The world has faced and survived pandemics before, however the level of interconnectedness and dependency in today’s modern society – for example, the possibility of rapid and frequent intercontinental passenger transportation, and the congregation of unprecedented proportions of the population in megacities – means the possibility for modern pandemic crises to develop rapidly are elevated.
There are a range of common place tools and tactics available to leaders facing crises, but which of these should be used when facing a pandemic? What other responses do business leaders need to respond to the novelty of such an unexpected and fast-moving threat? How can they set up their organisation to survive the many months of disruption that pandemics present?
Here is our checklist for business leaders considering how to respond:
1. Put people first
The welfare of your staff is paramount. In all organisations, the knowledge, commitment and work of your staff is your biggest asset, and what enables your organisation able to deliver on its mission. Delivering on your duty of care to employees is not negotiable. Companies that put great effort into looking after their staff will also be in a strong position to recover quickly as the crisis recedes.
This means more than just allowing staff to work from home, as important and mandatory as that may become. It means thinking about their needs more holistically – how will their health care and food needs be met at a local level? What access to pay and benefits will they need to cope with the crisis? Are you checking on the welfare of staff on longer term leave, such as parental leave, those who are currently travelling overseas, or expatriate employees?
When it does come to businesses functioning remotely, what are you doing beyond just allowing employees to take laptops home with them? How will teams communicate and connect during the work day? Where will your staff go for supplies and guidance? How will your suppliers and contractors be managed?
Be willing to experiment and be inventive with the nature of business tasks that can be performed remotely.
Consider also the advance preparation of contact lists and communication protocols. Will you use instant messaging like Slack to reach staff – or will there be channels on a text-based system like WhatsApp? Have you trialled Google Hangouts or similar technologies before staff leave the office for home working?
2. Broaden your sources of advice
In a true crisis, no one source is likely to supply perfect information. Leaders should be receiving views from health authorities, governments, but also the lived experience of their staff and customers, who have on the ground visibility of communities. Reputable academic commentary from epidemiologists enlighten us to the manner in which coronavirus may spread – and experienced responders to previous crises such as H1N1, SARS, Swine Flu and Ebola give us valuable lessons in what works, what doesn’t work, and how pandemics play out.
Inside the business, you will want to change how you get advice. Increase the frequency of internal reporting so that you can keep a contemporary view of the impact the crisis is having on the business. Reports on reductions in sales volumes and the monitoring of cash flow become vital, and will allow you to respond quickly.
Putting in place a diverse crisis management team will also help generate innovative ideas needed for response. In a surprise situation, a highly diverse team reacts to problems from a multitude of perspectives, and is more likely to come up with a range of bold options. Make sure you have many views contributing to the advice you receive.
3. Empower staff to step up
In a novel crisis, situations emerge that have not been planned for. This requires an agility of thinking, and a necessity for your team to be empowered to make decisions beyond their normal level of authority. Traditional bureaucratic responses need to be avoided where possible – beware red tape, multiple layers of approval, traditional hierarchies and slow processes that would impede the urgent reaction your staff, customers and community need.
Organisations also need to be prepared beyond a short-term response – a pandemic is not like picking up the pieces after a brief interruption of service. The situation calls for an ability to live through the disruption over many many months, which requires a different perspective from responses to routine emergencies.
4. Increase your level of communication
Panic thrives in a vacuum. Staff and customers will want to piece together information to help bring certainty to an uncertain and unfamiliar situation. Being honest and responsive about what is known and unknown will help tremendously. Include where possible the reasoning behind decisions, so that staff understand the context in which management is assessing the situation.
Avoid the temptation to remain locked in a war room or virtual bunker – be as visible as possible, given the movement constraints of a pandemic. If your organisation is self-isolating, look to how you can use online meeting technologies and webinars to broadcast information to teams working from home.
Set appropriate reporting protocols with your board – and the wider stakeholders of your business. What information do your customers need? What are the expectations of your suppliers? What information should be prepared for shareholders?
5. Broaden your supply chain
Restrictions in manufacturing, including the prolonged shutdown of factories and isolation of workers can rapidly result in supply shortages of the key components your business depends on. Cuts to the frequency of flights may hinder the movement of goods by air, while increased quarantine checks at ports may slow the movement of freight by sea.
How can you reduce your dependency on a small number of preferred suppliers and broaden your sources? Is there additional manufacturing capacity in parts of the world not yet affected by the pandemic? Do you understand the interdependencies your suppliers have further up their own supply chain?
Companies that consider how to broaden their supply chain also reduce their level of risk after the pandemic is over. A push for diverse sourcing, and more local sourcing, has benefits to the sustainability of your business beyond simple cost imperatives.
6. Reprioritise activity for the next few months
Customer needs change in a pandemic. Their ability to travel and purchase is altered. Focus turns to basic household necessities and away from luxury discretionary purchases. This necessitates a re-evaluation of stock levels in your business. Ordering protocols will need to be altered – by increasing the ordering of stock likely to be in high demand during a crisis, and reducing orders of stock which aren’t. Inventory unlikely to last beyond six months needs to be promoted for quicker sale now. You may also consider ways to increase online sales.
Managing cash flow in a sales downturn becomes more imperative than ever. Manage your debtors sensitively, understanding that all businesses may be experiencing sales downturns and financial pressures.
Budgets will need to be re-drawn, with a focus on reducing unnecessary spending and refocussing effort on areas of the business that will meet the changed customer demands as the pandemic evolves.
7. Be ready to step up as a private-sector responder
When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and killed 1,800 people, one of the most effective responses came not from government, but from the private sector - namely, Walmart. Walmart provided millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise and in-kind donations, used its network of drivers and trucks to acquire and distribute relief supplies, set up donation centres in shelters to help evacuees, provided internet-ready computers and online photo-posting services to help people locate loved ones, filled prescriptions from pop-up mobile pharmacies free of charge for people with no money, paid all staff immediately for the first three days after the hurricane (whether they were scheduled to work or not), found alternative employment for all their displaced staff, and donated heavily to relief funds.
In a pandemic situation, you may expect that government will be the primary driver of responses, but in a situation of system overwhelm, consider what your business can do to assist, beyond what normally be reasonably expected.
Beyond the crisis, what changes to community needs and expectations are your business in a position to respond to? What new customer demands can you meet? Are there new opportunities for your business beyond the pandemic?
8. Focus on the next crisis
In the middle of a pandemic, the crisis may feel all-consuming; so overwhelming that it is hard to know what to do and in what order. Once a crisis team has been assembled, it is crucial that the rest of the business focus on the core mission and purpose of the organisation, keeping as much ‘business as usual’ as is reasonably possible given the unique circumstances.
In Australia, we already have businesses impacted by a multitude of external factors – from the downturn in the housing market, to prolonged drought in farming communities, and the recent destruction caused by the summer bushfires. Being able to cope with multiple crises at once – and still forecast and prepare for the next – requires special resilience and determination on the part of leadership teams.
If you want to improve your ability to handle crises, consider our Crisis Management Training for your team, or consider our leadership coaching services.
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