Success Story: When COVID Hit, Everything Changed

"When COVID hit, everything changed almost overnight."

That's what a small business owner told us when we discussed how they not only survived the global pandemic, but managed to find their stride and actually succeed.

This is their story, in their own words.

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I run a small but mighty business with 30 employees. We're in a highly competitive service industry, so when lockdowns started rolling out, our phones stopped ringing. Contracts were put on hold. Clients disappeared. Everyone was scared—myself included. I remember sitting in my office late one night, staring at payroll numbers and wondering how long we could keep the lights on.

But that moment of panic quickly gave way to a question:

What do I actually know about my people—what they're best at, how they think, what drives them?

I realized I didn't know as much as I thought I did. And if we were going to make it through this storm, I needed to understand not just who could do what—but who should be doing what.

That's when I turned to the Core Values Index™ (CVI) psychometric assessment.

Rediscovering My Team's Strengths

I'd been introduced to the CVI a couple of years earlier through a leadership workshop given by eRep founder and CEO, Travis Stovall. After taking the CVI, it revealed that I'm a Merchant/Innovator. As my report stated, "I lead with vision and intuition, and I love solving complex problems."

The results of my CVI assessment were shockingly accurate—and validating.

But in the chaos of running a business, I'd never rolled the CVI out to the whole team. Now, facing an existential crisis due to the COVID pandemic, I realized it could be exactly the thing my team needed. So I worked with eRep to have every employee to take the CVI. It took less than 10 minutes per person.

What happened next blew me away.

The CVI Aligns People to Their Natural Strengths

As soon as the results came in, I started seeing patterns.

People who'd been in roles that kept them quiet or behind-the-scenes turned out to be high Builders—action-takers who were ready to step up and drive results. Some of our more reserved employees were high Bankers—detail-focused thinkers who could help us restructure, cut waste, and run lean. And the Innovators? They were itching to come up with creative ways to pivot our services.

With that knowledge, we restructured teams—not based on titles, but on core value energies.

We stopped assigning tasks by job description and started assigning by fit.

The difference was immediate. People felt energized. They stepped into new roles with confidence. They owned their space.

One of our Merchants—someone who had mostly stayed in the background before—took on internal communications and kept morale high during the toughest months. One of our Bankers built out a more efficient invoicing system that kept our cash flow steady. And our Innovators came up with a virtual version of one of our services that saved our bacon.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This company used eRep's Top Performer Profiles™ to identify the ideal Core Values Index profile for each role within their company (talent management). It is a highly accurate way to optimize your existing team as well as identify ideal candidates during the hiring process (talent acquisition).

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Building Trust Through Understanding

The CVI also helped us understand how to communicate better. Tensions were high. Remote work added new challenges. But knowing how each person was wired helped us avoid misunderstandings and improve team dynamics.

Instead of asking everyone to behave the same way, the CVI helped us honor individual differences.

I learned to stop expecting detailed reports from my Builders—they just wanted to get things done. I gave my Innovators the space to brainstorm before forcing decisions. And I leaned on my Merchants to keep the human side of our business alive when everything felt uncertain.

Weathering the Storm—Together

We didn't just survive—we came out of the pandemic stronger, more connected, and more aligned than ever. The CVI played a major role in that. (Several of our competitors failed to adapt and didn't survive.)

The CVI gave us clarity in a time of chaos. It gave us a language to talk about strengths and stress without judgment.

The CVI reminded me that when you understand your people at their core, you can lead with more empathy, purpose, and trust.

Today, the Core Values Index assessment is a standard part of our onboarding process. Every new hire takes it. Every manager uses it. And I revisit my own results regularly, especially when I'm feeling stuck or overwhelmed.

The CVI is more than just a tool—it's a blueprint for building a resilient, human-centered business.

If the CVI could help us survive a global pandemic, I'm convinced it can help any business thrive no matter what comes next.

Core Values Index™ and CVI™ are trademarks of Taylor Protocols, Inc.