WEBVTT - Bonus: H&R Block CEO Jeff Jones on leading a company with purpose 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:05.360 Hi everyone, I'm Katie Current. I hope you're all enjoying 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.360 Back to Biz with Katie and Bows, the special series 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.559 I'm doing with my friend and co host Bozma st. John. 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:15.240 We're about halfway done with the series. The next episode 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:18.800 is coming out July. And in the meantime, I wanted 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:22.079 to share an interview I did back in February what 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:27.040 seems like a lifetime and another world ago. It was 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:30.120 an interview we did for our Next Question Live series, 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:36.800 So in front of an audience in our offices in Manhattan, Hi, 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:42.600 how are you? Hi? Everyone? As I said, another world ago. 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.640 But just to set the scene for you, it was 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:49.159 the Monday after the Super Bowl and we had Jeff Jones, 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:53.800 the CEO of H and R block in from Kansas City. Everyone, 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:56.600 and welcome to Next Question Live. It's great to have 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:00.800 everyone here. You know, it had been fifty three years 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.360 since the Kansas City Chiefs went to the Super Bowl. 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.560 Back then they were crushed by the Green Babys. I'm 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:10.160 sorry to remind you, so last night's victory was especially 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.560 sweet for Chiefs fans, including the one sitting here with 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.319 me right now. Jeff Jones is the CEO of h 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.560 and R Block. The company's headquartered in Kansas City, and 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.959 you can imagine there's still quite a few people celebrating 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:27.319 the victory at the Super Bowl. Jeff, welcome, Thank you, 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:29.800 Thank you so much for coming in very late night 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.920 last night. I was gonna say tell us about it. 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.160 We have such a nice conversation, but we had to 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:38.560 hold the release for obvious reasons. But now here we are, 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.600 it's July, and we're nearing the new and extended tax 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:47.319 deadline of July. So I was reminded of my chat 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.160 with Jeff. You know, he's such a fascinating guy with 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.320 this really atypical background for CEO, and we talked about 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.520 the road that led to this job, how he's changing 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:01.840 workplace culture, and he also offered really thoughtful career advice. 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.720 So I wanted to share this conversation with you today, 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:11.239 I mean, if not now, when, so I hope you enjoy. 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.280 We should talk about your love with sports, because you 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:18.480 played baseball as a kid growing up in Parkersburg, West Virginia, 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.080 and um I was asking you earlier, we were chatting 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.240 if that was your ticket out, But it wasn't so 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.560 much baseball. It was actually military school. It was military school, 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:31.800 that's right. So I was. You know, I'm from a 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.080 really small town. I was a way better than average 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.120 baseball player, but I was a terrible student. And I 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.320 had a high school coach that said to me, so 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:43.000 imagine in today's world as a high school senior. I 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.720 never taken a standardized test. I had no family that 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:50.120 had ever gone to college. We didn't have a college counselor. 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.080 But I had a coach say to me, Hey, Jones, 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:55.560 were you going to go to school next year? And 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:58.519 I said, I have no idea. And this coach named 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.520 Chris Wegman said to me, you should go to Fork 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:05.760 Union Military Academy. I didn't know what that was, and 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:09.079 obviously there was no mobile phones or internet. And so 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:12.040 my mom called and we got a packet in the mail, 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:14.560 and I ended up going. I won't borry with the 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:19.120 whole story, but it changed my life. That was one year. 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.520 So this was after you graduated from college. I went 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:26.040 as a PG after high school before I went to college, 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:29.119 A sorry, a post graduate of high school. In athletes, 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:32.560 there's a common PG year that you do after high school, 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.520 and a lot of colleges will send kids there instead 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:39.240 of red shirting him. So at Fork Union Military Academy 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:42.680 in Southern Virginia and Southern virgin Union, Virginia kind of 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.840 right between Charlottesville and Richmond, and that's where you were. 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.800 And I'm from Virginia and I went to u v A, 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:49.839 so I know that area. But that's where you really 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:53.360 got your act together. And so when you graduated from 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:59.240 high school, you were kind of unimpressive. I was extremely unimpressive. 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:01.080 I'm not sure I'm in pressive now, but I was 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:05.200 definitely not impressive. Impressive now, but I'm just saying, you know, 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:07.560 you didn't have great grades, as you said, So you 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.280 went to military school, you did well, and then you 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:12.840 ended up at the University of Dayton that's into school. 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.400 And I learned in that process that I wasn't good 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:18.480 enough to play baseball professionally. I was a catcher, and 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.640 you'd go to all these pro tryout camps and I 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:24.120 had an average arm. I was a really good batter, 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:27.279 and I was slow, and they just said, we can't 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:29.719 make you faster. You can't play at the next level 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.400 if you're slow. And so I just gave up baseball 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.880 and started studying more. And you you obviously have a 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.000 lot of hustle. Was there a moment where things just 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:40.000 suddenly clicked? What happened? You know, there's no question that 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.960 I think the hustle of my parents is where it starts. 