Stan Richards of The Richards Group learned that what happens on zoom, does not stay on ZOOM. After making a racist remark, The Richards group proceeded to lose an estimated 40% of its business. Richards has apologized and, in his words, “fired himself”.
So now the question is, what is next. The Richards groups has gone through usual steps of woefully apologizing for their transgressions and creating new diversity measures. But will anything really change? I for one am optimistic that they will.
The Richards Group has the opportunity to show the world that companies can change for the better. They can own their mistakes and build a better company, that makes better work. If they take the steps that they have promised to take, I believe they will succeed.
So yes, Stan Richards just blew a massive hole in the ship. But I believe that the Richards Group can come back stronger than ever, provided they make real effort to fix the culture. (If you don’t believe a company can comeback from a bad ethical decision, look up what BMW did during WWII.)
https://www.wfaa.com/article/money/business/stan-richards-found-of-the-richardsgroup-steps-down-comments-motel-6/287-3b151be8-a7dc-4d19-b1e8-e29ca67314eb
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/stan-richards-richards-group-racial-remarks/