Align Conference: Empowering Employees through CX Learning & Collaboration
How a CX conference into a movement that united teams and won awards.​
Focus: Building Cross-Functional Partnerships to Drive CX Impact
Role: Founder, Co-Chair, and Speaker & Sponsorship Lead
Challenge
CX was more of an aspirational concept at Prudential than embedded in the culture's DNA. There was no central space for employees to connect, share ideas, or learn from one another. CX was just in its infancy at Prudential, with no formal platform to reach the masses.
Solution
I founded and co-chaired the Align Conference in 2020, an annual event that brought together CX, design, and leadership teams across Prudential. The event was structured around both internal and external speakers, designed to spark innovation, build community, and foster collaboration. I led the sponsorship efforts, crafted the event agenda, and sourced impactful speakers. In addition, I facilitated meetings with leadership utilizing tools like Miro and Airtable so that each minute was optimized with key decision-makers. Year over year, new ideas were incorporated into the conference such as the first CX Expo where employees could share their customer impacts with their peers, facilitating cross-functional collaboration and connection.
Impact
-
The Align Conference became a cornerstone of Prudential’s CX and design strategy which employees looped forward to annually.
-
The event grew in size and prestige, from 200 to over 1,000 attendees from 25 business units and functions with key Senior Leadership participation and attendance.
-
While the event grew, the budget did not. This event generated $70k+ in external sponsorship resulting in a small profit.
-
It cultivated a sense of ownership and pride in CX work, with employees feeling empowered and inspired.
-
Employee retention improved, and internal leadership became more deeply involved in CX initiatives. As a result, employees looked forward to Align and scored it a 76 NPS.
-
As a result, we saw a measurable increase in collaboration and innovation across teams.
-
Utilizing AI and many other tools, we were able to reduce time spent in planning meetings and reduce the number of planning volunteers by 75%
My Learning
-
Power of Asynchronous Work: I saw how giving teams flexibility led to faster progress, better engagement, and autonomy on what they wanted for this event as we had a North Start set.
-
Design with feeling: Empathy-driven planning process made this conference more meaningful and impactful. Approach everything as a design challenge
-
Manage Correctly: Effectively managing a volunteer team meant setting clear expectations, defining goals, minimizing meetings, and ensuring their time was used wisely.
