Business in a Time of COVID (Part 3): Eight Ways to Redesign How Businesses Operate in a Post-Pandemic World

This is the final article in a three-part series about how businesses can adapt to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The last few months have been really difficult,” said one of my clients, the CEO of a software service company. “Revenue is down, employees are dispersed, and we are all concerned about reducing our exposure to COVID-19. Yet we must keep our business relevant and growing, which is requiring us to think differently. It’s hard, but it’s a good exercise in thinking bigger and differently than before.” An enthusiastic “yes!” was my response.

Companies have been required to function in uncharted territory to keep their employees safe and conduct commerce during the pandemic. While this can challenge their traditional organizational structure and processes, it also creates an opportunity to rethink how they work now and into the future.

The following questions will guide companies as they begin to create new strategies and shed old practices that might have held them down in the past.

1.  CAN YOU REDUCE YOUR OFFICE SPACE?

Many of my clients have been reassessing their space needs, especially the companies that previously judged productivity via “butts in chairs” and thought remote workforces were too difficult to manage. Companies now realize the benefits of a flexible or fully remote workforce:

• Lower operating costs

• Equal or better productivity

• More engaged employees

This is a good time to look at your office space and consider whether you can downsize. For example, maybe you could move away from traditional offices or cubes to unassigned drop-in desks (“hoteling”) or shared cubicles for when employees need to be in the office. If so, how will you ensure the ongoing safety and health of employees?

2.   TO TRAVEL OR NOT TO TRAVEL?

Many people do not feel safe traveling by air right now because of the health risks. My communications colleague raises the question of whether we can reopen the world with less business travel. How essential is your business travel right now? Is it worth the risk and hassle it poses for your employees? Can your sales teams continue to meet with clients and customers via video conferencing? And what will you do if employees choose to travel for personal reasons or vacation? Will you require them to self-quarantine and work remotely from home, if they can, for at least 14 days before returning to the workplace?

3.   WHAT WILL COLLABORATION LOOK LIKE?

Will your company invest in 4G technology to connect teams or consider other technological advances? Do you really need large team consensus to move work forward or can smaller, more agile teams inform and work in partnership with others to accomplish the same thing?  

4.   DO YOU UNDERSTAND GEOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES?

Intelligent organizations have taken the time to understand geographic differences during the pandemic. This has allowed them to make decisions that reflect each location’s risks and employee needs instead of making global decisions that may not be relevant in all locations. The same need will exist in the future. While it is easier and faster for leaders to make wide-sweeping organizational decisions, not understanding the needs and challenges of employees working in other states or countries is a huge miss. I have worked in multinational companies that enacted a business requirement and then witnessed all the workarounds and loopholes other geographies or business lines had to implement to make the corporate mandate work in their reality. This undermines company leadership and is a waste of time and resources. It also frustrates employees who may feel “less than” because they do not work or reside near the leadership power structure.

5.   HOW ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES DOING?

Whether through formal surveys or informal conversation, companies need to routinely check whether their employees feel supported and are productive. What challenges are they experiencing? When you find out, then you can adjust company or leadership practices accordingly. One of my professional services clients does a great job staying connected to their employees. During the pandemic, their efforts have been strategic and intentional without also causing survey fatigue. As a result, they have a focused workforce engaged in riding out the uncertainty together. Their employees know their leaders care about them and can adjust, as necessary. My client has built a healthy culture of openness.

6.   HOW ARE YOUR PEOPLE STRATEGIES WORKING?

I recommend that companies evaluate their people strategies each quarter to make sure they retain, develop, and hire the right staff for the new realities of business, not how things were before the pandemic. For example, if your business stability is currently unpredictable, should you implement a contingent workforce? If you need a specific kind of talent but do not have a full-time need, could a part-time or on-call consultant or contractor fill the bill? Are you providing training to managers and supervisors to understand how to measure employee productivity and develop their leadership capabilities in a changing workplace?

7.   ARE YOU CREATING CHOICES THAT ALSO BALANCE COMPANY NEEDS?

Now is a great opportunity to look at older and potentially rigid practices to align more with a post-pandemic workforce. For example, can you convert your internship programs to virtual? What are the best ways to onboard and integrate new employees into your remote workforce? Could you conduct interviews by video to save time and money and create a high-quality experience for the candidates? If you will retain a highly flexible or fully remote workforce in the future, do employees really need to reside where your office is? Could you expand your diversity and inclusion practices by hiring qualified candidates outside of the usual markets?

By creating and engaging a core group of people (HR, IT, Finance, Operations) to drive a “what if” process, create a framework for new ideas that balances business continuity, and decide who has authority to drive decisions, you’ll be able to address various areas of your business that need to be assessed and updated.

8.   CAN YOU ADVANCE YOUR SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES?

Sustainable practices like recycling programs and composting food waste are no longer a novelty. Employees not only expect this of their employers, but they are also requesting sustainable practices that tread even lighter on the planet. While teleworking, people have come to appreciate the opportunity to save money on gas, not waste their time in traffic, and produce fewer carbon emissions.

I believe a flexible or remote workforce is the future of the American workforce. Some companies will return to measuring productivity by “butts in seats,” but those who adopt a remote workforce model will have an advantage when recruiting new talent and retaining current employees. Remote work opportunities might be a key differentiator compared to your competitors, and your company will be contributing to fewer cars on the road and reduced carbon emissions.

In mid-March, organizations were forced to think in crisis-strategy mode in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As commerce slowly reopens, I challenge leaders to hold onto the goodness, creativity, and innovation that come from this crisis. Adopt a growth mindset to reframe new strategies and shed old practices as our world begins to reopen.

How will you stay in touch with your customers, clients, or the community to maintain or grow your business? Do you have a phased approach to bring employees and customers back? Can your company create a new business channel, service, or product from what you do best? How will you model and elevate transparent communication, share success metrics, provide context to business decisions, build trust and followership, and build stronger employee engagement? What will your company leaders need to do differently to help employees shift to a new normal?

Contact me if you would like to discuss these challenges and how I can help you thrive after reopening.

To read the previous two articles, click here:

1.       Creating Healthy Buildings for a Return to Work

2.      Ten Ways to Help Your Remote Employees Thrive

About the author: Julie Jensen is founder and president of Moxie HR Strategies, a consulting firm that provides smart solutions to growing business. Julie has two decades of executing HR strategies and transforming organizations in the public and private sectors.