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.360 My parents are entrepreneurs, small mom and pop entrepreneurs and 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.960 a lot of ups and downs. But I think you 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:55.320 learned resilience from that fork. Union was a chance, and 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.240 I knew when I went there that I just didn't 0:04:57.279 --> 0:04:59.800 want to blow that chance, and so I made the 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:03.520 mo most of it. That launched into going to university. 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:06.400 And in university, I learned that I was obsessed with 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:10.000 how consumers behave, why they do what they do. What 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:13.000 did you major in? I majored in communications and marketing 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.520 And my dream job was to work at LEO Burnett 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:18.880 in Chicago. And you got your drinks and I got 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:24.240 my dream job. But I got rejected four times. I 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.720 was considered what they call off the street. I wasn't 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.040 at a school they recruited at, I didn't have an 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.160 m b A. I moved to Chicago without a job, 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.520 and um, I got hired and that's what started my career. 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.000 So how did you finally convince them? Because you said 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:44.560 you were rejected four times, so what what was the 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:47.080 fifth time? Must have been a charm. So what happened, 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.640 you'll never forget it. I finally got that famous informational 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.960 interview which everyone says, it's a real interview, don't blow 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:57.000 it right. So I go in and a guy named 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:00.760 Bill Haljan interviewed me and he said, tell me about 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:04.880 the last time somebody said to you, that's a great idea. 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:08.440 First question, I don't remember what I said to him, 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:10.560 but I gave him an answer, and he said, give 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:12.800 me another one. And I gave him an answer, and 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:14.680 he said give me another one, and I gave him 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.120 an answer, and he said, give me an You don't 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.279 remember any of these was the next one, because the 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:21.200 next thing he said to me, we went through that 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.240 whole thing. And then he said, tell me about a 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:28.479 product that does not exist but should exist. And on 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.720 the spot, I said, fingernail clippers that catch your fingernails. 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.799 And I got hired, and that is how my career. 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.080 And then they moved me to Detroit and I worked 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.840 in the car business. But that that's how it all 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.920 got stored. So did you ever invent fingernails? Scissor fingernail 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.960 clippers that catch your fingernail. Psonally, I learned many years 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:52.880 later when I thought I would do it, that someone 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:56.080 else had already done it. But he was impressed. You 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:58.360 got the job. I got the job, and you were 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:02.040 off to the races. When we come back, Jeff Jones 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:06.200 on creating a more inclusive work environment, which is topic 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:19.360 A these days. You're listening to Next Question with Katie Curic, 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:21.840 and today I'm sharing an interview with H and R 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:26.080 Block CEO Jeff Jones. It was recorded live back in February, 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:30.520 before COVID completely changed our worlds. But listening back on 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:34.080 this conversation, it's interesting how much we covered that is 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:38.000 so relevant right now. So let's pick back up with 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:43.200 Jeff tell us a really quickly. Your resume started in 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:48.040 the agency business at Burnett over about ten years. Um 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.000 was actually part of a couple of entrepreneurial ventures that 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:54.560 were that were reasonably successful. And then you know, if 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:56.600 I just jumped closer to the end, I had an 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.800 amazing opportunity to be the chief marketing officer at Target. 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:04.000 Went to Target's a huge job, an amazing job, and 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.679 did very well there. Did you do all those cool 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:10.360 ads with the red and white. Well, the good news 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.040 is Target always does lots of cool ads, so it 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:15.360 probably depends on which one. I feel like. I feel 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:17.760 like they really changed, you know, when they started to 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.680 be a cooler place to shop and everyone's calling it 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:24.200 targe and their ads were Their ads just seemed to 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.760 be much more, um, I don't know, eye popping. If 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.240 you will, it's fun to watch. Were you a part 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:32.520 of that, Please say yes, because otherwise I'll be very no. 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:34.880 I think I was there at the beginning of them 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.920 getting their mojo back again. The company now is doing 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.680 tremendously well, which is great to see. I also was 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:44.680 there at the darkest days of Target, so I was 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:48.720 responsible for helping the company navigate out of its data breach. 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:54.040 I was there leading crisis communication in the era where 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:58.400 we decided to open up our restrooms to transgender, which 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:02.200 was incredibly controversial the company. So I was there kind 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:06.240 of ups and downs. I then got recruited to go 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:11.319 be the president of Uber and it was an incredible opportunity. 