Welcome to another edition of Leading Through Change, our live video conversation series exploring how leaders use software to drive impactful change in industry. For upcoming interviews: Salesforce.com/Live.

Beginning October 1, 2020, Deputy CEO of Siemens Roland Busch assumes overall responsibility of the global tech company. He sits down with Salesforce President and CRO Gavin Patterson to discuss Siemens’ global management of the pandemic and the potential for automation to bring people back to work. Busch sees this time of crisis not only as a way to solve problems, but as a moment to seize opportunity. Here, he unfolds how his organization quickly empowered 385,000 employees in 200 countries to plan for health and safety, customer satisfaction, and knowledge equality.

In addition, you’ll see a demonstration of Work.com, a partnership project of Salesforce and Siemens that provides apps, advice, and training to help teams return to work. And Senior Director of Developer Evangelism Leah McGowen-Hare  has a long vibing conversation about spirituality and inspiration with musical guest Andra Day. See the full video below.

Highlights from the conversation include:

Global team empowerment

Managing the pandemic could only happen at the local level. Busch believes, “If you have the right people and you give them trust, just let them do their job. Empowered teams excel and will do more than 100%. This can be a tough adjustment for managers, but it’s the most powerful element you can have as a leader.”

Remote work provides options

In a global survey of 70,000 employees, Siemens found that most teams wanted to split their time between the office and the remote office. As Busch discovered, “People can be more productive if they choose where they can work. Be outcome-oriented; it’s not about how much time you spend in an office. This kind of flexibility provides more attractive jobs for better talent.”

Education to combat inequality

Some years ago, Busch asked managers in Siemens’ global regions what they wanted to spend money on, and they all agreed: education and training are key for good jobs and for the benefit of society. “Reskilling is more important than ever. We spend more than $500 million per year for training and education of our own employees, and train local communities on our technologies.”

See the Work.com demo

Tech Product Marketing Manager Julia Pohlman walks us through the Work.com interface and command center, a tool created by Salesforce and Siemens to perform staff health checks, scheduling, and facilities management to help get you back to work.

Hear the music

Thirty-three minutes in,  McGowen-Hare interviews musician Andra Day. After their conversation, Day shares three recorded music videos made just for us.

Watch the whole conversation