It’s obvious that we’re having an accelerated change due to the pandemic, but I didn’t think so. The Barrett Values Center (BVC), a global organization that supports companies in their transformation processes, claims, based on research conducted on a sample of more than 2,500 people from around the world, that a transformation has taken place in 6 weeks that would have taken 5 to 7 years without the “Black Swan” of a pandemic. I must admit that it made a huge impression on me.
What does this have to do with development?
Well, a great deal. The Barrett Values Center supports organizations in their quest to manage by values, with the ultimate goal of creating a world where values are the basis for our decisions. Where action that helps change the world for the better counts, and the value of an organization is measured by what they contribute to the world. In conducting the survey, BVC asked participants first about their personal values, and then what values their organizations followed:
- BEFORE COVID-19,
- during a pandemic
- and about the values that will be key in the future so that they can revive and function effectively.
The evolution of personal values.
The first surprise – how much has changed in the area of our personal values. This shows that we have made important reevaluations in a few weeks. Continuous learning (No. 1) further supported by adaptation (No. 4), which prior to COVID19 was not on the list of the 10 most important values, indicate that respondents see just DEVELOPMENT as the most important direction in the new reality. Interestingly, we are more interested in the bigger picture (value: bringing positive change to the world (No. 3) than before the pandemic. Even more important to us than before the pandemic was the family (No. 2). The new values in the top ten are: taking care of oneself, or well-being, and experiencing care (or caring for others). In the new situation, honesty, respect, commitment and consistency were not on the list of the 10 most important values. On the other hand, values such as positive attitude, commitment, responsibility and humor/fun remained in the top ten (in other places) .
Organizational trends.
In the organizational perspective, too, there are visible reevaluations illustrated by three major trends. Comparing the period before COVID-19 to the period during COVID-19, we can see a shift in attention from:
- Results on people
- Control for adaptation
- Hierarchy forworking together (working together)
The focus on results, achievements and financial performance is being replaced by a focus on adaptation, agility and remote connectivity. Restrictive practices related to bureaucracy, control and cost reduction are being replaced by cooperation, teamwork and information sharing. The focus on commitment and responsibility is evolving in a direction that is more inclusive of people – caring and nurturing employees, their health and work/home balance.
What does the future need?
Organizations are betting on EVOLUTION. This is the status as of today. What about the future? What values did respondents identify as those that will be key to survival and continued growth? It turned out that as many as 6 values that people experience and observe now, they want to transfer to the future as well:
- Adaptation
- Agility
- Teamwork
- Digital connectivity
- Work/home balance
- Inter-team cooperation
Check how it is in your organization.
So as you can see, DEVELOPMENT both during and after the plague is crucial. It contains the energy to keep pace with change. And what reevaluations have taken place in your organization? We invite you to check it out with Kingmakers based on the Barrett Values Center’s methodology and diagnostic tools. It is time to set new directions and plan activities, and it is impossible to do so without identifying where we are now. Just like you can’t explain to someone how to get to the Palace of Culture if you don’t know where it is now.
The data used in the article comes from the Barrett Values Center study: Barrett Values Centre, The Great Transformation? Global Covid-19 Culture Assessment
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