When values become deeds.
Reading time: approx. 25 min.When values become deeds.These days, every company has a code of values. But how are they being put into practice? Which values will take us forward into the next decade? And how are they changing now? The coronavirus crisis – still far from overcome – has put the company’s values pledge through a real stress test. It has also proven that values represent more than a mere code. They are a central factor for resilience.
It’s days like these that Bodo Janssen feels that the path he has chosen for Upstalsboom is the right one. The right path for him, the entrepreneur, but above all, what he considers most important: for his employees. Like every morning, he got up before sunrise, meditated, exercised, and had breakfast with his family. His cycle path to work leads him alongside the inner dike. Janssen, whose vacation home company Upstalsboom boasts around 750 employees, loves the generous horizons of the local landscape. The views around here reach as far as the coast.Likewise far-reaching are the ideas of the 46-year-old entrepreneur, who aligned himself and his company, which maintains ten hotels and more than 1,100 vacation homes, with a revolutionary set of values. Janssen’s convictions are often met with astonishment, sometimes even alienation.
“People are not a means to an end for my success,” says Bodo Janssen. “The purpose of the company is to strengthen people.” This credo, his new mission statement, has “turned everything on its head.”
Moment of reflection in the form of a pandemic
Moment of reflection in the form of a pandemic
The coronavirus crisis has done that in many places too. Old certainties are suddenly open to negotiation, health has suddenly become much more debatable and countless companies are fighting for their existence and to keep hold of their workforce. Economic systems worldwide are being confronted with the most fundamental crisis of the last hundred years. This brings about a feeling of fear and threatens and burdens people as well as the companies for which they work. It also throws a glaring spotlight on the question of corporate and value culture.
The pandemic poses completely new challenges for organizations and their workforces. In crisis situations in particular, people expect a consistent overall picture of corporate responsibility. “Moment of reflection” is the term given by professor and management consultant Josef Herget, who, as head of Vienna’s Excellence Institute, conducts a lot of research and publishes various papers on the subject of corporate culture. “Coronavirus stopped the hamster wheel. All of a sudden, there was time to reflect on one’s own work – including the very question of ‘why.’ For many people this gave rise to the question of purpose. Increasingly, companies are not only having to face this question but to provide answers too.”
Stress test for practiced corporate values
Stress test for practiced corporate values
Now it’s time to see whether the values of solidarity, partnership and integrity are anchored firmly enough to navigate the company ship through the stormy seas. “Actions speak louder than words” according to Stephan Anpalagan. As a manager at MHP, he advises companies on the themes of organizational development, corporate culture and “New Work.”“Now more than ever it is all about credibility, otherwise the whole idea backfires.”
During the crisis, lots of German companies have proven that they are serious about their values. Many managing directors and managers have voluntarily waived a portion of their salary to avoid reducing working hours or laying off staff. In order to keep team spirit high and enable meetings between colleagues – albeit virtual – a number of companies have outdone each other with innovative ideas. To replace its canceled summer party, software giant SAP invited its employees to a virtual “Live BBQ” hosted by barbecue specialists The Sizzle Brothers. 8,400 people clicked to attend. Meanwhile, cooperation with the non-profit organization Corona School brought together home pupils and student tutors. About 20 dual students at SAP supported the organization with programming and further development and were rewarded for it with the usual commitment points given for practical experience.
“We have always practiced maximum transparency and personal responsibility. Even before coronavirus, we opted for minimum supervision and a healthy degree of trust,” says SAP’s head of HR Cawa Younosi.This has proven itself during the crisis. “The results of our employee survey demonstrate that our employees are doing well and that they are happy with our communication.”
Coronavirus culture boost
Coronavirus culture boost
The tourism company Upstalsboom also sailed close to the wind back in spring. Because of the lockdown, sales were at zero for ten weeks. It was not until the summer months, when half of Germany chose to vacation in their home country, that bookings recovered. With the exception of one hotel in Berlin, all vacation homes and hotels were fully booked up. “We have caught up on a lot, but certainly not everything,” says Bodo Janssen.
