5 things your company can do to put people first
published 7.20.20
The global health crisis, racial justice movement, climate change, and economic recession have increased uncertainty and raised pressure for a more inclusive and resilient world. How will your organization respond to those issues? What does it stand for? How will you engage your employees, collaborators, and leadership to take action?
As companies begin to plan for returning to the “new normal”, they have mainly focused on communicating their re-opening strategies and procedures to safeguard employees at workplaces physically. Still, we need leaders who inspire and make bold commitments to address current societal and environmental challenges, strengthening organizational culture and responding more effectively to stakeholders' needs.
Managing a crisis requires leaders who can demonstrate empathy, make science-based decisions with a human approach, and infuse a purpose-driven culture for a long-term shared-value.
At qb., we believe that approaching business from a human angle is more relevant [in 2020] than ever before.
Last month we hosted a conversation series with leaders across industries focused on creating inclusive, equitable organizations. You can watch the whole series here.
Here are 5 things your business can do to build resilient organizations that put people first.
center on your purpose and mission.
Now is the time to embrace collaboration and prove why your business exists beyond making money. Social, environmental, and economic performance should not be mutually exclusive. These considerations must align with how teams, products, and core business competencies can help the world be better and more resilient.
By understanding global commitments, considering the SDGs, and aligning internal strategies to the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact, organizations can center their mission and values to support addressing the most pressing social and environmental challenges. Doing so can increase their reputation and create market opportunities, and can lead to better risk management across decentralized and complex supply chains. Nowadays, global socio-economic and environmental issues require immediate action, cooperation, and commitment from a local, regional, and international level. Organizations have a unique role to play, but they need to understand local issues and engage effectively with their supply chain to contribute to global goals.
protect your employees.
Business leaders need to respond with empathy and genuine compassion to the uncertainty affecting their employees, suppliers, and customers. Employees must be at the center of the immediate response, and resources should be allocated to help them get through it. The priority of short-term relief initiatives includes safeguarding employees' physical and mental health, facilitating work-from-home schedules, protecting employees' salaries and benefits packages, and reinforcing precaution safety measures at the workspaces. But, supporting employees in the long term requires inclusive and diverse representation across board members and the workforce, the adjustment of performance management that responds to work-from-home and work/life balance, and employee welfare considering complex social issues. In short: put people first.
foster resilience and accountability.
Ensuring business continuity and building a resilient strategy requires leaders to define a north star that will help them focus on delivering a longer-term vision while shaping a rebound plan that addresses immediate concerns from employees, customers, and suppliers. It may be hard to see now, but companies can start by assessing their internal capabilities considering human rights, safety, social inequality, and environmental impacts on products and services. By conducting a materiality assessment and a holistic lifecycle analysis, companies can analyze social and environmental risks and opportunities associated with their products and services.
Given the changing and competitive business environment, this resilient strategy is a learning process that requires impactful measurement, monitoring, and constant engagement with your stakeholders. Accountability is essential to continually adjust and shape your competitive advantage while being responsible for the company’s actions that impacts society and the environment.
invest in communication.
Strategic communications are crucial to increasing collaboration and trust during these uncertain times. Business leaders and managers must remain visible, accessible, and empathic in addressing stakeholders’ needs and concerns. They must provide consistent, updated, and transparent information about amended policies and procedures, risk factors, and responsive actions. It ensures that employees have a safe space to express and address their urgent matters. Leading through a crisis also requires sharing a long-term vision where targeted and impactful communications can facilitate engagement with internal and external audiences.
empower your teams.
In the wake of a crisis, managers and leaders face challenges that need to be addressed even with limited information. To respond quickly, some companies have empowered and mobilized an internal network of cross-functional teams to work together in identifying the implications of the current circumstance in business activities and across the supply chain. This analysis has facilitated setting priorities, adjusting policies, and implementing action plans to maintain business continuity and respond to the challenges ahead. Training managers in crisis management and empathetic leadership will help them be better prepared to respond effectively to future situations that may disrupt business conditions while protecting the employee’s economic and emotional stability.
Safety is essential for re-opening, but companies need to effectively demonstrate and communicate the value of employees and collaborators in the context of the current crises in order to build a resilient workforce. Now is the time to commit to preparing for a more sustainable future while engaging with stakeholders to make this vision a reality.
To learn more about our work building resilient organizations that put people first, please reach out. We would love to meet you.
by Monica Baron
Consultant
