Goodwill exec shares tips for navigating pandemic
Two months ago, when Jim Priest started as CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma, he had big plans for the organization, which uses revenues from its thrift stores to help people with disabilities and disadvantages find jobs.
But instead of strategizing, Priest soon found himself closing Goodwill's 45 stores and donation centers and furloughing 90% of his some 700 employees.
Being decisive and others- oriented are among the seven survival skills he's used throughout the COVID- 19 pandemic, Priest said in a webinar of the Oklahoma Business Ethics Consortium on Wednesday. More than 200 tuned in to his presentation via Zoom.
This pandemic has been ripe with ethical choices, from which patients get respirators to price gouging related to the short supply of personal protective equipment, noted Myrna Latham, a McAfee & Taft attorney and OK Ethics board member who introduced Priest and suggested return-to-work dilemmas will become more personal.
“If your company discourages, and requires reporting of, out- of- state travel, will you report that Memorial Day weekend trip you took `only' to Dallas? Or, will you report your co-worker's breach of social-distancing policies?” Latham asked, urging attendees not to become desensitized due to what many are calling “quarantine fatigue.”
Priest shared his survival tips against the life of Ernest Shackleton, a 1914 explorer who's lauded for the 19-month survival of his entire crew after a shipwreck to Antarctica,
which he'd hoped to cross on dog sled. Shackleton's 27 men camped on sea ice until it disintegrated, and then launched lifeboats to Elephant Island and ultimately South Georgia Island, a stormy ocean voyage of 830 miles.
“Shackleton, who gave a man his last biscuit, was known for putting his men first,” Priest said, noting the importance of having an employee-first priority before crises arrive.
“Southwest Airlines, for example, treat their employees great so that they treat their customers great, so that customers make return trips and shareholders are happy,“he said.
Like today, Shackleton also knew when to abandon goals for survival, Priest said, noting his own pivot at Goodwill, even without all the facts, to furlough employees, pay them one week's salary, and continue their benefits through May, though it's cost Goodwill is nearly $3 million in lost revenue.
Priest's other survival tips include:
• Integrity. “Choose what's right even when nobody is watching,” said Priest, complimenting his chief financial officer for pursuing loans available to businesses due to COVID-19, while adhering to the rules.
• Wholeheartedness. “Versus eating an extra donut or bag of Fritos, be all- in,“Priest said, noting Shackleton's men nailed their ship's screws in their shoes, so they'd have grip on the ice walking over glaciers. Meanwhile, he and other
Goodwill executives voluntarily took pay cuts to ensure their organization`s survival, he said.
• Optimism. During this pandemic, Priest posted videos to an employee Facebook page. “Some are more optimistic than I felt,” he admitted. “But, act in our accordance with your values, and let your emotions be second.”
• Grace. “It's the ability to forgive in advance, assuming others have the best intentions,“Priest said. “None of us knows if there will be a surge in COVID- 19 this fall, but we're following our best guesses concerning protection.”
• Laughter. Research by the Mayo Clinic shows laughter helps physically and mentally, Priest said. Even Shackleton, in recruiting a physicist, asked if he could sing, foreseeing the need for humor, and later organizing shaved head contests and dressup talent shows.
“Think thoughtfully in crisis, but don't take yourself too seriously,” Priest said.
Priest said everyone has the necessary survival skills, each showing at least a bit of each trait throughout their lives.
“You may not have a full tank for each, but you have a least a kernel to water and make sprout a little bit more,” he said.
Goodwill stores and donation centers returned to limited business hours on Monday, with employees wearing masks and gloves. All donated goods are being disinfected and quarantined before putting onto the sales floor in stores.