Virtual Whisperer 6 — Trust

In California, we’ve been sheltering in place since March 16, so we are now nearing the end of our fifth week. On the one hand, our lives at Outsell feel kind of normal, since we’ve been working virtually for the better part of two decades. But then we remember that this is new to most of our clients, some of us have children at home now, and we can only grocery shop one person at a time and ideally no more than once a week. Some of our clients have taken severe hits on revenue, and we will feel that impact too. So life isn’t really normal at all, yet we come to work each day as we have for so long. It’s a bit of an altered reality, where we feel we are straddling two worlds: one that is intimately familiar to us and one that is strangely surreal and new.

One thing that hasn’t changed through all of this is the importance of trust, transparency, and culture. Good cultures hold together during times like this. Trust and transparency are the glue that binds. They ensure that people know where things stand and why they stand, and they keep everyone current on the circumstances of the business financially and otherwise.

This is the time for everyone to know what hit the revenue line has taken, if it’s taken one. This is the time when the rationale behind expense cuts must be explicitly clear. This is the time when furloughs, reductions in force, staff work level reductions, and salary cuts must be explained and understood. Employees are not as familiar with the intricacies of the P&L and cash balances, so it’s important to be extra transparent and over-communicate.

We are having weekly coffee hours where I explain the realities for our firm. I use Slack to reinforce what we’re seeing, what we’re doing, and why we are doing what we’re doing. I am also asking my exec team to communicate with their teams off the back of our weekly meetings. In that way, we have cascading communications from the leadership to staff, from me to staff, from staff to me and using all channels — Zoom, Slack, and email where appropriate.

I said to leaders the week this started — when we launched a series of meetings on all things COVID-19-related — that how we treat people during this crisis will speak volumes for our leadership, our culture, and how we do when this is behind us, whatever behind us looks like. Trust and integrity — “clarity with compassion,” I call it — will be the lightning rod that keeps people together. The other outcome is that a lack of trust and integrity will prompt people to leave in droves when the economy picks up and options become plentiful once again. How we show up as leaders will dictate how our culture shows up when the pandemic wanes. All eyes are on us to demonstrate trust and that we are worthy of it.

Yesterday, one of my team members sent the following note via Slack:

“I found out last night that a company I used to work for laid-off 20 people.. and has 6 open positions at the same time. One of the people they laid off is in the same department as one of the open positions. People notice this stuff. One reason I am glad to be here.”

My response was:

“Ugh — I can’t believe that — terrible. That’s performance management under the ruse of layoffs, which is a leader’s chicken way out. Awful….”

As I wrote earlier in this series, if you have openings, try to fill them with staff that might be furloughed, even if it means more training. Instead of RIFs, try reducing salaries commensurate with reduced hours so that jobs are preserved, and people see that you’re trying to maintain the integrity of the team. And if someone is a poor performer, then the time to have dealt with it was the minute the pattern reared its head — not during a gosh-darn pandemic.

It’s all about trust and all eyes are on us right now. How we act now will determine what happens down the road. Trust and transparency are key to culture and retention. People may still opt to leave down the road, but we don’t need to give them reasons to do so.

By the same token, if you are a team member, ask for the facts before jumping to conclusions. Give leadership some slack, because odds are that they are dealing with a lot: cash management, expense management, negotiating employment contracts in non-US regions, pivoting product roadmaps, managing boards, and keeping the business and important clients afloat.

You matter. You are also one thing of a million that leaders are dealing with right now. So give your leaders the benefit of the doubt. Ask for clarity if you’re not feeling you have it. Ask what you can do to help out right now. Show up looking out for the company, its leaders, and your team. Don’t just show up looking out for yourself. That’s what stands out too: We are all in this together, so we must keep the lines of comms open both ways and cut each other some slack. It’s all about trust.