As was the case at thousands of other companies, he too had to reduce the working hours of many Upstalsboom staff. Despite that, the optimism shown by the crisis captain is almost as unclouded as a clear morning on the coast. “Our company culture is what is saving us right now,” says Janssen. For weeks, the company owner paid himself only 60 per cent of his salary. Upstalsboom employees also benefit from an advice service that supports them when they have to negotiate with banks, landlords or authorities because of financial difficulties. “Leadership,” says Janssen, “is when I help people grow.”
And leadership based on values is never more effective than in times of crisis. In fact, many local companies grew beyond their capacity in the context of the pandemic and made home working, trust-building and flexible working time possible in the blink of an eye. In general, German companies are doing a good job of crisis management. Despite the massive changes brought about by the lockdown, most German employers were able to count on the loyalty of their employees. This is according to a representative study carried out in spring this year by the employer branding agency Castenow in collaboration with the market research institute Innofact.Even though social distancing and home working rules have separated them from their workplace and colleagues, 40 per cent of the 1,300 respondents felt a close connection to their employer, while more than half even attested to a growing team spirit. Humanity and communication were found to have gained in importance across all age groups and company sizes.
For the agency’s boss, Dieter Castenow, this is a sign that companies should also see the pandemic as a chance to work on their values:“A company that, in the midst of a crisis, can convey and prove what values it stands for can save on image promotion in the long run. Anyone who has something to say as a company or a manager should do so now.”
The new code of communication
The new code of communication
A prerequisite for this is regular and transparent communication between workforce and management – including under difficult circumstances.“The challenge is to keep cohesion stable in remote mode too,” states Dr. Ralf Hofmann, Founder, Shareholder and CEO of the management and IT consulting firm MHP.At MHP a real emphasis is put on transparent, timely communication – not only in crisis management. In an industry that deals with people, it is the name of the game after all.
“Our aim is for our employees to know where we stand as a company in the crisis, what our next steps are, what measures we’re taking and why decisions are made in the way that they are,” says Ralf Hofmann. After all, they see themselves as one team, he adds. “It was crucial for me to communicate with the employees myself and to assure them of my absolute commitment as CEO. For example, whenever there was news, we would shoot a video.”He is convinced, adds Hofmann without hesitation, “that we have brought this kind of transparency into MHP. This is essential, particularly when normal exchanges in the office can no longer happen. We need these more transparent channels of communication.”
MHP’s company values – including partnership, integrity, empathy as well as the “We Love People” leadership principle – were also put to the test over the course of the coronavirus pandemic. “It was and is important to us that we interact with one another in a spirit of partnership and solidarity,” says Hofmann. “We claimed that our MHP team would come out of this crisis unscathed. Not only does the claim still stand but I can expand on it: We want to emerge from the crisis even stronger. We have not yet introduced short-time working. Most companies I know have been working at reduced hours since April – we haven’t. And we still don’t want that to happen.” Overall day-to-day business has largely been converted to remote work. “In good times, it’s easy to talk about partnership,” says Hofmann. “In times of crisis it becomes clear how seriously you take it and whether you treat each other decently.”
Compassion and solidarity
Compassion and solidarity
At the software giant SAP, the proportion of employees working from home is currently around 90 per cent. To keep up the team spirit and solidarity among its 23,000 employees, the company has come up with a number of ideas. For instance, short lectures by elite athletes and communal evening chats on the subject of motivation or self-care have become an integral part of in-house communication. Up to 10,000 employees visit the SAP broadcasting platform, where the latest company developments are still communicated every two weeks.
The “Never lunch alone” platform set up by the company, where colleagues can arrange to meet for a virtual lunch together, has also proven very popular. “We are currently experiencing a great deal of solidarity,” reports SAP’s head of HR Cawa Younosi.
