How can a CEO react to this new crisis ?

Thursday 19th March 2020 – Webinar presented by Arnaud Marion

How can a CEO react to this new crisis?

More than 200 people contributed to this webinar organised by Arnaud Marion, an expert in crisis management and business transformation. CEOs, CFOs, HR professionals, consultants, lawyers, administrators, and of course decision makers focused on communication and corporate social responsibility… crisis management affects all businesses and stakeholders that need to join together in a common vision, a sense of sharing and a collective mobilisation. 

Viewing the crisis as an opportunity – supported by the double meaning of the Chinese ideogram for crisis – Arnaud Marion announces the digital publication of his next book on the topic of crisis management and business transformation as well as the creation of his school, l’Institut des Hautes Etudes en Gestion de crise (IHEGC), targeted for senior management professionals and key decision makers.

The current crisis is unprecedented and have led to businesses and their leaders facing tremendous difficulties that were unthinkable only a few weeks ago. These difficulties can be categorised in the following way: urgency management (notably to offer government measures, like the establishment of remote work); the crisis management and of its specific implications dependent on the nature of the business and of its industry; management of day to day activities (known as “run”) with the necessity to maintain productivity to as high of a degree as possible; and finally the preparation for the future (known as “build”) which must be considered straight away. 

Despite the lockdown, the business as a social entity continues to exist. Some businesses can pursue their activity, and others absolutely need to find a way to keep this social link, through a constant communication with teams and staff representatives. It is crucial to mobilise everyone and not to create a separation between a working minority and a not so busy isolated majority. Lead, communicate and inform are the right terms that will keep a social entity alive, on alert and ready for what happens next, without the anxiety created by the emptiness and the absence of communication. Not hiding difficulties, preparing next steps, and being open about taken measures will keep employees motivated. For some businesses, activities “for good” or pro bono is a source of vitality and of sharing products or experiences. The current situation can lead to business leaders losing their bearings, and feelings of complete powerlessness. The business’ future will depend on its ability to avoid the suffering from difficulties, to mobilise the different aids the government have announced, and to regularly communicate with the different teams, notably the sales force, even remotely. The mobilisation of support functions (HR, Finance) is also indispensable. 

The crisis involves a particular type of governance and the use of adapted tools. Of course, all collaborative tools(such as WhatsApp, Zoom or other platforms easily accessible) enable us to create discussion threads. But the crisis also involves a crisis unit mainly based on peoples’ experience and expertise rather than on hierarchy. The latter will be mainly responsible for monitoring the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) if it exists, and if not, it urgently needs to be created. There will be a need to prioritise the different emergencies. Finally, a strategic committee that will prepare for the future enlightened by today’s learnings: this will involve the preparation of a plan with a range of different scenarios and hypothesis for emerging from the crisis immediately, but also the need to reformulate its mission and to revisit its value chain (savoir-faire internalisation, customers experience, digital transformation, collaborative tools, AI, robotics…) and to minimise future losses, as we will struggle to avoid those created by the confinement. 

Everyone thinks that tomorrow will no longer be like before. The crisis indeed accelerates changes of mentalities, suddenly realising there is a need to rethink relationships to the world, to others, to production and to the territory. Corporate social responsibility will become a main actor in the reconstruction, notably for the youngest. This will bring out important re-assessments that will have to be dealt with by the strategic committee. 

Meanwhile, it will be necessary to fight against the temptation to destroy value by implementing cost cutting too quickly, and by doing so looking for the easy way out. This could have windfall effects, like not paying debts or suppliers. General selfishness can quickly turn everyone against each other, creating a chain of distrust. It will also be necessary to face the reality of going back to work, that might be disrupted by the experience of being home (there might be some cases of absenteeism and even resignations), especially if it is extended. Summer’s arrival and holidays management might also delay a full resumption.

The crisis affects all activities, with different effects, dependent on the industry. It highlights the advantage of digitalised jobs. The government promised some measures to avoid bankruptcies. Law professionals will know how to be pragmatic and notably to dedicate time to companies already committed to a specific plan. However, it seems like the crisis is revealing strong inequalities between different types of jobs (employees/freelancers) and in terms of social protection. Those inequalities will have to be treated as part of a social dialogue, at a company level and at State level. The crisis will be more merciful to more agile companies. The agility of a business is dependent on its management and executive committee, maintaining it by showing consideration to their employees, by maintaining a social dialogue, and by mobilising. Start-ups will have to refocus on fundamentals and on the singularity of their model because the access to financing will be limited and the same goes for M&A as well. There are no more points of reference in the development of the current situation and market references no longer exist.

In conclusion, it is important to highlight that difficulties, serious or not, cannot make us forget to prepare for the crisis exit. The latter an opportunity to revisit the company’s fundamental model. In a nutshell: communicate and transform yourself quickly!

Arnaud Marion

Founder of Marion and Partners Ltd and of l’IHEGC (Institut des Hautes études en Gestion de Crise)

The webinar was organised on the ZOOM platform, in partnership with Valérie Ohannessian (PHEMIA CONSEIL), Charlotte Valentin (BALTIMORE PARTNERS) and Cyprien de Girval (MAYDAY). Thanks to the magazine L’ADN for advertising the webinar on its digital edition of the 18th March 2020.