Best use of technology Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Technology is in Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) DNA, so it is only right that the company’s governance team makes the most of new tools to help it operate smoothly, effectively and innovatively.
An important example is the adoption of virtual reality (VR) in recent years. Kyle Frankeny, senior counsel for corporate, securities and M&A, explains that VR breaks down barriers and means it doesn’t matter where team members are located when working together. He adds that it's easier to focus in a virtual meeting, without distractions such as email.
‘Certain team members may even feel more comfortable speaking with a colleague using their avatar than on a video call, and… VR gives them that option now,’ the company writes.
So far, for example, the team has used VR for deal rooms, enabling the M&A legal team to work together without having to book a physical conference room and meet up for negotiations, document drafting and other project management. The team has found that VR is a more interactive and engaging platform for delivering training. The corporate, securities and M&A legal team has also used VR to hold ‘design thinking workshops’ to seek better ways to use the technology.
VR was rolled out for HPE employees to use as a means to participate in the company’s 2022 AGM. The team also developed a microsite to enhance shareholder access to and awareness of the meeting.
Looking ahead, Emiliano Baidenbaum, chief counsel for HPE financial services (Americas), says the legal team is exploring ways to use VR as part of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The governance team is also looking at ways to use VR platforms in the boardroom.
Elsewhere, HPE has developed an interactive virtual proxy statement to aid shareholder engagement. ‘We have found that a virtual proxy provides benefits a paper proxy does not and can make our communications with shareholders more accessible and streamlined,’ the company states. The use of technology to interact with shareholders is ‘something we’re very proud of,’ says Ki Hoon Kim, associate general counsel for corporate, securities and global equity administration.
