Creating a Post-Pandemic Business Continuity Plan
From a declining economy to a rising unemployment rate, the Coronavirus pandemic has made a major impact on all industries. This change left businesses with no choice but to either adapt or close down. In fact, a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) shows that business leaders expect their company to recover only three months after the virus recedes.
While the state of the economy is still at a standstill, one promising result from PWC’s report shows that the pandemic is causing a ripple effect on how companies plan to operate moving forward. Two-thirds of the surveyed companies are confident that they will be able to create safe workspaces for their employees, with 68% of CFOs believing that transitioning to remote work is a better long-term business continuity plan.
As companies are pushed to act at an unprecedented speed, this raises a question to all business leaders worldwide: How will the new normal look like for your company?
In this article, we listed three things to ponder on to help companies create an effective business continuity management plan.
1. Redefining business & employee management
As social distancing becomes heavily encouraged, remote work may now be the new norm. Hayden Brown, President and CEO of Upwork, said that the pandemic opened the eyes of people to what is possible and that the demand for digital talents will only accelerate. The global freelancing platform’s rise in revenue further proves that their solutions are now more relevant than ever and that an impact on the way people work will be one of Coronavirus’ legacy worldwide.
A company that recently announced a major post-pandemic shift is Twitter. The social media networking company was one of the first companies that transitioned to remote work for its employees. However, Jennifer Christie, Twitter’s Vice President, announced that they foresee this change will become a permanent setup. They plan to open doors to their offices but the decision to come back to traditional on-site work is completely up to their staff members. Otherwise, the company more than welcomes a permanent remote work setup to any employee who wishes to do so.
2. Rise of a contact-free economy and society
Online shopping is taking center stage during the pandemic. A recent report released by McKinsey shows that 13% of European consumers said that they were planning to browse online e-tailers for the first time. E-commerce transactions have risen 81% since the last week of February in Italy alone.
The way people communicate and interact is also changing and Microsoft seeing a 500% increase in Teams video meetings is a testament to that. Telemedicine is gradually seeing a rise in demand as Teladoc Health, the United States’ largest stand-alone telemedicine service, reported a 50% increase in virtual health services back in mid-March. Evidently, more people are shifting their lifestyle in an effort to decrease in-person contact and interaction.
3. Shifting customer demand and production focus
Amidst the current crisis where millions of businesses are being forced to shut down, companies are becoming more inclined than ever to listen to customers’ needs. Demand in online delivery services and health-related products are just some of the things worth exploring as the economy changes.
To illustrate, a London-based gin company started producing alcohol on short notice in order to cater to people’s urgent needs. Carmen O’Neal, the managing director of 58 Gin noted that COVID-19 left them with vast resources yet no customers. They knew that if they did not act fast, they would soon find themselves with no business at all.
Manufacturer Dyson Ltd. also recently supplied new types of ventilators to the UK government in an effort to help supply the NHS’s medical equipment. This is a huge shift for the company, considering that they are a household appliances business.
The uncertainty brought on by the pandemic is forcing masses to change their perspective. Whether a vaccine will be developed or not, times are now changing and the Coronavirus is thrusting forward new possibilities.
Companies are now challenged to rethink their business continuity plan, and how this will affect both their physical and digital environment. Your next course of action must be determined now more than ever — measures that should be able to adapt to the new norm.
