Opportunity in isolation
It’s a truism that opportunities exist in every disaster, and the global pandemic is no exception. You’ll find advice from one corner of the web to the other to ensure that you’ve got better Business Continuity Plans, and whilst I strongly support innovation in terms of supplier security, I want to stress an angle I don’t see everywhere.
ISOLATION has taught us new ways of working. Now you know more about what roles are essential to be colocated in an office space. Don’t miss the learning of having your geographically diversified workforce:
Cut the property budget
Downsizing expensive office space may now be possible and for some businesses the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial Leases and Licences) Regulations (https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/as-made/statutory-rules/covid-19-omnibus-emergency-measures-commercial-leases-and-licences), may open the door to examine downsizing, or sharing existing spaces with other, particularly synergistic businesses.
Ditch the bonuses and uplift
Naturally an economy in recession is always a good excuse to scrap the bonus scheme and reduce the uplift this year, but consider the messaging of offering employees FLEXIBILITY of location and working hours in exchange for this. If you’re unsure how this flies with your crew, try a quick poll using a polling app (https://www.surveymonkey.com) on who would prefer to continue working at least some of the time from home. Another consideration is to bring through a promised uplift on rates but reduce working hours for all.
Bring some of your Business Continuity Operations into new normal.
Most of us now need to be considering how to reduce costs and isolation has been a testing ground in which internal services are still required. Consider that any services tied to physical offices (cleaning/catering/some forms of admin and reception) should be made flexible at the very least. The opportunity of forced isolation has shown us that this can happen, we should assume that pandemic responses are now a part of our uncertain future.
Find the gems.
The challenge of 2020 brings out the solutions in your teams. They’ve found new ways to collaborate digitally, many have drastically reduced their use of paper/printing/posting, they might even be replacing themselves with robots and drones. Make these Isolation Gems the new Standard Operating Procedure.
Appreciate the love…
The most surprising outcome of Isolation Working for most businesses is that their workforce has remained connected and dedicated and they are still seeing output for their investment. Make it a priority to find the employees who have done this the best, and appreciate them.
Without a Global Pandemic maybe you never would have know quite how Flexible, Dedicated and Innovative your employees really are. Do not miss the opportunity that the bonding nature of a shared crisis brings to teamwork. Celebrate with Uber Eats and an online trivia game!