46 episodes

Sure, we all know what digital transformation is in theory — but what does it look like in practice? Transformation @ Work takes a deep dive into our rapidly changing business landscape and unpacks the economic trends affecting real businesses (and people) today. Every episode, host Jeff Stormer sits down with experts and industry leaders to strip away the jargon and empower listeners to action real digital change with Salesforce.

Let’s leave the buzzwords behind, together.

Connect with us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/gerent

Transformation @ Work Transformation @ Work

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 9 Ratings

Sure, we all know what digital transformation is in theory — but what does it look like in practice? Transformation @ Work takes a deep dive into our rapidly changing business landscape and unpacks the economic trends affecting real businesses (and people) today. Every episode, host Jeff Stormer sits down with experts and industry leaders to strip away the jargon and empower listeners to action real digital change with Salesforce.

Let’s leave the buzzwords behind, together.

Connect with us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/gerent

    T@W Ep 49: Unpacking 2024’s Biggest Priorities For Payers (And How Salesforce Health Cloud Can Help)

    T@W Ep 49: Unpacking 2024’s Biggest Priorities For Payers (And How Salesforce Health Cloud Can Help)

    A new year means new trends and priorities for virtually every industry under the sun. And for healthcare payers, several of the most prominent developments of the past few years– such as prior authorization, concerns around member experience, compliance, and the ever-rising role of AI– are projected to become unavoidable in 2024. So how can payers leverage technology to get ahead of these rapidly developing trends? That’s where Salesforce Health Cloud comes in. In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we’re looking at how payers can leverage digital tools to stay one step ahead of 2024’s fastest-developing trends and priorities.

    Key Talking Points
    02:49: Outlining the major trends set to impact the payer industry in 2024
    04:10: How payers can leverage Salesforce Health Cloud to deliver the best-in-class experience to their members
    06:50: Steps payers can take to streamline the prior authorization process through technology
    10:45: The critical importance of building relationships with outside community organizations, and how Salesforce can help facilitate them
    13:55: How Salesforce Health Cloud can help payers stay compliant and on top of legislative changes
    16:32: Why the payer industry is relatively cautious to build AI into their workflows
    19:47: Low-hanging fruit: steps payers can take right now to get ahead of 2024’s developing industry trends

    Guest Bio
    Cheryl Gibson
    Senior Director of Healthcare & Life Sciences (Payers), Gerent
    Cheryl Gibson is a tenured healthcare professional and Salesforce solution leader who excels in translating business processes into high-value technical solutions. With nearly three decades of industry experience — 10 of which were dedicated to directing the strategy, design, and implementation of complex projects in the Salesforce ecosystem — Cheryl is well-equipped to help Gerent’s payer clients overcome hurdles and achieve their ideal future state.

    • 23 min
    T@W Ep 48: Project Rewind: Building a Microfinance Platform to Uplift Communities in Need

    T@W Ep 48: Project Rewind: Building a Microfinance Platform to Uplift Communities in Need

    How does a community lift itself out of poverty? One increasingly popular method is through microfinance: small loans, provided by a mix of donors and financial institutions, are given to those without access to traditional capital to help kickstart business ventures. These loans have a tangible impact on members of struggling communities, often causing a ripple effect that lifts up more and more people over time. This life-changing impact sits at the heart of Care Australia’s mission: delivering targeted microfinance support to women in underserved communities to help make their ambitions a reality.

    But setting up the infrastructure to facilitate these loans comes with its own set of challenges, from security and compliance to balancing the needs of individual lenders and larger institutions. In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we recount how Gerent ANZ helped Care Australia bring its microfinance portal to life and provide communities with unprecedented access to entrepreneurial opportunities.

