COVID-19 has become the litmus test of corporate values. Are we leading the way or are we simply being swept along? Do our values guide our decisions, or were those values that sounded good in our presentations just empty words? What we are experiencing these days is a collection of examples of good practices, on the one hand, and of terrible management, on the other.
I don't see any middle ground. And that's the way it is. There are leaders, or there aren't. And it's in crisis situations that leadership is demonstrated. One of Spain's leading developers is sending its C-suite to work remotely, while keeping the rest of the staff in offices and sales outlets. Are you all crazy? Do you understand the message you're sending to your team's 90% (phone number)? A public company with over 1,000 employees takes four days to react to the crisis. It only reacts when cases of infection are confirmed. Bravo.
Many companies are simply maintaining administrative silence, acting as if nothing is amiss. The classic ostrich approach that works so well. One of the leading universities capable of offering online training is sending out empty emails. Better to bury your head in the sand. These actions only fuel confusion and fear about what will happen.
On the other hand, there are good practices. Responsible, creative, and supportive initiatives. One SME working for a large corporation has decided not to stop. In a single day, the CEO holds a videoconference with all of its employees, in groups of four, to explain the situation and take responsibility for the decision. Another SME decides to offer its IT staff as volunteers to help SMEs with remote work. Companies are donating food and supplies to alleviate the situation of the most vulnerable. A great deal of responsibility and solidarity in various forms. Values should be our compass in every situation, not just when things are going well.
If we're talking about integrity, we need to see if we're truly doing things as expected. If we're talking about our team, we need to see if we're truly prioritizing the team or if other interests are taking precedence. If we're talking about innovation, we need to see how we're adapting to the new situation.
Act with social responsibility, now more than ever.
How we act during these weeks will determine how we emerge from this crisis. How we behave will determine who we become in the future. Will we build trust or create chaos around us? And this applies at both the individual and corporate levels.
Will we gain or lose workers, suppliers, and customers? Do workers feel protected? Do suppliers feel supported? Do customers feel informed?
Basic questions we should ask ourselves
Sometimes the most complex decisions are simplified when we ask ourselves basic questions. Here are 3 questions that can help us make decisions:
- Am I doing the right thing?
The situation we're living through is the best crash course in applied ethics imaginable. Decisions aren't easy, and they have to be made quickly. We don't have all the information, we don't have time to analyze possible consequences… but either we decide, or the situation decides for us. There are no absolutes, only red lines. An easy way to define that red line is to imagine our decision in tomorrow's news headlines. If it gives us goosebumps, clearly, the decision isn't the right one, even if it's the most financially sound…
- Am I being transparent?
We must ask ourselves if we are providing enough information to those who may be affected by our decisions. While it may seem that keeping things secret buys us time to act, not telling the truth, or only part of it, can catastrophically damage our future reputation. Revealing our vulnerable situation can lead to receiving help in ways we never imagined.
- Am I making decisions jointly?
Given this situation that affects us all, making decisions without considering those affected is the worst mistake. We must involve everyone to reach consensual and creative solutions that truly meet everyone's needs.
Responsible Action Plan for COVID-19
Based on these three values of Ethics, Transparency, and Participation, we must develop an Action Plan. A simple written document is sufficient; we don't need to spend days on it. A couple of hours is enough to outline everything. We must establish monitoring indicators that determine the following aspects:
- Act today and set an example. Only decisions made at the right time are necessary. Do as I do.
- Create a crisis team with the main managers of the operational areas and representatives of the staff. This is also important for small and micro-enterprises.
- Prepare a written protocol in which we commit to how to act in this crisis.
- Communicate the protocol to all our stakeholder groups, so that we are all aligned and can act in unison.
- Plan that shares we're going to take Health and Safety of the staff and the customers, in the different scenarios. The more detailed we can be, the easier it will be to comply.
- Knowledge of the situation of our supply chain,especially from 1st-tier suppliers. Collaborate as much as possible to mitigate their risk, ensure logistical efficiency, and analyze their supply capacity two to three months in advance.
- Customer involvement. Establish the broadest possible line of communication to keep customers informed at all times: what we are doing, how we are doing it, and what the quantitative data on the situation is.
- Analyze the different financial scenarios, In order to respond to the situation, we need to obtain reliable data to have the maximum amount of information available for decision-making.
Perhaps tomorrow we'll wake up to a situation that requires different actions, so remember... plans are meant to be changed!
Fountain: DiarioResponsable.com
