The question you have to ask yourself is, in two years’ time will you look back in hindsight and pat yourself on the back for all the decisions and initiatives you made during this crisis, or will you look back and realise that you missed out on some amazing opportunities because you didn’t back yourself?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a LinkedIn post about the upcoming tsunami of anxiety, depression and suicide that is going to smash our workplaces and communities due to the Covid19 crisis.
Since then I have been asking myself what can business owners and management teams do now to come out of this so that they can bounce back when the lights come back on.
Because it is going to end!!
Here are my thoughts:
1. Making the hard decisions now
I am seeing many of our clients making the very hard and courageous decisions that will position them for the best outcome in the short and medium term. There have also been those that have not cut as deep as they should because they want to look after their employees as much as they possibly can. I fully understand this reaction to the crisis, but at the end of the day if your business goes under because you did not make the hard decisions then every employee will lose. This crisis is not for the faint-hearted, but one fact must always be in the front of your mind, your business is more important than any one individual, including yourself. You are better cutting too deep than not cutting deep enough!!
2. Do not forget about the future
All of us are fighting for survival, but do not forget one substantial fact, within 3, 6 or 9 months this crisis will be over and we will all be back at the grindstone rebuilding our businesses. Even at 9 months, this is not a long time and we must be providing some of our strategic focus on positioning ourselves to rebuild as quickly as possible. Now is the time to make sure that at least 10% of your time is focused on the future, now is the time to conduct low-cost pilots and trials. Now is the time to think outside the square and ask yourself “Is there a better way?”. For example, those businesses that have had to lay off staff and can manage to get through this actually have an exciting opportunity ahead. For example, as they start to reemploy they can ensure from day one that all new employees will have better capabilities and “fit” to their roles than the previous team, this will increase productivity and employee engagement levels. In two years’ time, they will be a substantially more efficient and resilient organisation.
3. You are responsible for your employees’ mental health
This crisis will dramatically increase mental health issues within our workplaces and the community. Mental health was already one of the greatest concerns, this crisis will absolutely magnify the issue and it will not go away when the virus is finally tamed. The Federal Government has just released much-needed assistance to tackle this issue and I urge all employers and management teams to make yourself aware of how you can assist your employees, whether that be active care and/or providing access to information. For many years I have been concerned that management teams have felt that Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) are the cure to this issue, the problem is that these programs only kick into action once the individual has fallen off the cliff. We need to start being proactive and caring for those that suffer from mental health issues before they fall off the cliff, we need to get proactive instead of reactive. As it turns out I started developing a proactive mental health program late last year and am now quite advanced on how to implement. If you would like to discuss then please contact me as I am happy to share.
4. Keep a watchful eye for domestic violence
For many males that have a predisposition to committing domestic violence their release is weekend sport and the pub with their mates. We no longer have sport or pubs and what is even worse is that everyone is forced to stay at home. This could only be called a perfect storm for DV. Latest numbers from Europe are a 30% to 50% increase in DV due to Covid19, hopefully it is not going to be as bad here, but the reality is that domestic violence will increase substantially. My suggestion is to use video technology so that when you call someone you can also see them. If you feel that there are any signs of abuse then please contact the police, staying silent is not an option.
5. Make a choice, batten down the hatches or come out fighting
It is the old fight or flight adage. In business during a crisis, any crisis, you have an option. You can batten down the hatches and wait until the crisis finishes or you can actively look for the opportunities that will help you come out of the crisis in a better condition than your competitors. My belief is that there are always opportunities, you just have to have the will power to go and look for them.
The question you have to ask yourself is, in two years’ time will you look back in hindsight and pat yourself on the back for all the decisions and initiatives you made during this crisis, or will you look back and realise that you missed out on some amazing opportunities because you didn’t back yourself?
Written by Mark Purbrick
