Understanding Small Businesses in COVID-19. Meet Jason Touray.
How SME’s have turned survival into success
A People & Talent leader, Jason helps build human-centric startups. He is the founder of Black Unicorn (BU), a firm that is changing the working world through inclusive hiring, improved culture, and happy people. He also acts as the VP of People at Girlfriend Collective and a mentor to Backstage Capital. Prior to BU, he was the ‘People Guy’ at Huckletree, Casper, and WeWork. iP caught up with Jason about his experience managing people & culture in the workplace during COVID-19.
1) What was the most surprising operational challenge you went through in the last several months?
Our greatest challenge was going through the same issues that our partner brands were going through and figuring out how to balance that. For Black Unicorn, it started with getting an initial handle on the pipeline and what revenue looked like. Beyond that, our team has been a huge consideration. I had to figure out what their needs were going to look like while working from home. Then, I had to manage the expectations of what’s likely to change, understanding legal frameworks around the furlough scheme and other government support. It was imperative to communicate effectively and be compassionate, pragmatic, and supportive. We also had to think creatively about roles — ‘how can we better organise ourselves and show up to help our clients?’ While working through this at BU, we helped founders navigate their own communication, ensure compliance with the furlough scheme, build out frameworks to keep teams engaged, and map strategies for the future of work.
2) As states/countries consider locking down again, what would you like to see done differently?
We saw horror stories around the communication of difficult decision making. So being more transparent around the morality and ethics of decision making. Also, building out an infrastructure ahead of furloughs and layoffs to support your employees and community, who may fall through the cracks. It’s important to be agile and decisive, without losing the human element.
3) What was a silver lining or unexpected highlight you saw over the last couple of months?
The shift to iterating workplace culture and defining employer brands to more proactively attract diverse talent. A few years ago, we weren’t focused on what was going on internally in a company and how that differed from its external story. Or, how that story played out in terms of people, talent, and culture. Now, we’re hot on that, especially with COVID-19. We’re looking at diversity initiatives, access issues, and creating frameworks that factor in remote working.
4) What have you learned over the last several months about your employees and peers?
Recognizing how best to support my people through this new normal, as not everyone has a comfortable work from home situation. It’s about understanding their experiences and how to be there for each other. I’ve been impressed by my team’s resilience and compassion and how imaginative and creative my peers have been to pivot. Take Ethel’s Club, for example, in New York. They’re a co-working and members club for people of color (POC) — a very physical offering. How do you take this offline? How do you distill it into something that still has value? The ways in which you achieve that North Star can be different to what you typically execute. But it makes sense, so you go for it. Then, not only are you a co-working and members club, but you’re also this digital community for POC.
5) What have you learned over the last few months about your customer?
Brands we work with handled the pandemic with humanity, good judgment, and patience. Huge institutions made redundancies before the government scheme was out, but smaller organizations with less funding haven’t made sweeping decisions without knowing what the deal is. What’s going to be interesting are the companies who embraced the opportunity to reimagine the working world and are thinking about what the best-in-class employer looks like in two-to-five years. Guys doing that are going to win especially as they’re grabbing talent now.
6) How do you manage uncertainty — what parameters do you put in place?
As a founder and a business leader, asking: ‘How can I be as kind as possible to my team, my peers, and our partners? And am I being kind to myself?’It’s easy to go down the spiral of being hard on yourself. I’m still figuring it out — and that’s okay. It’s all about trusting the process that works for you and anticipating the new world we’re in.
iP Takeaways
Reflecting on Jason’s experiences, in.Parallel has three main takeaways:
1) Communicate! And make sure your internal culture matches your external branding.
2) Everyone’s wfh situations (and mental states) are different, so check in with your team to ensure they have adequate resources and empathise with their perspectives.
3) Think about how to show up for your team and set them up to succeed. It might be retraining for alternative roles or offering greater diversity & inclusion initiatives.
This article was originally posted on in.Parallel’s market insights blog, in.TheKnow. in.Parallel is a DTC consultancy that helps brands with international expansion.
