Planning in time of Crisis

In times of crisis, people depend on leaders to provide clarity and hope. Fear can be contagious, breeding irrational behaviour and anxiety – and in business, this can lead to lower productivity and employee engagement.
Starting as a localised issue, the coronavirus (COVID-19) has now reached most nations, impacting organisations across the globe – with dire consequences. Already, thousands of people have died, hundreds of thousands have become ill and health services have been stressed way beyond their capacity. For most, the pandemic – and response to it – will be the most significant, and most concerning, event they have experienced.
It has cost organisations billions of dollars in lost revenue (potentially up to $1.1 trillion by the end of 20201 ). It is clear it will result in a significant drop in economic growth around the world. At this stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, organisations need to deal with two equally important factors – keeping employees and their families safe, and ensuring business continuity as much as possible. Leaders are scrambling to secure supplies, keep fearful employees motivated to work, and planning for the future while dealing with the here and now. But eventually, like other Black Swan events, the virus will end. And when it does, organisations need to be ready. In today’s turbulent world, some organisations have become better at planning for and mitigating against risk in the face of a crisis.
They have resiliencie built into their structure. But for many others, this could be a time of confusion, fear, and rash decision-making. Unfortunately, in our increasingly ambiguous, volatile and inter-connected world, unanticipated events like this are likely to happen more frequently – and leaders will need to be more agile, transparent, and forward thinking. These attributes will be key to navigating 2020, which is likely to be a year of two halves. The first will be spent dealing with safety, containment, continuity, and contingency planning – a time for prudent, agile leadership. For those that can keep productivity high, and employees engaged and motivated during this first half, the next phase will be centred around taking advantage of the pent-up demand in the global economy through incentives, recruitment, and innovation.