What is one way you will be more conscious in business going into the new year?
To help you become more conscious in business, we asked small business owners and conscious business leaders this question to understand their goals for the new year. From being sensitive to stakeholders’ human needs to becoming the employer people want to work for, there are several ways businesses are becoming more conscious heading into the new year.
Here are nine ways to be more conscious in business going into 2022:
- Be Sensitive to Stakeholders’ Human Needs
- Up-skill My Team
- Reevaluate Vendors and Partners
- Value All Stakeholders
- Bridge the Audience to Local Businesses.
- Emphasize Transparency
- Cultivate Self-awareness
- Collaborate With Compatible Organizations
- Be the Employer People Want to Work for
Be Sensitive to Stakeholders’ Human Needs
Recognizing the human need for connection is one way our business is going to be more conscious in the coming year. Heading into year three of the pandemic, folks are still feeling isolated. Our company exists to bring happiness and camaraderie to remote teams. I think it is just as important to acknowledge employees and customers as individuals and show a capacity for caring and compassion. Sometimes, folks need to feel seen, especially when working from home and cut off from the world at large. Employees semi-regularly post “how is everyone?” check-in threads on Slack, and leadership applauds these conversations and makes team members feel safe enough to start them. We also encourage our customer-facing staff to connect on a human level with clients and take time to be kind, check-in, and commiserate.
Michael Alexis, TeamBuilding
Up-skill My Team
If a company wants to expand, survive, and thrive in the long run, it must develop a constant flow of potential leaders. Organizations must discover innovative ways to engage employees and build their loyalty in order to reduce staff turnover and productivity losses. Long-term strategies such as employee growth initiatives and skill-development programs lay the groundwork for better employee experiences. Businesses should invest in their most important resource – their personnel – in 2021 and beyond.
Saskia Ketz, Mojomox
Reevaluate Vendors and Partners
As we head into the New Year, I’ve made a resolution to reevaluate the vendors and partners we work with. In being a conscious capitalist, you have to let your actions do the talking – you can’t simply talk about doing good through your business. That is why I plan to take a close look at the vendors and partners we do business with, and for the ones that don’t generally share our core values or purpose, I plan to make a change. To help exponentiate the amount of good our little company can do, I believe giving our business to other companies that have similar views of conscious capitalism, we can help propel the cause.
John Ross, Test Prep Insight
Value All the Stakeholders
One way to improve my business-conscious mindset in the coming year is to value all stakeholders—employees, customers, shareholders, the community, and suppliers.
A conscious leader ensures that everyone is involved and valued for their contributions to the structure. There is no hierarchy or tradeoff thinking, which became more apparent during the pandemic. When all the stakeholders believe in your vision and values, their commitment and quality performance are guaranteed.
Arthur Iinuma, ISBX
Bridge the Audience to Local Businesses
One way to be more socially conscious in businesses is using my eCommerce market to offer products from local businesses. This will help the commerce and the micro-economic development of the area. Consider it a way to give back to the community and an environmental effort, as we all know that local businesses produce a smaller carbon footprint than large corporations.
Kathryn McDavid, Editor’s Pick
Emphasize Transparency
The new year is approaching and it’s time for us to reflect on what we’ve learned, what we need to work on, and what we’re excited about for the future. One way I will be more conscious in business going into the new year is by putting an emphasis on transparency. We’ve seen prominently in recent years how important it is for businesses to be honest with their audience, and the same goes vice versa. Our readers are our backbone.
Becky Moore, GlobalGrasshopper
Cultivate Self-awareness
Being a CEO, I believe increasing your self-awareness is likely the single most useful thing you can do to improve your leadership style. Self-awareness allows you to keep track of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Begin by considering what it would take to bring you more happiness, and then work toward closing the gap between where you are and where you would like to be. Bring this awareness to your daily discussions, lunches with friends and coworkers, and the tasks you work on both inside and outside the office.
Sumit Bansal, TrumpExcel
Collaborate With Compatible Organizations
Collaborating with other businesses and organizations that share your values can help you make a greater impact than you could on your own. Joining forces with other local, and occasionally worldwide, businesses can help you become more conscious of your actions and keep up with what is going on in your industry. Engaging yourself in joint ventures with other organizations will help you become more aware of the disruptions happening in your industry and how to integrate such innovations into your company.
Kathryn Smithson, PathSocial
Be the Employer People Want to Work for
Moving forward, leading with less focus on compliance and managing risks is how I will transform our business culture into a more conscious one. If there’s anything the pandemic really pointed out in our industry, it’s that the workforce and consumers have all the power and, therefore, deserve to be the cornerstone of our every practice. With sincere and actionable intentions to be the employer people want to work for amidst adversities, adopting employee-centric management practices will foster a conscious and purposeful work culture.
Pushing our members to be self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses through individualized leadership will also promote team building and boost overall performance. Being self-aware individually and as a unit will expand consciousness throughout our organization and result in a more solid and coherent company.
Michael Knight, Incorporation Insight
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