Corona Impact: Life, Living and Lifestyle

It doesn't get more VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) than this, does it? Covid-19 has thrown a curveball at the whole of mankind. It is an unknown enemy and for want of a definitive line of treatment, social distancing is the adopted approach. Different nations have implemented this with different levels of stringency. As we are housebound, life has become very different from what it used to be. The need of the hour is to save lives, and as we collectively endeavor to make it possible, what gets impacted for many is their livelihood, and for some others, it is the quality of their lifestyle that takes a beating, somewhere higher up in the hierarchy of needs! Broadly speaking, first in the pecking order of priorities will be to save lives, then helping the needy to earn a living, after which comes the goal of enabling people to go back to the quality of lifestyles they had earlier.

The daily lives of professionals in different streams of work have been affected differently. While some have got a lot of time at hand because business has come to a grinding halt, there are also others whose daily schedules have become more complicated because their physical workspace has now become their respective homes, in front of their computers. Necessity is the mother of invention; even as organizations are bracing up to revenue losses and profit drops, they have set in motion new work habits. This is something that bears testimony to the ingenuity of the human mind and resilience of the spirit in us. 

Life: The current situation cuts across the whole world, with different nations at different stages of the Covid-19 curve. The first priority for a business is to ensure the safety of employees and their families. To enable continuity of business operations, organizations have embraced a ‘Work From Home’ (WFH) approach and have quickly rolled out the systems for that. Traditionally, many Indian companies have been against this concept, guided by the philosophy that employees need to be monitored. However, these are extraordinary times that call for extraordinary measures, and to navigate through the troubled waters we find ourselves in, WFH is seen as just the right solution. In fact, this is just a reflection of the new social order in the era of digital networking; something which took a pandemic for organizations to embrace. There are challenges though; the office workspace nurtures a set of habits, shared values and cultural connect. The small acts of support from co-workers that were often taken for granted in the pre-Covid days, will now be missed. The HR team has the task of building engagement, alignment and motivation in the days of the new normal. WFH system throws up different challenges in different parts of the world. In Indian metros, with small-spaced apartments, it is tough to create office-like conditions; this situation gets exacerbated when you consider the fact that household chores in many cases used to be outsourced, and that facility might not be available in the days of lockdown. This emergent form of work-life imbalance is something that needs to be managed.

Living: While business is badly hit by the Covid menace, companies are drawing up revised annual projections, mostly with a bleak April-June quarter, and recovering significantly in the rest of the year, hoping that the situation comes under control soon. Employees will be worried about their jobs in the wake of dwindling business volumes, and rightfully so. Some sectors will be badly hit, while some might even benefit. Whatever be your business, it is important to figure out the scale and nature of damage, and to explore ways to make your business more relevant in the current context. This could be in terms of alternate service models, adjacent product categories or other services that could be really useful for your fellow beings in this hour of need. To keep the work going, social distancing compliant formats, and innovations within that space, like delivering the service at home or through online route, would need to be explored. It is no longer business as usual, and there are economies with large number of daily wage earners whose livelihood will be affected. While the state will have their welfare as top priority, businesses too should chip in for the greater good.

Lifestyle: What is happening now must have seemed like a dystopian film, a few months ago. The current situation has imposed restrictions on where we will go and whom all we will meet. You can’t step out of your house, a handshake is seen as irresponsible behavior, and you don't know who could be trusted, with respect to him or her being a contagion carrier. Habits can change; for instance, wearing of protective masks is seen as acceptable social practice in certain societies, whereas in some other places it was not the case, till recently! It is going to be a while before we go to restaurants, sit in close proximity with friends, go for a movie, or spend an evening at the mall. Foreign travel, once seen as aspirational, will now be approached with caution, and questioned more. A vaccine will come, but shift in habits, like a detox, will happen in the medium term. We will appreciate the things that really matter to us and this crisis will make us differentiate between wants and needs. In terms of businesses, categories built around outdoor experiences, travel, heavy manufacturing, and ones based on products of indulgence, will talk take some hit, and it will be a while before they return to Pre-Covid averages.

There is a way to counter the virus (not talking about herd immunity here), which is by breaking the transmission chain completely. However, it will hit us hard economically, and we need to manage the fallout of it. This reality is a bitter pill that has to be swallowed, for there is no easy pill than can completely cure Covid-19. This will test our resolve, but we will overcome it. Mankind will come out stronger, because what cannot destroy you, will eventually strengthen you!