described OVO earlier as a Challenger brand, I was curious to understand what have been some of the challenges or hurdles you had to overcome in order to truly put that in place in your role?
Lauren I think definitely trying to consume and metabolize that amount of change in any operation is really challenging. It's great to have such a huge ambition, which is one of the things I love about OVO. But there is a reality to landing that level of change. I think how we strike the balance is back to what I talked about around some of the way we organise and the way of working. We really encourage our people to be these mini entrepreneurs say, to feel this huge sense of ownership around what they're doing, how they're doing it, when they're doing it to a certain extent. So when we think about the level of change and the difference that we want to make as an organisation, we're looking at our people to help manage and embed that and help us understand how that should live within the operation, within the organisation, and for them to really go in and embed that over a period of time. And that's been working really well for us, is back to how do you create that lovely balance between agency within big scale teams. Otherwise it's really hard to move forward if we don't have that. But also make sure that people feel supported and are really clear on where we're trying to get to.
Mansi And that resonates so strongly with me, not least because I see Baringa is full of entrepreneurs who want agency. And I think one of things you and I have touched on previously, not today on this podcast, is just that concept of people, people having to let go of current ways of working as well. I wanted to just pause and think for a moment about the fact that in driving more structure some of these strategies into place, how do you hold on to innovation, something that I'm sure the entrepreneurs really value as well? Have you thought through that?
Lauren For me, that is about if you clay on the what. So this is what we're trying to get to and create space for people to innovate on the how. So rather than be like, we must do it like this. So much I find when I sit down with the teams, I'm like, this is the problem we're trying to solve, or this is the opportunity we're trying to go after. If we bring the right people together and create the right space, then invariably people come up with the most brilliant and innovative solutions. And for me, some of the conversations we're having at Ovo around the differentiator that the tech can also create. So we're at the moment doing lots of experimentation with AI, not only in supporting some of the interactions with customers, but also actually in arming our operators with better tooling and taking out some of the day to day. Or I need to write that memo on how to write these notes. So actually, our operators have got more space to have great conversations with customers. Those great conversations lead to things that we're hearing more from customers that they want. That's coming in to some of the innovation and propositions that we're thinking about for the customers. And all of that is creating this quite nice, virtuous circle. So giving people more ownership on how and then giving them more space in their day to day to understand the needs and then take that into forums where the space to innovate and create new solutions is a really nice halo effect that we're seeing.
Mansi Yeah, it really feels like you're taking the organisation on the journey with you as well. Particularly when we talk about things like I have you found there has been a warm reception to what you have put in place on that front?
Lauren We certainly have had to work hard to explain the opportunity of AI and this concept that it can feel quite scary looking into like a robot is going to take over all of our jobs. And the answer to that is no, actually. Well, what I can create is this space in people's roles. It can take away some of the more transactional elements and actually allow for certainly our operators to have better conversations or to be managing some of the more complex work. And if I think about, you know, the future of energy and where we might be in 5 to 10 years, what I want my operators to where I want them to be, the conversations I want them to have a more around talking to customers around the opportunity they have to decarbonize their home. What products and services might be right for them, What's their energy consumption pattern and what would make the difference for them? And thinking about flexible energy. And rather than necessarily having some of the more, you know, simple and transactional conversations that the reality of where we find ourselves now. So that's the conversation we've been having with a lot of our operators. And perhaps on a more on a more personal note, some of the things that we've been using AI for our call transcriptions and giving our advisors writeups and notes. And as someone that’s dyslexic and sponsor our neurodiversity network, we've had great feedback from others in that community saying this has been absolutely game changing. Like I don't now need to focus on capturing all that detail. I can really tune in and listen to the customer and have a better quality of conversation. And we've definitely seen that reflected in some of the sentiment back from our customers. So for me, we are just at the start of that journey, but I think in the most positive way, tech will become the new ops in the sense of the tooling and the innovation that it will bring. And our operators will become a community of experts that are really helping customers solve more of those complex and future decarbonisation needs, which is, you know, the exciting part of hopefully where the energy sector is, is moving towards.
Mansi Very much so. And I really find how you've described this as very thoughtful. What you've described is how technology and AI is ultimately in service of your end goal for the customer. I think holding that the core of what you're trying to achieve I think is a really big win. And it's also great to hear some of the examples where things are working well for you. Every CEO I speak to at the moment has got a question mark and is trying things is quite helpful to shared the spectrum of things being trialed and the ones are working as well. Now if it's a halo and I'm going to and perhaps move us on in the conversation because I'd like to and can a little bit more personal and. About you of that. Okay. So there's something that is on my mind, which is doing this role. Undertaking the change that you've actually driven, the transformation I've gone through. What have you learned about leading change effectively from inside the operation?
Lauren I've pretty much that most of my career in and around strategy transformation is of operational excellence, and I think some of my biggest learnings in change is how do you get that balance between ambition and boldness, which is something I'm very passionate about having really challenging and testing objectives. I'm really trying to meet them. But recognizing where your organisation is, where your people are, where your customers are, and finding that balance on where you want to get to and how you take people on that journey and breaking it down into a series of, you know, stages arcs. Have you want to think about it? But always being really clear on this is the vision. This is where we're trying to get to and getting people really excited and bought into that and being able to connect their role, their contribution, their day to day to what that looks like and feeling very purposeful about that, very powerful in that role and ultimately really proud about what they're delivering. And then for me as well. Also, any time you go through change, it's helping people to understand this is changing. This is staying the same. So it doesn't feel like everything is moving at once, which can be just really hard for people to get their heads around. So where do I get stability and what are the bits that we're constantly innovating? And then brilliant storytelling and proof points. So what's all the good stuff that's happened? What have we learned? How are we taking that forward and how can we see that, you know, making a difference for whatever goal or outcome it is that you're trying to move towards? That's certainly the change mantra that we've adopted over and that I've certainly been part of shaping. Big, heady vision. What are the horizons of which we're going to get? We're going to get across it, and then how do we celebrate and learn as we go celebrate the wins? But also and I know it can sound a bit glib, but also the failures like there's there's a lot more you learn in the things that aren't going right, the mistakes that you make, the way you thought something would do one thing and it didn't. And then how you keep going and pivot from some of that.