Prof. Tania Singer, psychologist and Scientific Head of the Social Neuroscience Lab of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, has devoted herself for many years to the theme of compassion. She has conducted a lot of research on this topic, developed mediation-based mental training programs and evaluated them on a scientific basis. “Compassion is the basis of humanity,” says the brain researcher. In a corporate context in particular, cooperation and compassion are perfect resilience strategies according to Singer. They produce a win-win situation because they both promote cohesion and have a protective effect.“Rather than fear and competition, the result is trust and social cohesion,” Singer explains. Nevertheless, she acknowledges that it is important for employees to cultivate this, as well as employers. “The crisis has forced us to find a new balance in our values,” Singer emphasizes. “Performance and productivity are still absolutely justified. But they must be in equilibrium with cohesion, care and compassion.”
Longing for meaning
Longing for meaning
Crises, whether in a company’s history or in human history in general, have always been an occasion to recalibrate the ethical compass. “Thanks to Covid-19, the importance of meaningful values is growing,” suggests economics professor Josef Herget.“The questions of how and why have now come into focus: Why does my employer make the world a better place? What does my company stand for? How does it view people and employees?”
The CEO of MHP, Ralf Hofmann, confirms that he is currently experiencing “huge interest in the idea of purpose at MHP.” “Every year we hire around 300 graduates fresh out of university. Generation Y is more concerned with a sense of purpose than with making a monthly living. It is important for us that our employees know why they get up each morning – beyond mere material reasons.Only those who see a meaning behind what they do can put their heart and soul into it.A purpose creates motivation that money cannot buy.” MHP’s purpose is “Enabling You To Shape A Better Tomorrow”. “We want to help industry – especially the automotive industry – to create a better tomorrow. “We see ourselves in this responsibility,” says Hofmann.
With this responsibility in mind is also how an increasingly value-oriented society looks to its economic players. And it is looking closely. Those who cannot prove that they foster a humanitarian corporate culture will “no longer be able to muddle through in the future,” MHP consultant Stephan Anpalagan asserts. He points to companies that, for example, tried to legally prohibit the workforce from forming a workers’ council or refused to continue paying rent for abandoned branches during the lockdown. This triggered outrage among the public. “There is another social pressure there,” says Anpalagan. “If promoting values is simply how a company presents itself, then people get tired of it fast.”
In return, solidarity and a sense of purpose often fuel a more dependable drive for reaching the final quarterly target than financial bonuses. “We know from neuroscience that personal growth, in addition to belonging and fellowship, is extremely important for a company as a cultural factor,” says expert Josef Herget. “Enabling this self-efficacy is becoming more important for the individual – and for the company,” says entrepreneur Bodo Janssen, who also sees work as “an opportunity to overcome self-ignorance.”Only through a common “why?” can a community be created, he believes.
Time for a new work culture
Time for a new work culture
Companies that have come into the pandemic with a trusting and constructive culture may by now have discovered a new resilience in themselves that will help them recover faster – and dare to try new things: “Covid-19 already has and will continue to accelerate the change to a new way of working,” says new work strategist Kai-Ingo Voigt, who holds an academic chair for business administration and industrial management at the University of Erlangen. MHP CEO Ralf Hofmann is convinced that what many companies are now experimenting with in times of crisis could be the model of the future. Like many other companies, he says, MHP has also discovered that this new culture – albeit subject to various limitations and a painful lack of genuine social contact – also offers advantages.“Our remote meetings are usually more efficient than the physical ones,” Hofmann acknowledges.
And he is not alone in this. Just over half of companies in Germany want to establish a stronger work-from-home arrangement in the long term, according to a recent study by the ifo Institute.“It is important for companies to approach these issues consciously and proactively in order to find a healthy balance,” says MHP founder Ralf Hofmann. “Only then will they maintain the positives they experienced during the coronavirus crisis, such as flexible working.”
Outlook: From ethos to evolution
Outlook: From ethos to evolution
Management consultant Professor Josef Herget is convinced that, for corporate cultures that were already solidly anchored before the pandemic, the crisis could end up being a catalyst for evolution and even for growth. “Covid-19 and countless video conferences with colleagues in their private settings have brought us many moments of honesty,” he says, adding that a good team is exactly what defines this ‘vulnerability’ – the opportunity to show oneself as a human being with weaknesses and flaws. In the local “culture of bravery,” such thoughts have not been at the forefront until now.“I would like to see German companies succeed in carrying this honesty into the post-Covid era,” says Herget. “That would make them more crisis-proof.”