    Key Talking Points
    02:21: Introducing Care Australia’s mission: helping to provide capital and financial support to members of underprivileged communities
    03:30: What is microfinance, and how can it help individuals without access to capital achieve their business goals?
    04:36: Exploring the ripple effect of microfinance; what really happens when one woman is enabled to achieve her long-term business goals?
    06:30: How Care Australia’s microfinance portal works, and how individuals and financial institutions can contribute
    08:39: Understanding the project: what did Care Australia need to bring their microfinance portal to fruition?
    10:00: Unpacking Gerent ANZ’s transformation planning process; how do you build a first-of-its-kind microfinance portal?
    11:02: Addressing common nonprofit budgetary challenges through out-of-the-box Salesforce functionality
    13:12: The challenges of building two separate digital experiences for different user audiences
    15:24: How Gerent ANZ ensured that operating costs were minimal so that as much money as possible could go towards Care Australia’s mission
    16:16: Maintaining compliance, security, and governance throughout the transaction process
    18:17: Taking a “divide and conquer” approach towards implementation to ensure maximum efficiency from beginning to end
    21:11: Putting it all together: the impact that Care Australia’s microfinance portal has on individuals and communities in need

    Guest Speakers
    Arnaud Charlier, Head of Data and Platforms Performance, Care Australia
    Arnaud brings over 18 years of experience in the nonprofit and automotive consulting sectors to his current role as head of data and platform performance with Care Australia. For over 20 years, Care Australia has provided direct financial support to women in underprivileged communities through managed loans and microfinance. Their goal is to uplift not just the women themselves, but family members, loved ones, and the communities at large through successful business ventures.

    Pradeep Laxminarayana, Managing Director, Gerent ANZ
    As Managing Director, Pradeep Laxminarayana is responsible for directing Gerent’s business strategy, growth initiatives, and Salesforce consulting staff in Australia and New Zealand. Over the course of his 20-year career, Pradeep has successfully executed transformation programs across the utilities, telecom, retail, insurance, and public sector ecosystems.

    Amit Kumar, Salesforce Principal Consultant, Gerent ANZ
    As Program Delivery Director, Amit Kumar oversees all of Gerent ANZ’s Salesforce work programs. A veteran IT leader, Amit has over 17 years of experience in the professional services sector and has successfully led digital transformation initiatives in the utilities, NFP, and public sectors. He is well-versed in Scrum Agile, Scaled Agile, Waterfall, and Hybrid methodologies.

    • 22 min
    T@W Ep 47: Answering The “How”: Building An Effective Salesforce Pre - Implementation Roadmap

    T@W Ep 47: Answering The “How”: Building An Effective Salesforce Pre - Implementation Roadmap

    A Salesforce implementation is a major undertaking that constitutes thousands of dollars and weeks to months of training time. Ensuring that deployment is a success — and that your investment doesn’t go to waste — is imperative. So, how do you make sure that teams stay aligned, objectives are hit, and adoption happens long-term?

    To find the answer, you need to go back: before the first training is held, and before a developer ever sits down with a given project. In this episode of Transformation @ Work, our experts look at the pre-deployment meetings between team leaders and their technology partners, when they work together to develop a plan that answers not only the “what” of a Salesforce implementation, but the “how” as well.

    Key Insights
    02:35: Understanding the impact an effective implementation plan can have on an organization’s adoption rate and success with Salesforce
    04:25: The “what” vs. the “how”: why organizations often fail to clearly map out their implementation journey
    07:59: The first step in an effective deployment plan: defining what success looks like for your organization
    11:21: Key considerations when assessing new technology, and building a plan for how to use it effectively
    12:36: Visualizing what success looks like post-implementation, and identifying how your team can work towards that end-state
    15:19: Key questions for team leaders to ask their technology partners to ensure a comprehensive implementation plan
    18:01: The importance of regular check-ins to ensure your team is trending towards your stated implementation goals
    20:23: Putting it all together: how building an effective implementation plan prepares organizations to embrace change and anticipate the unexpected

    Guest Bios
    Nicole Guerra, Sales Director, Consumer Business Services, Gerent
    Nicole's experience in the Salesforce ecosystem covers all aspects of the digitalization journey, from starting as a Salesforce super-user within a customer organization, to working as an account director at Salesforce, then transitioning into the world of consulting. That range of perspectives gives her keen insight into the process of implementation, and how organizations can best ready themselves for Salesforce success.

    Eric Saxton, Sales Director, Consumer Business Services, Gerent
    Eric brings a wealth of experience to his current role, having worked with manufacturers, nonprofits, educational institutions, and travel and hospitality groups, and having been on both sides of the implementation process as a customer and consultant. Having seen the ups and downs of the tech deployment process, he is able to confidently lead different kinds of organizations through their digitalization and Salesforce journey.