Mansi I really agree with that, Lauren. And I guess as COO, there's a lot that you're continually balancing and it would be great to hear a bit about how you balance delivering what's so important and probably quite urgent to drive performance today with really thinking ahead and preparing for the challenges of tomorrow, particularly given your orientation and focus around getting the vision for the future correct.
Lauren I think the joy and the challenge in the COO role is exactly as you've described the so much about grip in the here and now and the performance and what needs to be true over the next 6 to 12 to 18 months. And then but always solving towards a future vision, you know, sort of what might operations look like in two, five, ten years time based on where the market and the sector is going. And I think, therefore, you need to be balancing fundamental practicality with the innovation and the experimentation. So I do a lot with my team on, right, let's look at what we're doing now. If we have got the right grip, we are focused on the right horizons. We're moving the right things, we're seeing the right price points. And then purposely almost dislocating into right in ten years time, though, what will mindset look like and how do we start back solving to where we are now in terms of the skills that we need to be thinking about? It could be a channel strategy that we need to start thinking about in terms of where and how we want to service customers. It could be our site strategy, whatever it looks like, but this almost constant coming forward to then come backwards and say you're living in the current, but also the future and using those two things to constantly be calibrating it. And honestly, one of the things I love about the role, because you get to do the real kind of nitty gritty grab, but you also get to play in a really nice innovation and strategic space. And I don't think there's that many roles that offer that variety and allow you to have a foot in both camps.
Mansi I think it's one of the rewarding parts of the COO roles that I see through the people that I engage with and speak with. The ability to straddle both of those. Perhaps touching on a term used a little earlier in our conversation, Lauren used the term storytelling, which I'm a big fan of. And if I can put you on the spot for a moment to perhaps look ahead, what is it you're particularly excited to see evolve in the workplace over the next 5 to 10 years? And how would you tell the story of that?
Lauren I am really excited about where the energy transition could go and the innovation there in terms of products and services and what that might mean. And the story there for me is about how do you connect that from today into the future? Because it can feel quite daunting looking ahead and thinking, well, where do I start? What do I do? So helping everyone to understand, you know, what they can do now, what steps they can take. And but certainly something that we've been doing at OVO, we've been working with our customers to help them understand what are some of the small things they could do now and how do we help them get ready for the energy transition? So through something called Ovo Beyond, we've seen customers can bank EV miles or points towards solar, so they might not be ready to go on that energy transition journey yet, but they're almost banking rewards that they can use at the point that they already are just being an energy customer with this, which is a is a great way of gearing for the future wherever you are right now. And then maybe more personally, I'm really excited at the change in leadership style that I'm starting to see as you see some of the new leadership talent coming off. I'm seeing more diversity around the table be that, you know, cognitively, be that gender, be that ethnicity. And that's something I'm really excited about that how that diversity will unlock a different type of conversation, how there are so many different styles of leadership that are now, you know, we're seeing on a day to day basis. And so I'm moving away maybe from some of the more kind of traditional structures. And I think that's going to be a real a real game changer. And that's something I'm certainly really personally invested and very excited about.
Mansi I, too am excited about that. So thank you for sharing both of those. I think those are two wonderful ways of describing, I think, what the future holds for us. Now. I can't believe we're already at time, but perhaps if I could ask you to share with the listening audience what piece of advice or a key takeaway you'd like to leave our listeners with today.
Lauren My big piece of advice is be yourself. Be that authentic leader. Because, as I think I said at the start, you can have any strategy, you can have any, you know, organisational system operating model, whatever it is. But actually what makes the difference is how we show up, how we lead, how we create followership. How about how we're brave and how we take people on that journey? And that for me is the thing that creates the shift in businesses. It creates the tipping point. And so. That is the piece of advice I would I would give that be your authentic self. Be bold. Be brave.
Mansi Great advice. Lauren That really resonates and I'm sure it will with our audience today. I'm so cognisant of the fact that COOs across such a big and broad mandate and remit within their organisations and actually how you show up as a leader is such a core part of your ability to drive change meaningfully across the organisation. It's been lovely to have you here. And so you really hear how you've brought to life some of the customer centricity that within your role you've been driving across the organisation. I've also found it fascinating to really understand how you've entwined and interlinked technology and innovation, both with a learning mindset today around some of the things that are working, some of the things that you're trialing, but also the education that the workforce is going through in terms of understanding what new tools technologies mean for their future jobs as well. And of course, it's been great to just hear more about you, hear about your journey, how you lead change and some of the things that matter to you and excite you in the future as well. So perhaps I'll close by saying a huge thank you for joining us, Lauren.
Lauren Thanks, Mansi. I've really enjoyed it.
Mansi And a massive thank you to our listeners as well. Please join the discussion. Comment and tell us what you think.
