This blog post is the third in a series that is a deep dive into what I call The Principles of Truly Human Leadership, from the revised and expanded 10th anniversary edition of my book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family. The revised edition will be available October 21, 2025.
In the fall of 2008, a world-wide economic downturn hit that resulted in a 40 percent drop in new equipment orders throughout the Barry-Wehmiller organization.
In my earlier days as a traditional manager, the answer would have been layoffs. We could “right size” the organization in response to the decreased orders.
But things were different. I had experienced a series of realizations that changed the way I thought about leadership. We at Barry-Wehmiller had crafted our Guiding Principles of Leadership that offered a new view of what success looked like, and it wasn’t simply about preserving the financial performance of the business.
It said “We measure success by the way we touch the lives of people.”
When called to consider the appropriate reaction to this dramatic drop in revenue in light of how it touches lives, our Guiding Principles offered the guidance to think, feel and respond as our vision called us to.
How Would a Caring Family Respond?
My heightened awareness of stewardship to those within my span of care gave me a clear sense of purpose and clarity through which to view the situation.
I thought to myself: We’re a family at Barry-Wehmiller, so we need to act like one. What would a responsible family do in this crisis?
A loving family would share the burden. Rather than watching a few of our colleagues face devastation, we decided that our reaction would be one of shared sacrifice.
Why not have everyone endure a little pain so that no one had to endure a lot of pain?
There were several initiatives we took in response to the economic downturn of 2008-2009, but the most dramatic was the creation of a furlough program where every person in the organization took four weeks of unpaid time off.
The Response to Caring
The reaction from our team members was astounding—far better than we anticipated. People had been walking on eggshells for months fearing they might lose their jobs. It seemed like everybody around them was getting laid off: relatives, many of their friends, even their pastor. But then, the fear that had been spreading like a cancer was gone, replaced with positive feelings of safety, gratitude and togetherness.
The furlough plan affirmed to our team members that we indeed cared about them.
They felt an overwhelming sense of relief that they could count on their job and income. There was also a sense of relief that we were acting to preserve the future. Morale rose dramatically, because people realized they didn’t need to worry about their jobs.
Most of our team members were happy to offer up four weeks of income, knowing that it was not to make the company more profitable but to keep their colleagues from losing their jobs.
We told people, “Take the time off when it works best for you.” Some leaders initially said, “Oh, no, Bob, we have to tell them when they can take time off, because we need to make sure we have enough people to do the work.”
But I was adamant. I said: “Look, if we’re asking them to sacrifice, then we have to give them something in return. We’re going to give them the flexibility of when to do it, when it is best for them and their families. Just do what you would do if they got sick.”
The Ripple Effect of Caring
Our team members were able to take the furlough when it was most valuable to them. Some relished being off in the summer to spend more time with their family. Some were able to achieve bucket-list goals of visiting places they had never been.
But then, something else happened. Because our team members felt cared for, they extended that same sense of care to others.
Many used the time to do volunteer work, but, in an even more dramatic sense of sharing care, some team members stepped forward and “took the time” for colleagues who could not afford to lose four weeks’ pay.
The sense of caring was so contagious, there were some team members who just wouldn’t take their time away. They simply preferred to work through their unpaid time to help their friends at work. But we wanted them to have that time for themselves and insisted that they take the time off and not do any company-related work while they were away.
It was a watershed moment in the history of Barry-Wehmiller. In feeling cared for, we had people, in return, demonstrate incredible caring and an awakened sense of altruism. They were helping others simply because they wanted to while expecting nothing back.
The Immediate Impact of Caring
We got through that economic downturn, and the cultural impact was profound. Who you are in the worst of times is not always who you are in the best of times. Your values, beliefs, and culture don’t really get tested when times are good. As Simon Sinek put it during one of his several visits to Barry-Wehmiller, “You cannot judge the quality of a company by the good times. You cannot judge the quality of the crew when the seas are calm. We judge the quality of a crew when the seas are rough. The numbers will never come to your aid. Ever. People will. If you feel that everyone is disposable, guess what? They think the same about you. It’s reciprocal.”
Our actions through those toughest of times validated our authentic commitment to our people and our values. We witnessed a real coming together in the culture, solidifying us as a company.
Our business rebounded after nine months, well ahead of the broader economic recovery. In fact, our fiscal 2010 was a record year for earnings! Unlike our competitors that had engaged in large layoffs, we did not need to hire people to meet demand. Our people were ready, rested, and excited to get back to work. Many of them were more capable than ever, having used the downtime to learn new skills.
Our decision to use furloughs to save jobs made our associates proud and profoundly touched by the realization that they worked for a company that truly cared about them. Even though they had lost out on one-twelfth of their income, they embraced the furlough program because it meant saving someone else’s job.
It was a shared sacrifice that, in the end, didn’t seem like such a sacrifice.
The Long-Term Effects of Caring
Several years later, researchers from Georgetown and Washington University in St. Louis analyzed segments of our workforce to see what effect our culture of care and compassion had on our team members. Their research showed that in the 70+ percent of our associates who reported feeling like their lives had been touched by our culture, there was an interesting corollary: a heightened sense of altruism, or philanthropy. In other words, because they felt cared for and valued in their workspaces, they were more likely to take the initiative to help others.
Just recently, we have implemented a company-wide survey we call “Every Voice Matters.” The questions of this survey reflect the principles of Truly Human Leadership, focusing on the emotional and relational aspects of work that are often overlooked in profit-focused organizations.
The results of the survey have been both affirming and revealing, echoing what Georgetown and Washington University found a decade ago and what we found during 2008-2009.
A key finding was that 82 percent of our people feel cared for, respected, and listened to by their direct leaders.
In stark contrast, Gallup has reported that in 2024, only 21% of people strongly agreed that their organization cared about their wellbeing.
Why Caring Should Be a Priority in Business
Our response to the 2008-2009 economic downturn at Barry-Wehmiller was very unique. Since then, we’ve seen other companies respond in similar ways, but the unfortunate truth is that many businesses don’t view their people or their operations through a lens of caring. Many have boards and shareholders that only know how to respond to those crises in traditional ways. Ways that often hurt people.
The reason we at Barry-Wehmiller want our leaders to care about our people is because they are someone’s precious child, with hopes and dreams for a future through which they can realize their full potential. They are not roles to fill or functions that serve to do what we want so we can be successful. They are people, who should be cared for just like I would care for my own child and deserving to receive that care from others.
And, as we have found, caring is contagious. When people feel cared for, it inspires them to care for others. Imagine the impact it would have – not only within a business, but in people’s individual lives – if that Gallup number above was the inverse in every company, like it is at Barry-Wehmiller.
Business could be a powerful force for good in the world if our leaders have the skills and courage to care for those they have the privilege to lead.