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The outbreak of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 is causing many individuals, families, and indeed, organisations to re-visit their plans. In Australia and New Zealand, at the time of writing, we’ve seen an escalation in verified cases and the World Health Organisation (WHO) expects to continue to see significant increases ahead.
Throughout the past few weeks we’ve also seen some troubling news domestically including:
- Panic buying which is now causing them to place limits on the amount of certain goods that customers can buy.
- Travel bans countries where outbreaks are occurring and mandatory self-isolation for any new overseas arrivals.
- Events delayed or cancelled completely in order to stop person-to-person transmission that cannot be easily tracked.
- State of Emergency powers being declared and large stimulus packages by governments to energise a flailing economy.
It’s also highly likely that we’ll see some businesses fold under the pressure of what could perhaps be considered a ‘force majeure’ or ‘act of God’. The reality here is there are some predictable scenarios:
- Any business where travel and tourism is key to their revenue stream is going to be hit hard. This includes airlines, hotels, and hospitality in general.
- Companies that manufacture or sell pharmaceuticals, sanitisation, health protection or any health and hygiene related products are going to overwhelmed and struggle to meet demand.
- In this post-truth age, communication from trusted authorities will be diluted and potentially lost in the noise fake news, conspiracy theories and scams.
- Global economies and markets will experience volatility as they respond to changing conditions over the next 6-12 months and the full impact on GDP will be unknown for some time.
WHAT CAN LEADERS DO RIGHT NOW FROM A DIGITAL PERSPECTIVE?
There is some great analysis and advice already available about what organisations should do as a whole including official pieces from the WHO and more strategic opinions from trusted parties such as Harvard Business Review, and McKinsey. These, along with government advice, should be essential reading for any senior leader.
Following on from this, it’s important to understand your organisation’s digital preparedness of the impact of COVID-19. In this respect there are three areas that we advise organisations focus on: 1) Protecting employees, 2) Managing steady-state operations, 3.) Managing growth in uncertain times.
1. PROTECTING EMPLOYEES
First and foremostly, ensuring employees are well protected is the highest priority. From a digital perspective the best way to assist is through ensuring the right information is getting to the right people at the right time. Senior leaders should ensure that they look at:
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- Master Data Management (MDM) – Is your employee information up to date? Do you know where your employees are located and how they can be contacted? MDM is a fairly mundane topic at the best of times but in crisis situations it becomes critically important. Now is the time, in conjunction with employees to ensure that information is updated.
It’s also a good time to gauge how difficult it actually is for an employee to keep their details current. If the average employee has to login to multiple systems or can only use certain devices to update their information, then you should be investigating alternate solutions.
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- Effective communications – Getting the right information to the right people at the right time is important but also can be challenging. Additionally, it’s important to be able to get feedback so that organisational responses can be adapted. While email communications may be one method, a multi-channel response is going to work far better. This may include virtual information sessions, internal social media interaction, Q&A channels, and mobile alerts.
Digital communications are one of the most powerful ways to interact with employees when travel and large social gatherings are limited. Senior Leaders need to consider how they will use a multi-channel approach to both send out information, but also receive quality feedback.
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- Review workplace and learning and development solutions – In many corporate organisations, much of the day-to-day work does not necessarily have to be done in the office. Digital solutions which allow employees to work from home or other locations will become increasingly important.
At this time, leaders need to be asking themselves, how easy are these services to use? What roadblocks stand in the way of virtual employee communication? Is our infrastructure up to a significant increase in demand for audio/video-conference services? Can employees work safely and effectively from home? What are the policies for managing sensitive data (for example customer information and health information) from outside the workplace?
Furthermore, leaders should consider what employees can do from a Learning and Development perspective while they may be working remotely or potentially quarantined. In today’s world there is a lot of self-paced, online learning, which can help your staff both personally and professionally and also improve morale.
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2. MANAGING STEADY-STATE OPERATIONS
Keeping business operations running smoothly may be challenging for certain organisations as the situation continues to evolve. This may come in the form of a downturn in revenue, increased cost of operating, or managing new types of risks such as supplier unavailability. Senior leaders should ensure that they look at:
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- Reviewing / testing business continuity plans (BCP) – Almost all BCP plans tend to rely heavily on restoring critical systems. With COVID-19, however, the problem lies more in being able to access systems from remote locations. Furthermore, it’s increasingly looking like this pandemic will not be a short-term problem but a prolonged period of uncertainty so it’s important that plans are in place that are sustainable and not simply stop-gap solutions.
