Sticking to your values – in a time of crisis
What are your values in your business? Are your values Integrity, Honesty, Trust, Ownership along with many more? Those values may have changed due to COVID-19. Are you still true to your personal and business values, or have they changed with the unexpected circumstances that are taking place?
Many businesses have stuck to their value, while other have thrown out their core values and substituted them for greed and shortcut solutions that will harm them in the end. With the first value that is being violated – Integrity.
Here is what I am talking about. Once the shutdown order was given in his state, Bob (name changed to protect him) a retail business owner just told his staff to go home and wait it out, instructed them not to file for unemployment. Bob stopped paying the companies group medical insurance, in fact he just stopped paying all his bills. He didn’t communicate anything to his customers, vendors or staff. Just closed the doors and went home to wait it all out. Bob’s store was successful and had a good referral business. Didn’t have any real social media presence and believed word of mouth was enough to keep his business moving forward.
His staff, now unemployed-but not officially. Because, Bob did not fire them, lay them off, or furlough them. Just told them to go home. Bob does not answer their calls or responds to his staff’s emails and texts. The staff has filed for unemployment-late in the game and Bob is denying all the claims.
Bob clearly has not stuck to his values and taken no responsibility for his actions. Bob told me this story and then when I attempted to coach him back to his values, he shut me off, just like his staff, customers and vendors. Bob will probably not have a business once everything re-opens. He has thrown in the towel along with his values.
Another retail store business owner (let’s call her Cindy), stuck to her personal and business values. She pivoted her business from brick and mortar to on-line; she intentionally told her staff that she is going to fire them so they can file for unemployment and they will be rehired as soon as they are allowed to open. She immediately reached out to all her vendors to see what she can negotiate to defer payments. Cindy did emails, texts, videos to her customers telling them what is going on with the business and they are operating on-line and to see how she can help the community.
Cindy was able to keep 60% of her staff working full time. She started doing simple informational videos about the products and services she offers, which has increased her sales. She and all her staff (even the ones she “fired”) made masks to donate to local homeless shelters and retirement homes. They stayed active and she and her business stuck to their values. Cindy will come out of this is a great place and have new raving fans, vendors and staff.
These are just two examples of businesses and how their values have changed. In speaking to a minority of business owners, they have thrown out their values to buy toilet paper and sanitizer only to mark it up 400% to sell it online and then they claim it’s to save their business. But they are putting that money in their own pocket. Other businesses are donating food, clothing, protective gear, time to help others that may have lost their jobs for good, have no food, cannot make their rent/mortgage payments.
I would like to say Bob and Cindy are fictional, but they are just two business I have spoken with since the craziness began. Many other business owners are not sticking with their values and will learn an extremely hard lesson when this is all over with. The business owners that have stuck and even improved their values will survive through these times and come out posed for growth.
So, are you sticking to your personal and business values? Are you operating with integrity, honesty, trust, accountability, commitment to customers, humility, ownership, leadership, quality, teamwork, and many others? Or have you thrown out your values in these unprecedented times? Harming others or taking shortcuts?
Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, Author, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations, conducts workshops and training. Focusing on the lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.
Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.