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.120 Very conflicted to leave what I was doing at Target, 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:19.640 i went, and after seven months I left over a 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.640 big ethical stand and so here I am at this 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:25.680 point in my career where I love what I'm doing. 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.360 I'm doing incredibly well at Target. I make this risky 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:33.680 leap and it doesn't work out. What exactly happened and 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.440 we don't have to dwell on this, But obviously you 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.880 went there, you were president for seven months. You knew 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:43.840 that the culture probably needed some fine tuning, to say 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:48.160 the least, So you went there and what happened. So 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:51.880 I was I was hired to help the company grow up. 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:57.079 And there's so many things about Uber that are and 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:01.520 we're incredibly positive, but it's probably have been well documented now, 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.040 you know. And I think the start of it is 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:08.840 what people call a grow at all cost culture, and 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:12.240 that's true. And so I was there when the company 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:16.160 was really struggling through. You know, what are the right 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:18.959 things to do in terms of culture and how women 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:22.720 are treated, and what growth means and all kinds of 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.719 things that have been well written about. At the end 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:27.720 of the day, you only have two things that matter, 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:31.760 your reputation and your relationships. And when I when I 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.280 realized that I wasn't able to make the change I 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.400 was brought there to make, I had to decide to leave. 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:38.800 And why weren't you did were you not given the 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:43.880 authority because clearly it was a company that was right 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:47.600 for change, that really needed somebody of your stature or 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.200 experience to come in and say this is how we 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:53.439 make things better. Uh, did you just run up against 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.839 people that that weren't going to allow you to do 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:59.680 what you felt needed to be done. I think generally 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:04.199 growth was the priority. And you know what's interesting now is, 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:06.800 in hindsight, I've been gone for three years, you know, 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.120 way longer than I was actually there. But I think 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.040 not only Uber has heard the message, but Silicon Valleys 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:15.640 heard of the message, and tech in general's heard the message. 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:17.840 So I was at the very beginning. I was going 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:19.920 to say, you were a little bit ahead of your 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:24.199 time in terms of understanding the importance of culture. And 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:26.640 I want to talk about that in a moment, But 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.679 first you were. You became CEO of H and R 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:33.439 Block in two thousand and seventeen, and I know that 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:37.640 during your first six months you traveled around visiting H 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:41.040 and R Block franchises to really understand the company, the 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.040 culture of the people. Why was that so important to you? Well, 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:47.199 that's where it happens in a large part. I mean, 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:49.680 I think you know, we are a company that is 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:54.280 rewriting its story. Very storied company, been around for a 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:58.840 long time, very well known, sixty five years, sixty five years, UM. 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:01.840 But as as I say to people, it's a crisis 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:07.080 of relevance. Very financially successful, and you know, I think 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.280 as a leader, you have to listen a lot. And 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:13.920 there's no better way to listen than to be with 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.320 people on the front line serving clients. And you know, 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.640 we have a huge footprint. So you have what ten thousand, 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.880 ten thousand UM franchises or what do you call them, 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.760 ten offices about a third of them or franchise owned. 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:31.440 And so I think my first six or seven months, 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.840 I went to fifty or sixty different cities, and you know, 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.679 we operate in every single congressional district in America, so 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.319 we're in really small communities a lot of places. And 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:44.559 you know, that's where I wanted to be. I didn't 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:46.760 want to just come to New York, in Chicago and Boston. 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.640 I wanted to go to the heartland of America and 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:53.000 really hear about this relationship that we have with people 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.760 because it's such a personal topic. Uh. And so it's 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:00.920 an incredible way to start. But if I rewind a second, 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.240 when I first got the call about going to H 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:07.400 and R Block, I literally said to the recruiter, I 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.320 have a really common name. Are you sure you've got 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:15.319 the right Jeff Jones? Because I'm not a financial services guy. 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.600 You know, I have no tax experience whatsoever. And I 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.920 literally thought they'd got the wrong person. And I fell 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.720 in love with the purpose of the company, and I 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.880 fell in love with the problem. And the problem again 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.120 is how do we transform this company to on today's terms. 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:37.120 So in terms of why you became less relevant, why 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:41.520 H and R block is fighting for relevance, what was it? 