Community and social well-being will become just as important as success factors for companies in the future, predicts Upstalsboom managing director Bodo Janssen. “Companies must shift their focus from quantitative to qualitative, cultural and emotional growth,” he adds.He himself has been doing this for a while now and has thereby reduced sick leave from its former level of eight per cent to just three per cent today. He has also, in phases, doubled company revenues within three years. The company, which is in the process of turning into a foundation, is investing a portion of its income in the purchase of real estate properties in which older employees or those in need of care can be looked after in later life.
MHP, too, is facing up to its growing social responsibility. For example, the American branch MHP Americas recently announced that it has joined an initiative of more than 60 American companies supporting a law against racially motivated crimes in the U.S. state of Georgia.Since this summer, all MHP employees in Germany have been able to take part in a web-based training on the topic of diversity in order to raise awareness of its prospects and potential. MHP has also signed the Charta der Vielfalt (Diversity Charter), an initiative by German employers to promote diversity, as have companies such as VW, Porsche and SAP.
“For us, this is a logical consequence of the demands we place on ourselves,” says MHP CEO Ralf Hofmann.“Diversity is closely linked to our values of authenticity, partnership, integrity and empathy. It is what makes us successful today and above all in the future.” Practicing corporate values alone is no guarantee for managing a crisis and for continuous success. But putting such values into practice can serve as a basis, a starting point, signpost and guideline for companies and their employees and provide stability – particularly in tough times.
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Barbara Esser is a freelance author in Munich. She worked for several years as a freelance editorial editor of Fokus Magazine Publishing, which deals with the topics career, new work and recruiting. For Focus and Focus Business she reports on pioneers in the middle class as well as ingenious founders. Your articles are also u.a. appeared in brand one, Nido and Christophorus.
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When values become deeds.
Moment of reflection in the form of a pandemic
Stress test for practiced corporate values
“Now more than ever it is all about credibility, otherwise the whole idea backfires.”
“We have always practiced maximum transparency and personal responsibility. Even before coronavirus, we opted for minimum supervision and a healthy degree of trust,” says SAP’s head of HR Cawa Younosi.
Coronavirus culture boost
“Leadership,” says Janssen, “is when I help people grow.”
“A company that, in the midst of a crisis, can convey and prove what values it stands for can save on image promotion in the long run. Anyone who has something to say as a company or a manager should do so now.”
The new code of communication
He is convinced, adds Hofmann without hesitation, “that we have brought this kind of transparency into MHP. This is essential, particularly when normal exchanges in the office can no longer happen. We need these more transparent channels of communication.”
Compassion and solidarity
The “Never lunch alone” platform set up by the company, where colleagues can arrange to meet for a virtual lunch together, has also proven very popular. “We are currently experiencing a great deal of solidarity,” reports SAP’s head of HR Cawa Younosi.
Longing for meaning
“The questions of how and why have now come into focus: Why does my employer make the world a better place? What does my company stand for? How does it view people and employees?”
Only those who see a meaning behind what they do can put their heart and soul into it.
Only through a common “why?” can a community be created, he believes.
Time for a new work culture
“Our remote meetings are usually more efficient than the physical ones,” Hofmann acknowledges.
“It is important for companies to approach these issues consciously and proactively in order to find a healthy balance,” says MHP founder Ralf Hofmann. “Only then will they maintain the positives they experienced during the coronavirus crisis, such as flexible working.”
Outlook: From ethos to evolution
“I would like to see German companies succeed in carrying this honesty into the post-Covid era,” says Herget. “That would make them more crisis-proof.”
“Diversity is closely linked to our values of authenticity, partnership, integrity and empathy. It is what makes us successful today and above all in the future.”
Discover more
