So Corona is still going strong.
And I suspect it will be for some time to come.
As much as it has shown who are societies assholes – and, as usual, a lot are the usual suspects – it has also shown the humanity of business. Or at least some business.
Doing rather than saying.
Acting rather than claiming.
With the beautiful benefit being that these actions will speak for your organisation in ways your media budget could only dream of pulling achieving.
I’ve got to be honest, this has been a revelation to me.
Yes I know it’s exceptional times, but here we are … with company after company stepping up to the plate, doing what’s best for society while doing what’s best for their people.
Whether that’s giving health workers free food and drink and times where they get priority to shop in supermarkets through to paying the salaries of workers who have been told not to come to work until the worst is past or, as is the case with Fuller’s brewery [pic above], paying their landlords rents.
Hell, even the British government have made positive moves with protecting income for the employed/self employed as well as tenants rights.
It’s – to coin a phrase used 10 billion times already – unprecedented.
Of course that doesn’t mean companies who have not been able to do this are bad.
Some just don’t have the resources to do it.
But the key is how they handle the situation.
Companies who think “it’s just business” is a ‘get out of jail card’ to do whatever the hell they want, need to understand it’s always personal to the affected.
Everyone knows we face tough times … hard decisions will likely have to be made … so being considerate and generous to those who have to pay the price is absolute essential.
But there’s something else.
Something that became apparent as I watched Netflix’s Dirty money documentary series, Dirty Money, on loan shark Scott Tucker when he gave this remarkable answer to the question “are you moral a person”?
While we all hope CEO’s show compassion to their staff and customers, the reality is we know many don’t.
But this situation with corona has altered attitudes and states … shown the masses what companies can do and how they can do it … and so to those bad leaders who see corona as a chance to hide previous bad decisions and let go of people to ensure their bonuses remain unaffected, I say this.
You are being watched.
You will be judged.
And unlike the situations we’ve seen with the financial crisis, people won’t be so forgiving or feel they have no power to act.
The rule is painfully simple …
Respect the people and the people will respect you – even if you have to make tough decisions.
But if you treat people badly, this time you won’t be able to get away with it so easily.
The power dynamic will always be in favour of companies, but at a time where unions are slowly being pushed out – society finding its collective power to keep everyone a bit more honest … a bit more compassionate … can only be a good thing during such bad times.