    • 22 min
    T@W Ep 46 - Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Empowering Organizations To Better Support Their Communities

    T@W Ep 46 - Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Empowering Organizations To Better Support Their Communities

    In the Nonprofit sector, investment in cutting-edge technology is often a luxury. After all, most nonprofits aim to funnel as much income as possible directly into the communities they serve – meaning there’s little left over to spend on nice-to-have tech. But as an ironic result of this impact focus, many organizations are left to manage tight budgets, razor-thin margins, and overworked employees and volunteers.

    But what if nonprofits could not only take advantage of the best-in-class tools developed for other industries — but also have those tools contextualized for industry use cases? In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we look at the newly-enhanced Nonprofit Cloud, how it compares with Nonprofit Success Pack, and how the novel product can serve the needs of nonprofit organizations, employees, and constituents.

    Key Insights
    03:19: A brief history of Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), and how it led to the creation of Nonprofit Cloud
    05:39: The challenges of customizing “out-of-the-box” solutions to suit specific needs, and how those hurdles impact nonprofit organizations
    06:51: The “why” of Nonprofit Cloud: how it serves the specific needs of organizations and addresses their most relevant pain points
    08:26: The make-or-break importance of personalized experiences, and how Nonprofit Cloud helps organizations deliver them to donors and constituents
    10:27: How OmniStudio transforms the way employees build experiences within Salesforce
    12:42: Noteworthy features of Nonprofit Cloud: how actionable lists and interest tags allow new avenues for personalization
    16:37: Migrating from NPSP to Nonprofit Cloud: what organizations need to consider before making the leap
    19:00: How a qualified technology partner can help organizations make the most of the new Nonprofit Cloud

    Guest Speakers
    Regine Benchetrit
    Director, Nonprofit Growth & Marketing, Gerent
    Regine Benchetrit is a highly adaptable consultant with a diverse professional background and an insatiable thirst for knowledge. With a career spanning two decades, of which more than half was spent in the nonprofit sector, she has held various leadership positions within digital consultancies and prominent Canadian nonprofit organizations. In 2022, she was invited by Salesforce to speak about NFTs and Cryptocurrency at the Nonprofit Summit. Her professional expertise has spanned a wide range of industries, including sports & entertainment, insurance, CPG and Telco, to mention a few. She excels at empathizing with and uncovering her clients’ pain points, forging strong connections, and crafting innovative solutions to intricate challenges through constructive teamwork. Regine is fervent about giving back, building communities, and helping nonprofits drive their missions.

    James Gardner Gregory, Ph.D.
    Senior Director, Industry Solutions - Education and Nonprofit Services, Gerent
    James is a 17x certified Solution Engineering Leader with 15 years of firsthand experience in higher education. Starting his career as a Special Educator and Counsellor, James now comes to us straight from Salesforce as an industry-leading expert with a proven track record of success in his field. He specializes in creating cutting-edge solutions that address top-of-mind issues for Education and Nonprofit organizations.

    Richard Smyth
    Consulting Senior Director, Education & Nonprofit, Gerent
    Richard Smyth is an experienced senior leader with over 20 years of IT leadership relevant to digital strategy, enterprise applications, operational excellence and executive oversight. Richard has a proven record of spearheading successful transformation initiatives for complex, multi-disciplinary organizations. He excels at delivering superior results by demonstrating the business value of technology implementations.

    • 23 min
    T@W Ep 45: From Social Work To Salesforce: Entering The Ecosystem with A Humanities Background

    T@W Ep 45: From Social Work To Salesforce: Entering The Ecosystem with A Humanities Background

    Anyone with a background in the humanities has probably been told they’re pigeonholing themselves from a career perspective at least once. It’s a pervasive misconception — especially in a field as STEM-driven as the Salesforce ecosystem. But the reality is, having a background in building relationships and connecting with people sets you up for tremendous success in a range of Salesforce-related roles. You just need to find those opportunities and take advantage of them.

    In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we’re sitting down with a Gerent employee who did just that. Jayda Roberts successfully made the transition from social work to change management consulting, and her story is a clear example of just how transferable many of those skills are to the Salesforce ecosystem.