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.920 Was it basically technology, just as we've seen, you know, 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.400 Barnes and Noble and Amazon and all the all these 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:53.800 sort of conflicts between brick brick and mortar stores and 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:58.120 getting things online. Was that basically the nub of the problem. 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.040 I think there are three main problems. The first one was, 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:05.480 for a bunch of retail operating reasons, our quality wasn't 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.160 as good as it used to be. Related to that, 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.240 we had just been raising prices year over year over year, 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:15.440 really as an effort to grow revenue and deliver quarterly earnings. 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.160 And then the third thing was the services that we 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.400 were providing, and like so many legacy companies, we had 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:27.480 been afraid of digital. And it's a weird market because 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:33.000 it's not like traditional retail of everyone in the country 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:37.400 that gets their taxes done go somewhere for help, so 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:41.400 it's not most people do taxes themselves with software. But 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:45.480 we can't compete if we're not relevant and offer people 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.760 choice and transparency about how this is supposed to happen. 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.400 And I know that's been the focal point of your 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:53.840 latest ads, kind of knowing how much you're going to 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:57.120 pay to get your taxes done at the very beginning 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.920 of the process, instead of being surprised at the very end. 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.520 It's so crazy. But when we talk to consumers, he said, 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:05.640 it's the only thing I buy in my life that 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.000 I have no idea what I'm going to pay until 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.120 after it's over. And we just said, that doesn't make 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:15.080 any sense. Why can't we make pricing completely transparent whether 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:19.440 you're online or in person and remove that mystery because 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:22.040 it's already a stressful topic. You shouldn't have to stress 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.280 about the price. But what about technology, Jeff, I mean, 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.840 how are you how is it changing your business and 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.880 how are you embracing it and combining it with your 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:35.520 legacy professional services. Yeah, it's a great question. I mean 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.840 there's lots of ways. I would almost say in every 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:42.400 way it's impacting our business on the basic level. That's 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:46.600 things like having great d I Y software to compete 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:50.200 against into it in turbo tax. It's also what we 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.280 call virtual tax prep, which I really believe is the 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:56.400 next the next battle that will happen where what you 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:58.680 talk to somebody on the phone and they help you, 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:02.040 but you don't have to necessary go into the exact office. 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.680 So in today's world, it shouldn't be so paper and 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:07.880 manual all the time if you don't want it to 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:11.640 be so, why can't everything be an a p I 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:15.320 automatically upload to a tax preparer, engage with them on 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.560 your mobile device, let us do all the work. You 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.760 e sign and then you're done, but you didn't have 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.600 to go anywhere to do it. But does that defeat 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:28.000 the purpose of this idea of relationship building because I 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:30.760 know one of the things that you're really focused on 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:35.280 is how to make how to build a community, and 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:40.880 how to emphasize personal relationships over uh, you know, doing 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.880 things digitally. Yeah. I mean the way we think about 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.960 it is we have to make it easier, and we 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:47.720 have to make it faster, and we have to make 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:51.000 it more personalized, no matter what the channel. If it's 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:55.040 a digital engagement, then just knowing who you are and 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:57.440 making it faster because you don't have to retype in 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:02.040 all of your information. That's a way of relationship. Clearly 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:06.160 for millions and millions and millions of consumers, they still 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.560 want to sit down with somebody and and have that 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.480 really intimate conversation, and there's there's no better place to 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:15.040 do that than block. You all recently received a score 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.639 from the Human Rights Campaign that does great work on 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:22.000 it on its corporate equality and decks, and you've been 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.639 recognized as one of the best places to work for 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:30.200 lgbt Q equality. Um, you have said being inclusive isn't enough. 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.240 What more needs to be done. The way we think 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.680 about it is to be a place where people feel 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.600 a sense of belonging. So I think is you know, 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.600 this journey has happened for years and years. It started 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.760 out being more diverse, which means a lot of different things, 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:46.959 and then it was how do we be more inclusive? 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.240 What we say, a block is we want to be 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:54.240 a place that everybody feels safe and they can be 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:58.560 their full authentic self, that they feel like they belong there, 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:00.600 which is a great thing to say, But how do 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:04.160 you make it happen? I mean, there are policy changes 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:07.000 that we've made, and many of those are what you 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:09.919 have to do to be recognized by HRC. But I 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:12.679 think the most important thing that we do is to 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:16.639 recognize the discomfort and do everything we can to have 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:21.000 the right conversations. Because whether you're managing one other person 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.440 or in you're in a large group, people are afraid 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.119 to ask someone a question or to learn more about 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:31.080 the differences, or to talk about what differences are. And 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.639 from you know, me trying to lead against it to 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.200 creating the right forms for people to have those conversations, 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.680 that's where we see the power of change really happening. 