Organisations that face downturns in revenue may need to determine what cost cutting measures might need to be put in place in the short term - what doesn’t need to be running? Beyond this, it may be worth investigating outsourced Business Process Services (BPS) to ensure alternatives workforces are available in the event that a large number of employees are affected and unable to work.
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- Understanding value chain impacts – It’s easy to be very internally focussed on day-to-day operations; however in these situations it can pay dividends to ensure you analyse your product/service value chain in both directions (back toward your suppliers and forward towards your customers). Getting information about how they are impacted will yield key insights into supply and demand and assist senior leaders in making valuable tactical decisions.
This understanding may lead organisations to consider supply chain contingencies, streamlining of processes, or changes in production schedules.
Another area of consideration will be based on levels of insurance coverage and whether your business is protected from a situation like COVID-19 (most businesses will likely not be covered). This may require an analysis of contracts in place with both customers and suppliers so ascertain the risk to the business and the service levels provided.
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- Simplification with automation – It’s highly likely that there are a range of tasks within organisations that could benefit from the implementation of simple software-based automation. This might include tasks such as order processing, email query management, transferring data between systems and payroll processing.
Now is an opportune time to look at these processes, prioritise them, and then determine areas that would benefit from simple automation that would allow employees to focus on higher value work. Getting in contact with partners who provide Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions that can be managed and scaled across the business is a good starting point.
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3. ACHIEVING GROWTH IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Some organisations will focus on how they can grow now or immediately take advantage of growth opportunities post the COVID-19 crisis. It makes good strategic sense to look beyond the crisis and be prepared to exploit new opportunities. Senior leaders should ensure that they look at:
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- Using data to your advantage – Now is a great time to gain better understanding and insights into many areas of business. This could be done with both a cost saving and a revenue generating viewpoint. The opportunities here are endless but each business should prioritise and then decide on the areas to examine, such as supply chain, customer buying habits, order to cash, procurement andmarketing penetration. Gaining new information in these areas can inform new investment areas. As an additional lens, smart organisations will look at how market conditions may change permanently as a result of COVID-19 and apply this to new data models.
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- Considering alternate revenue streams – A changed world means that doing exactly what you do now may not be a viable option. Now is a good time to look at opportunities to build new revenue streams in complementary or parallel markets. Organisations should think about how they can leverage existing data, assets, and human capital to spin-up new platforms which could supplement existing revenue.
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- Safe experimentation – Certain parts of business operations may not be restricted or even perhaps not required at all during the worst of the impacts of COVID-19. History also tells us that great innovation comes out of times of uncertainty and change. Allowing employees more flexibility to experiment safely in these uncertain times may lead to significant business opportunities and stimulate revenue growth in areas that were not previously expected.
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A COMPELLING REASON FOR ACTION
Digital solutions will play a critical role in any organisational response to COVID-19 so it’s important that senior leaders take the time to study, consider, and then take actions in this space in conjunction with their regular business continuity management. Leveraging organisations that have strong partnerships, proven experience, and can scale solutions quickly and effectively will also be a key consideration.
Ultimately, being realistic about what can be achieved during this time will also guide organisations. So while the recommendations here are absolutely worth consideration, senior leaders must obviously determine what the return on investment or the risk mitigation of taking action or not taking any action will be.
A summary of the recommendations in this article are below:
| Protecting employees |
- Audit and simplify Master Data Management (MDM)
- Ensure you have a multi-channel communication plan
- Review and upgrade your workplace solutions
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| Managing steady-state operations |
- Review and test your Business Continuity Plans (BCP)
- Understand value chain (supply/demand) impacts
- Look to automate where possible
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| Achieving growth in uncertain times |
- Use data/analytics to your advantage
- Consider alternate revenue streams
- Allow employees more time for safe experimentation
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Author: Michael Billimoria
Partner, Digital Transformation
DXC Technology Australia and New Zealand
mbillimoria@dxc.com
linkedin.com/in/michaelbillimoria
With thanks to contributors: Nick Mescher, John Trebse, Craig Theodorou.
