business pretty well already, but as DPD UK CEO, you get to meet and talk to a much wider range of people in the DPD team and beyond. More than anything, I’mkeen for a wider variety of voices to be heard. Inclusivity is one of my big things and my aim is to create different conversations and opportunities for everyone at DPD. We are incredibly lucky to have such a diverse team and we want to celebrate that and turn it into one of our core strengths. My job is to make sure we have an open, diverse and inclusive culture as I believe that is what creates a high-performance environment where everyone can flourish. I’ve certainly appreciated how important my senior management team is. We have over 20,000 people, a huge fleet on the road every day, significant nationwide real estate and we are a seven-day-a-week operation. You need a very strong team to run all that. So, my job now is to lead that team, which is obviously a different challenge for a manager than just running your own piece of the jigsaw. What were your priorities as you started in your new position? Have these shifted since last summer? I think, initially, the focus was on reassurance and continuity at a difficult time with COVID and Brexit still very much in the picture, last year. Our parent, La Poste, wanted to appoint from within the UK team, partly for those reasons and the importance of maintaining the UK operational knowledge. Elaine Kerr, CEO of DPD UK Sustainability & Inclusivity You have had an exceptionally long and successful tenure at DPDUK, having worked in various roles. What were the biggest lessons that you experienced during that time? For most of my career with DPD, I’ve been responsible for retail customers and bringing new customers on board. So, I would say, really understanding customers, working alongside them as partners and working out how to exceed their expectations. At DPD, all of the senior management team are involved in customer management. They are each responsible for a number of retail customers and spend a lot of time out meeting and working directly with them. That gives you a much more rounded view of the business and helps you understand all the issues and opportunities. I’d also say, the importance of investment and innovation. We think of ourselves as a tech company because that is what drives us forward. We realised that parcel delivery had to become smarter. Have you gained any further insights since your appointment as CEO last June? Obviously, I knew the CEO TODAY’S AWARDS WINNERS www. ceotodaymagazine . com 33 The Road to
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