    Key Insights
    02:28: Exploring Jayda’s background in social work and what brought her to the Salesforce ecosystem
    04:35: How Jayda made the transition from Salesforce consulting to change management
    07:29: The unexpected similarities between change management and social work
    11:09: Setting yourself up for success when entering the Salesforce ecosystem from a humanities background
    12:38: Must-have skills for prospective employees making the transition into Salesforce consulting
    14:37: The critical role of empathy in change management
    15:36: Tips on building your technical skill-set when coming from a non-technical background
    17:36: The importance of trusting the process and taking the leap into the Salesforce ecosystem

    Guest Bio
    Jayda Roberts, Senior Change Management Consultant, Gerent
    Jayda brings years of technical and interpersonal experience into her current role, with a background ranging from social work to sales to Salesforce consulting. She uses her wide range of expertise to create and execute change management strategies on enterprise level projects, maximizing employee engagement and adoption through the implementation of structured methodology and processes.

    • 21 min
    T@W Ep 44 - So You’ve Deployed Salesforce In Your Nonprofit… Now How Do You Get People To Use It

    T@W Ep 44 - So You’ve Deployed Salesforce In Your Nonprofit… Now How Do You Get People To Use It

    No one wants to spend their precious time at work fighting with technology or inefficient processes. This is doubly true for the nonprofit sector, where people get into the field to help their communities and make a difference in the world. Unfortunately for team leaders, that often translates to understandable resistance to adopting new technology. That resistance presents a unique challenge for these leaders: how do you get employees excited about adoption, while recognizing that any training or transition is going to pull them away from the work they want to be doing?

    That’s where effective training and change management come into play. A qualified change management partner can play a make-or-break role in overcoming resistance and helping team members recognize the value Salesforce provides to the organization and its mission. In this episode of Transformation @ Work, we’re looking at how leaders can work with their technology partner to excite their employees about new technology to drive serious user adoption long-term.

    Key Insights
    02:44: Common causes of employee resistance to new technology within the nonprofit sector
    05:50: The crucial role of readiness testing in understanding employee resistance and how to overcome it
    07:05: Addressing the fear of change: how to help employees understand “What’s in it for me?”
    10:22: How nonprofits can drive user adoption through better, more employee-focused training
    13:26: Balancing the day-to-day operations of a nonprofit with the necessary time it takes to learn new technologies
    18:21: Deployment is just the start: the importance of ongoing success tracking to monitor user adoption
    20:21: The impact effective change management and training can have on user adoption

    Guest Bios

    Richard Smyth
    Consulting Senior Director, Education & Nonprofit
    Richard Smyth is an experienced senior leader with over 20 years of IT leadership relevant to digital strategy, enterprise applications, operational excellence and executive oversight. Richard has a proven record of spearheading successful transformation initiatives for complex, multi-disciplinary organizations. He excels at delivering superior results by demonstrating the business value of technology implementations.

    Antonia Moore
    Senior Business Analyst, Gerent
    Antonia brings over 15 years of experience in the Salesforce ecosystem to her current role as a Senior Business Analyst at Gerent. In that time, she’s led countless training sessions and helped employees at all levels understand what they can accomplish with Salesforce. Her love of training, mentorship, and education runs through everything she does. Case in point: in addition to her customer-facing training efforts, she provides mentorship to multiple coworkers at Gerent.

    Emeka Elemamba
    Senior Change Management Consultant, Gerent
    Emeka is an experienced change management consultant with over 10 years of experience leading strategic organizational change efforts, and overseeing complex projects in diverse industries. He has a passion for stakeholder management, innovative communication, and achieving impactful results for organizations making the switch to Salesforce.

    • 23 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
9 Ratings

9 Ratings

EMWhitehead ,

Friendly, Clear, and Informative

In a relatively short runtime, this show provides guidance on using current tools like Salesforce to improve business practices. The host, Jeff, is an excellent interviewer who makes the discussion friendly and natural, rather than a lecture.

thedragonwiththegirltattoo ,

Surprisingly relevant & well-presented!

To be totally honest, I expected this podcast to largely just be a sales pitch for Salesforce, but I recently changed career fields and figured I would give it a shot anyway in the interest of demystifying some of the workplace jargon and giving myself a crash course in some broad corporate topics. I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed it! The host does a fantastic job making the information compelling and accessible without ever condescending or watering down the expertise of his guest speakers. The production value is so sharp and clean that it feels much more like broadcast journalism than a workplace marketing push, which makes it easy and engaging to listen to on my commute. Lots here for everyone—I’ll definitely be tuning in again!

Marn S. ,

Great show

A well hosted and informative show with great insight from guests!

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