The Value of a Great Business Relationship

When our firm started working from home in March of 2020 due to COVID-19, I was confident that we had the capabilities to succeed just as much in a remote environment as we did in the office. However, what was still to be determined was whether we’d be able to collaborate as effectively as we did in person. Not surprisingly, we’ve been able to stay agile as an HR department while working from home and continue to work together to create tremendous value for the firm.

In thinking about the reasons for our success, one of our firm leaders recently attributed it to one factor: great business relationships. When I heard this, I strongly agreed. The relationships that we build in our offices with our co-workers and leaders are built over time and strengthened when positive outcomes are achieved when multiple functional units are collaborating for a common goal. 

Particularly, when I think about my best business relationships, the following are three common outcomes: 

Better Results

While it would be great to think that each of us individually could accomplish great things, I always come back to the adage: “Two heads are better than one”. The truth is that each one of us has unique strengths and we often have projects assigned to us that involve some tasks that we aren’t as proficient at as others. By leveraging the talents of those around us, we can go much further that we would have if we gone about it on our own. At BKD, we have a One Great Firm mindset, where we utilize our departmental strengths to collaborate with one another to achieve strategic objectives. Collectively, we always create better results when we build great relationships and collaborate with one another.  

Quicker Action

Building off the previous section, those who have high proficiency in a particular area often are able to get to a final product much quicker and with greater quality. For example, we recently needed to develop posters for our offices who were returning to in-person work to communicate policies and protocols. We wanted these posters to have a BKD branded look and feel and have great information. While we could have tried designing them on our own with our own tools, we decided to turn the project over to our design team in our marketing department. They not only turned the project around fast but delivered a better product than we could have ever developed. But again, the relationship that we’d been building over time led to high trust to get the job done and a higher level of effort to meet an expedited deadline. 

Lower Risk  

The third outcome of a great business relationship is lower risk. At BKD, we have a saying of “See Risk, Seek Help. Don’t Go It Alone”. When we take on high-impact tasks by ourselves, we often have blind spots and aren’t considering all the risks involved because our expertise is limited by our own skill set. When we build great business relationships, we can let others look at our work through a different lens and point out risks and considerations that we would have never thought about. As an example, whenever I set out to achieve a major HR Initiative, I always lean on every member of my leadership team to identify risks and considerations that I may not be thinking about. Their individual expertise helps bring together a clearer picture and effectively mitigate risks.

How are you building great business relationships? As you seek to create these partnerships I would encourage you to set some personal goals and action items to create lasting success together.