Integrity = Survival

How belief and dedication make innovation possible

It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to construct, if you want to do it well, you have to believe in what you’re doing. If you don’t attach meaning to your work, or see a greater purpose behind it, the final result will never be as rewarding as it could have been.

Here at nGROUP, we call that kind of belief and dedication “integrity.” For our team, and for me personally, integrity means being committed to our work so that we can always provide the best results for our clients.

The thing is, integrity used to be “nice to have.” Now? It’s imperative.

I believe that working with integrity — i.e., being fiercely committed to the job — is the only way to successfully guide an operation through the challenges that surround us. Why? Because innovative solutions? require commitment like that. And innovation is the only way to adapt, survive, and thrive in times like these.

The pursuit of purpose

While integrity is a vital characteristic of successful companies, it’s also very misunderstood. How does one define it, exactly? Or measure it? Better yet, how does one “create” integrity?

It all starts with purpose. When you (and your work) have a purpose, something that goes beyond dollars earned or units shipped, you’ll have your ultimate goal set before you. Continuously working towards that ultimate goal, while always committing your best effort to the process, is what constitutes integrity.

Purpose provides the drive you need to work with integrity. Purpose picks you up out of bed, puts coffee in your hands, and leads you out the door to give it your best. And when things get difficult, integrity shows up in the purpose that keeps pushing you forward.

At nGROUP, our purpose goes beyond the production targets we help our clients conquer. As a company, we recognize the ultimate and unique importance of the global supply chain. We are dedicated to helping our clients because that ultimately helps the supply chain run smoothly — and even be improved.?

That’s a goal that’s bigger than the income statement or balance sheet. It’s something to which we can constantly dedicate ourselves. It serves as a signpost by which we can guide every decision we make.?

Purpose is having a larger goal that constantly drives us forward. Integrity is the dedication and belief we all share for that goal. Together, purpose and integrity are necessary parts of our real objective: innovation.

Integrity and the core of innovation

Because our purpose here at nGROUP is beyond a measurable KPI, it’s something that always calls us to be better, and to think bigger. If we work with integrity, then, we must constantly be seeking the newest, most innovative solutions for our clients.

That’s what we mean when we say that integrity is vital in order to be truly innovative.

As committed and dedicated business owners, operators, and decision makers, we are all responsible for helping our companies survive and thrive. Right now, that requires thinking outside of the box, trying new things, and even expanding into unknown territory.?

When a retail distribution operation starts seeing demand skyrocket this peak season, how will they handle the volatility? Hiring more people only gets you to a certain point, not to mention all the time and cost necessary to train them. At the same time, it doesn’t seem wise to grab up new DCs right now, with the immediate future so uncertain.

Working with integrity, they might see that the only way to survive the extreme circumstances — while also making the most of a new opportunity — is to try a new approach. So they create a pop-up operation. Temporarily leasing extra space, they build a new workforce and use the pop-up to soak up extra demand. When peak season winds down, they relinquish the space and the staff and resume normal operations.

That kind of innovative thinking and acting requires integrity. Because the decision makers believed in the purpose of their work, and believed what they were doing was necessary, they pursued every option available to them. Even if that option was something they had never done (or considered) before.?

Integrity, innovation, nGROUP

nGROUP prizes integrity in our people. Not only are we responsible for helping our clients do more at lower costs with more reliable labor, but we have a purpose that stretches far beyond dollars and units. When we strive to offer our clients innovative new solutions for unique circumstances, we’re being dedicated to all of our goals. That’s integrity.

We have executed peak season pop-up operations for major retailer distributors. We’ve helped clients implement technology tools that completely change the way they see their labor, costs, and performance. With our engineering expertise, nGROUP has guided dozens of operations to new and improved production floor layouts and processes. Even overhauling an entire shift structure — and increasing production at the same time — aren’t out of our clients’ reach.

I believe that our corporate integrity is what compels us on our mission to help clients make the supply chain better. I’ve seen the value of putting a grand purpose like that before a team. It energizes and unifies people, turning a group of individuals into a single, constant force for improvement.

I know your company can and will benefit from a renewed focus on greater purpose, innovation, and integrity. Surviving and thriving through moments like these requires all your people to be on board, to work as a whole. In order to maintain the integrity of your effort, you must prioritize integrity within your team.

David Hair is co-founder and CEO of nGROUP. With decades of experience in the supply chain, David helps nGROUP and partners create strong, lasting, beneficial partnerships. His passion is helping supply chain leaders come to grips with labor management headaches so they can get more done without breaking the bank.