BusinessLawGuy's Blog

Your business has a specific culture whether you are aware of it or not. All corporate cultures have been affected over the past year during the pandemic. The changes may be good or bad, depending on your view, but know where your company’s culture ends up as we move forward will be different than what it was in early 2020. The question is what do you want your corporate culture to be?

This question has many answers and the new procedures or rules you implement for your business will drive where your culture goes. Some threshold issues are whether your business will be virtual in whole or part, with employees working from home or around the country, or will you require your employees to be vaccinated. One overriding issue will be whether you treat all employees the same or not, and the related fallout.

By this I mean do some employees have the ability to choose to work remotely some or all of the time, while others are required to come into your place of business? If some employees are remote full time, some are coming in 2 days a week and others 4, each group may think the other is receiving preferential treatment and that they aren’t being treated “fairly.” I put the word fairly in quotes because how you define the word depends on you: what is fair to me may not seem fair to you. The risk in all situations is the potential for issues such as resentment in the workplace

I think issues such as resentment can work themselves out. Employees either will adjust to how they and other employees are working or opt out. This means there will be conversations to be had to know where employees stand, but some may opt out by leaving your company. This may be difficult in the short term, but in the long run your company will be better off with employees comfortable with what your company is post-pandemic and the manner in which your employees are working, i.e. comfortable with your evolving culture.

There are no easy answers. There will be bumps in the road. Your company likely will lose people you currently view as important to the success of your business. But this also will provide opportunity in the form of new employees who fit in your new corporate culture.

Embracing change always has been important. Now it’s as important as ever because businesses are reinventing their identities in part or whole. If you don’t consciously work on the reinvention of your company and its culture, it will happen anyway. Don’t you want to have a say in what your corporate culture becomes?

A few weeks ago I wrote about checking in on your goals. I was inspired bya goal I was working towards: a very long one-day hike in the Grand Canyon and the idea I would emerge at the top of the Grand Canyon at the end of the hike feeling physically well.

I have long been a hiker. This year I have been on a hiking tear. I enjoy hiking and it’s a great way to take a break and relieve stress. Despite hiking more or hiking less during and through the years, this year I was focused on my big goal. This was to be, by far, the longest single day hike I had ever done.

Months before, I came up with a plan of how I wanted to train. I set up accountability by creating a spreadsheet through which I could keep track of how often I trained, the length of a hike, the elevation gained and the time spent hiking. By doing this I regularly checked in on and knew how I was doing on staying focused on the hard work it takes to reach such a goal. It wasn’t always easy to break away to hike, but, when I did, I knew the hard work and time would be worth it.

Fast forward to last week. Saturday was the day. I was lucky to have a co-conspirator, who had done the hike before, my wife. We made our way to the Grand Canyon Friday evening and woke up early Saturday morning in the dark with a plan to start as or just after the sun was rising.

Throughout the day we hiked down the south Kaibab Trail and up the Bright Angel Trail for a total of 17.6 miles with close to a mile of elevation gain. You go through stages during such a long hike, but when we emerged at the top of the Canyon Saturday afternoon my training had paid off as I felt really good. I am speaking to more than the feeling of reaching a goal and finishing a long arduous task, but I physically felt really good.

I know I usually speak on topics related to business. It may not seem like it, but this is that type of topic. Instead of telling you about my training and the hike, this could have been a story of me spending hours a week to learn a new area of the law and getting my first case in which I was able to put my time and training to use. If you take the time to invest in yourself you can reach goals. It takes hard work, but is worth it in the end.

As for my experience, it left me thinking about the next big goal I can set for myself in relation to hiking, as well in relation to other areas of my life, including business. You know the saying “Just do it.” Start today.

Setting goals is as important as it’s difficult. Once you do, you need to review your goals regularly. In addition to reading and reviewing your goals, you need to assess where you are and whether a goal needs to be revised.

Sometimes you don’t know a goal needs to be revised until you’re on the road trying to reach the goal. Once it becomes clear change is needed, make it. There is no reason to follow steps you have sketched out if you find there is a better path.

If you don’t review your goals it’s unlikely you will reach them, or it will take longer than if you had changed course. If, when reviewing them, you determine there is a better course of action, make necessary changes then. Then check in again regularly to see how you’re doing and whether additional tweaks are needed.

By constantly reviewing and working on your goals, the path you’re on, and where you are on the journey, you’re investing in yourself. The time to start in now.

We’re a year into the pandemic from when schools, businesses and most of the country shut down. Some businesses were able to transition in this environment with minimal disruption to productivity, while others weren’t. Your business may be back to operating in the manner it was before everything shut down. As a member of a law firm, we aren’t there, and likely won’t return to how things were at the beginning of March 2020.

Attorneys at our firm were long able to log in remotely from home or elsewhere (or vacation…). Our IT people did amazing work deploying all attorneys, paralegals and staff in a few short days. Having all of our assistants, accounting staff and others work remotely hadn’t been on our radar. Now it will, in part, be our future.

Before the pandemic, my partners and I knew as new attorneys came out of law school, their expectations on how and where they work would be different from those of new attorneys from just a decade ago. Think hoteling offices and hybrid work weeks. The pandemic has accelerated these discussions and when decisions will have to be made.

The main difference is it now involves all employees, not just attorneys. This will result in fundamental changes in how people and teams work. Maybe my team and I will be in the office three days a week and another will be there two, with one day crossing over.

Some people would prefer all employees come back five days a week. There is something to be said for what happens when people are in the same office in relation to collaboration, consultation and culture. Those pushing for five days a week are right, as are the those pushing for hybrid schedules for all. There are no easy answers.

Companies have to commit to plan and execute. The current business environment is the future and it is coming at us fast. Many people continue to work remotely and some will never go back to a physical office.

As a business you have to come up with a plan and stick to it, i.e. the equivalent of doing what you say you are going to do. If you don’t, your employees will not trust you and it will affect potential hires in the future.

Part of committing to the current environment is being honest with your employees. This doesn’t mean your company won’t have to adapt as you try new work schedules and ideas. It means you will have to try things and see what works, as well as what doesn’t. Then you will have to keep adjusting, just in a different manner than you may have thought a year ago.

Remember, change, while difficult at times, brings opportunity. Be ready to change or be left behind.