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It has been a while since Improving has received feedback of this nature. While it could be convenient to dismiss criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic, I personally believe it is important that our leadership team takes input of all types very seriously regardless of the circumstances. In addition, I strive to make myself available for direct feedback, and I invite the author (or others who may read this) to reach out to me directly if they feel it is more beneficial.
Your feedback on the EIP (Employee Involvement Program) is appreciated. Our intended purpose is to encourage engagement, camaraderie, and growth within Improving. With more than a hundred self selected activities, we hope to provide a wide variety of activities in which employees can find fulfillment while being involved at Improving. Lack of participation in a particular program does not reflect negatively on an employee. Based on your feedback, I will reiterate this at our town hall meeting next week.
Admittedly, the next portion of this feedback was a little harder to hear. Whether we agree or not is not as important as objectively listening to the input. As the author suggests, we are in some obviously unprecedented times; and, like most companies, we are looking for ways to successfully navigate the hardships and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, Improving has not qualified for the small business economic stimulus packages and is moving forward without some of these safety nets. More than a month ago, when our leadership team began our business continuity planning, the very first slides presented were our guiding principles. Everyone has been encouraged to regularly review them as a reminder of who we aspire to be, especially in the presence of adversity. Again, it is difficult to hear that from your perspective we have failed to live into those principles. All of the things you have mentioned - trust, conscious capitalism, stakeholder models, and actually much more remain at the heart of our intent. We have tried to be transparent with our employees, treat everyone with respect, and strongly consider our stakeholders even when our own customers may not be in a position to do the same. Obviously, we have missed our intent in this case.
A few of the trust behaviors we aspire to are listening first and getting better. In that light, I want to extend the invitation for us take the time to listen to your perspective in more detail (please contact me or any of our leadership teams). While we can not change history, we can certainly Improve our decisions and actions in the future.