The new normal, the “now” normal — even if you’re in denial, life will never be the same as we knew it.
There was a meme that went around shortly after countries went on lockdown in March 2020. It said, “What drove your company’s digital transformation?” There were 3 options, and one of them was COVID-19. It was the letter that was encircled.
And it is true, isn’t it? If it weren’t for COVID-19, we wouldn’t have realized that people with disabilities can work as well as people without disabilities when working from home. We wouldn’t have realized that we can be more productive or work longer hours at home. We wouldn’t have realized that we can work with someone from any part of the world as if they were right beside us.
People thought that the pandemic would be addressed quickly and they could go back to “normal” soon enough. But normal will never be the same “normal” as we knew it. Whether we accept it or not, our world has changed forever.
Business Impact
Big companies have filed for bankruptcy in the midst of the pandemic lockdown. Among them are Dean & Deluca, True Religion, J. Crew, Gold’s Gym, Neiman Marcus, JCPenney, Cirque du Soleil, Muji, California Pizza Kitchen, and many more. Each time we heard of a closure, our heart sank as if we knew the people who had lost their jobs.
COVID-19 may have made people more empathic, but it is mental and emotional resilience that will get us through.
1. Impact on industries
Industries that felt the hard effect of COVID-19 were those that relied on people traveling or walking in, like transport, travel and tourism, beauty, fitness, wellness, shopping, and so much more.
Others have had to lay off people, give up their brick-and-mortar office or store, and shift to telemarketing or telesales, keeping everything strictly digital.
2. Impact on technology
When people shifted to remote work or online selling and kids had to attend school via distance learning, the weight on connectivity and Internet access was immediately felt.
Business owners had to sign up for corporate accounts on online meeting and collaboration platforms, trying very hard to create an office-like culture among remote teams. All of a sudden, Google Meet became free, and Facebook rooms came to be.
3. Impact on customers
Things are very different now for customers. They have had to shift to digital platforms for many things they would do as physical errands like going to the bank, buying medicine, getting groceries, and shopping.
They have also had to get used to communicating with brands via Facebook or Instagram pages and bots. Or they are forced to sit through painstaking elevator music while waiting for a customer service representative to take their call over the phone.
4. Impact on operations
Businesses (especially retail) who still wanted to survive or at least fight to survive shifted to online as soon as they could. But this also meant re-training their remaining staff to be technologically-savvy, or choosing to retain those who can immediately shift to this new way of working.
What’s most visible is that the amount of customers they are able to serve has also gone down to a fraction of what used to accommodate.
5. Impact on employment and hiring
The current US unemployment rate is at 8.4%, although there are experts who argue that the real number is still at 11%, which signifies that the country is still in an unemployment crisis.
To cope, companies who can afford to hire have to do interviews and other screening procedures without a personal interview. People looking for work cannot push for their regular market rate and have had to accept lower offers so long as it secures their shelter and food on the table, among other needs.
How Businesses Can Cope
Businesses don’t really have a choice but to cope and adapt to how they are evolving. In order to be successful and survive the pandemic, they have to:
1. Listen to what their market is saying
Now, more than ever, it is very important to your customers’ feedback and make concessions when you can. People are stressed, scared, and emotional, so when they speak up, they are probably speaking from a place of despair.
2. Embrace digital
There is no excuse anymore not to learn how to use Google Suite or Microsoft Teams. You want to make it? Learn to use technology like a kid going to his first year of school.
3. Be agile
Agility is the ability to move quickly and easily. This means we can no longer insist to stick to the plan when data is showing us that the plan is not working. Be open to making data-driven decisions and not decisions based on feelings.
4. Welcome remote work
This is it. You want to keep your best people because you know they will help your business pull through? Allow them to work from home where they can stay safe and healthy while the world waits for a vaccine.
What will be sustainable for your business? What will still be there when the worst is over and the world tries to rebuild itself? Do you have any choice?
The sooner we give ourselves honest answers, the sooner we will realize what to do and understand what we need to do in order to make it. Yes, it has been a hell of a storm for all of us; but it is our choice whether to see it as a stonewall or as an opportunity to do something else or be someone better.
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