There has been an increasing concern in the business world due to the spread of the COVID-19 and its impact. This concern is mostly on the welfare of employees, clients, and partners and how the pandemic affects them. If the employees and clients are affected, the organization’s profitability is at risk. With the growing levels of uncertainty due to COVID-19, every business must put measures to cushion itself from long term effects. Below are some strategies that top management should consider.
1. Improve Workplaces and Restrict Travel
As a business owner, you should review where various staff members work and adopt measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Employees who feel at risk should be allowed to work from home to protect themselves and ensure the organization is compliant with statutory guidelines.
You should also restrict entry to your business premises. You also need to limit office visits and leave one-on-one appointments only to the most important business partners or clients. As the pandemic evolves, you should be flexible enough to change policies and make relevant adjustments.
2. Adopt Proper Marketing Strategies
It is important to change marketing methods for your organization to survive COVID-19. You also need to keep tabs on the latest COVID-19 updates and inform your clients. For example, you can learn the spike protein inhibitor essay and the development of vaccines to prevent COVID-19. You can share this information on your website and educate your clients as you market your products or services.
Due to various statutory regulations, you should avoid marketing strategies such as pamphlets, flyers, and brochures and focus more on paperless marketing strategies.
3. Enhance Communication in Your Organization
There is a lot of misinformation about the COVID-19 going around in most workplaces. Every employer’s role is to ensure that their employees and other stakeholders know what they need to know. You should also ensure your employees are well protected during interaction in the organization. Communication should be accurate and consistent, which assures employees that you value their lives and want to protect them, even as they pursue business goals.
4. Redo the Crisis Management
Every organization should have a well laid out strategic plan, which covers steps to take for business continuity in a pandemic. Most of these plans are more theoretical than practical, and you should make adjustments depending on the observations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each pandemic comes with its complications; therefore, the crisis management committee should be flexible enough to make quick decisions on how to run your business.
5. Re-Evaluate the Supply Chain
One of the complications brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has greatly affected the business community, are the travel restrictions. These restrictions have made it hard for companies that get most of their raw materials from countries that have closed their borders. One of the questions you need to answer is whether you have an alternative source for your main products. As a continuity plan, an organization should have standby options to source its primary supplies.
6. Identify and Isolate High-Risk Departments
Various critical organizational departments cannot afford downtime, even during a pandemic. These include the call center and customer support departments. These departments are often shared by different people, increasing the risk of spreading the virus in the organization. Therefore, it is necessary to come up with the right strategies, such as allowing staff members from these departments to work remotely.
7. Consider Other Risks, Too
Organizations are often more vulnerable to other risks when dealing with a pandemic. The trick to getting through a pandemic is not dedicating all efforts towards mitigating the pandemic’s effects. There should be a committee on standby to deal with any other risk that arises from the pandemic.
Like any other pandemics, the business community can only hope that the COVID-19 wind passes soon. Business owners and entrepreneurs must put into consideration these tips to ensure business continuity.