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.640 The other thing that that you care about is purpose. 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:48.159 And I'm just curious why is it important in companies, 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:53.800 including a tax preparation services company to have purpose? And 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:57.000 are you afraid as people all jump on this bandwagon 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:01.359 that's it, that it will feel disingenuous us to both 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.639 the consumers and to employees. Yeah, I think that's definitely 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:06.919 a watch out. I mean, you know, the the shift 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.800 that we made was to not have a statement of 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:12.760 vision or mission, but to have a statement of purpose. 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:15.919 And that was really intentional change in language, because so 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:20.879 many times vision mission things are written and they just 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:22.800 they kind of go on a wall or a cup 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:26.960 and they don't really live every day. But people want purpose, 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.359 and so companies are people, and so when we change 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.200 that language, and we wrote our purpose is to provide 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:39.360 help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities everywhere. 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.120 The first thing we did was talked to the Block family. 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.399 Henry Block was in the later years and was suffering 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:50.480 from dementia, so he wasn't able to be clear with me, 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:54.240 but his son Tom Block, was to really know, we 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.399 don't want to just make something up because there's a 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.679 new CEO. We want to rediscover who we've been at 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:02.840 our best. And that's a way that we really guard 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:07.160 against our purpose feeling like it's trite or just another statement. 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:10.040 I guess your primary purpose right now, if you want 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:14.159 to talk about that in general, is is how to 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:19.399 combat loneliness and social isolation. And that's something you saw 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:22.960 on two in two separate ways with with your dad 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:26.760 after your mom died, and with your daughters as teenagers. 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.960 So tell us about that. You know, it's it's such 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:33.080 a big ambition for us, and it's not intuitive, you know, 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.240 when you think about this company's platform and where can 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.880 we have an impact in the world. There's so many 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:41.800 things that happen in the company that are fantastic, but 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:44.600 I just said, we have to have something bigger, that's 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:48.360 more systemic. That's something we're all facing in our lives, 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.880 and that for us is this idea of people are lonely. 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:57.400 We recognize because of our humans in all of our offices, 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:02.119 we're sitting down with people and every year having these conversations. 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:06.480 It's about twelve million hours of conversations every year on 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:11.480 really intimate topics. That's the beginning of recognizing that talking 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:14.600 to people and connections in kind of the places where 0:21:14.600 --> 0:21:17.640 people convene and making them better. We want to spark 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:22.200 a movement to recognize loneliness as a problem and human 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:26.800 connections is a way to help solve it. When we 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:40.000 come back office hours with Jeff, let's return to my 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:43.639 conversation with H and R Block CEO Jeff Jones which 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:46.560 was recorded back in February in front of a live 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:51.480 audience in Manhattan. Remember when those were a thing. We 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:55.080 have some great career questions for all these young people 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:57.639 who are trying to figure out what they're doing with 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.560 their lives. And so it's it's office hours with Jeff. 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:03.639 Do you do this or are we just doing this? 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:06.360 Do you do office hours, which Jeff I actually do. Yeah, 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:07.840 you do it, That's what I thought. I was like, 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:11.000 this is your idea, not ours, right. Vincent asked what 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:13.280 is the best way to save money when you're starting 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:15.960 out in your career. You know, when you're starting in 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:17.760 your career and you don't have a lot of money 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:20.840 to save, but you have to pay yourself first. And 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:24.080 that's the best advice that anyone's given recognizing make it 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:27.240 a priority, and it doesn't matter how small it is. 0:22:27.320 --> 0:22:30.520 People think there's they've got to save lots of money, 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:35.000 a dollar five dollars set aside, starting to demonstrate the 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:39.040 power of investing and compounding. But just get started. You'll 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:43.720 be you'll be shocked five twenty years from now what 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:46.280 you've been able to accomplish by starting very small and 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.320 also sacrifice a few things. You know, sometimes you just 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:54.200 can't buy that dress or go to that coffee. Okay, 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:56.359 Amanda ask I have a seven month old? How do 0:22:56.400 --> 0:22:59.040 you juggle family in a career. I love asking a 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:02.719 man this question because it is perpetually asked of women 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:05.520 and never of ment. So how do you do it all? Yeah? 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:08.160