It’s 2:00 in the afternoon when Jacinthe Galpin answers a call to discuss the role the Command Center has played in helping Lowe’s navigate these challenging times.
The affable Australian starts off by admitting she’s still in her pajamas.
“We’ve been working since 5 a.m. today to move product,” she says before a laugh, “so putting on actual clothes has not been an option.”
Welcome to life as manager of the Lowe’s Command Center in 2020.
Before diving into the unique challenges this year has presented, Galpin provided an overview of what exactly the Command Center does.
“The Lowe’s Command Center is a rapid response group when we have severe weather events. Hurricanes, tornados, snowstorms, wildfires – that kind of event,” Galpin said. “We will mobilize resources across the organization so that we have a coordinated approach.
“Normally, if you are a store, you might get two or three trucks a week. In a hurricane, you might get 30 trucks. The Command Center enables that really rapid product movement and also ensures our associates are taken care of and supported. We also make sure we support the community… What we find during these events is the ones who can leave, will. The people who are left have no other options.”
There is a motto that, according to Galpin, drives everything for the Command Center: “We are at our best when our customers need us the most.”
They’ve had to be at their absolute best with what 2020 had in store.
NO PLAYBOOK FOR A PANDEMIC
When COVID-19 first began spreading in the United States, Lowe’s knew it needed to react accordingly.
Galpin, who worked in emergency response for 20 years in her native Australia before coming to Lowe’s, was approached about initiating a special COVID-19 Command Center.
“We realized this is possibly the event of our lifetime and senior leadership thought, well, we need a Command Center,” Galpin said. “We didn’t have a playbook, because there is no playbook for COVID. But we took a lot of what we do for severe weather and brought it over.”
Galpin and her team set up shop in a meeting room on Lowe’s corporate campus in Mooresville, North Carolina like they typically do when working through severe weather situations.
“People everywhere, computers everywhere. It’s a bit of theater,” Galpin said. “But it’s a time to really work with each other.”
Given the nature of this evolving global crisis, the team needed to expect the unexpected and willingly adapt.
“I love how we all came together,” said Laura Perez-Westfall, a Command Center captain who oversees asset protection. “There was a lot to work through and we were pretty nimble. We had to be quick to react and change on a dime. We were learning as we went. It was all new. But it was organized chaos, if that makes sense.”
Eventually, they were thrown another curveball. Social distancing measures made the physical Command Center untenable, so the operation had to go predominantly virtual for an indefinite period. What was once a meeting room filled with a frenzy of activity had now become a group of people working in isolation from their own homes.
“Every day it was evolving,” said Jodi Long, a captain who oversees human resources. “We had to try to stay ahead to best care for our employees and customers.
“A hurricane, for example, you know there is a start, a middle and an end of it. With this, we don’t know.”
ANOTHER STORM ON THE WAY
Managing the effects of a pandemic was unprecedented for the Command Center. Combining that work with hurricane season all at the same time? Also unprecedented.
“You go where the fire is, so to speak,” Long said.
The team is in the throes of that now. A pair of tropical depressions turned into Marco and Laura, prompting the Command Center to activate virtually.
“COVID is so big and so all-consuming. We’ve never run an event that crosses all 50 states,” Galpin said. “When we have a hurricane, we might be dealing with two or three states. COVID has been 50. Now we have challenges managing concurrent events.
“There has not been a pause for my team since January. We’ve been going helter-skelter every single day.”
The three captains all agreed that regional hurricanes and tropical storms – as devastating as they can be – all seem more manageable now that they’ve endured COVID-19 and its national impact.
They have mastered the hurricane relief playbook and know how to assist affected areas by ensuring stores are stocked with critical supplies.
Laura became a hurricane and is forecast to strengthen significantly before hitting the Gulf Coast. Lowe's has sent more than 2,400 trucks with emergency supplies to areas that could be impacted so customers have what they need to prepare and recover.
The ongoing pandemic, of course, necessitates some changes when it comes to travel and the very idea of people being in close proximity, but after navigating the past few months with the way COVID-19 has tested their limits, Galpin is unfazed. She believes Lowe’s is ready to face any and all obstacles head on.
We have really grown as an organization. We have become more resilient, more agile and more prepared to innovate.
LEADING FROM THE FRONT
Galpin is incredibly proud of the work her team has done and continues to do.
She feels that same pride knowing she has spearheaded the leadership effort alongside two women.
“For Lowe’s to have three, very strong, very diverse women playing leadership roles in the Command Center – I think it’s extraordinary," Galpin said. "It’s about living our values. When we say we are diverse and inclusive, that’s incorporated within our core fabric as an organization. Diversity works to achieve incredible outcomes.”
Every day at 7 a.m., Galpin, Long and Perez-Westfall huddle up and establish the Command Center agenda. As one can imagine, there have been quite a few long days. Too many to count.
“We have been stressed to the max, but at the end of the day, we are coming together to deliver something really impactful for the people in the field. It’s something that has bonded the three of us and something we’ll never forget as long as we live,” Perez-Westfall said.
Added Long: “To have three female leaders be the consistent voice for 300,000 employees out there, it’s been a humbling experience to be that person and be a part of it.”
Being a part of the Command Center, it’s hard work in every sense. A lot is at stake. Decisions are made impacting people’s health and safety. Homes may have been damaged or destroyed altogether. There is no time to panic.
It sounds daunting. But helping people when they need it most – that’s also undeniably rewarding.
“I think it’s both,” Galpin said. “It is so daunting. There is a lot of pressure, a lot of moving parts, a lot of people to keep track of. And you are dealing with a variety of stakeholders. But it is also so uplifting. You experience the camaraderie and you’re reminded of the purpose and why we do what we do.”
