"There is no Comfort in the Change Zone. There is no Change in the Comfort Zone." - Marshall Goldsmith

What some employers are doing in the midst of this COVID-19 epidemic reminds me of the life threatening experience I had on the New Year's eve of 2000. Having left the bay late in a house boat, we were caught up in a terrible storm. Stuff such as cooler boxes, floats, mats etc were being flown off the boat, and water was splashing into the cabins etc. Everything was rocking all over and knocking against each other. The two speed boats we had were banging against the house boat and we were all in panic. In the midst of that panic, the captain decided to loosen one of the speed boats. Unknown to him the other speed boat had loosened on its own and both boats floated away. That meant we now had no life saving equipment at all in the event of the storm getting worse. All we could do was hope for the best. In the middle of the dark we were finally assisted by the other boats that guided us to dock safely.

We are all in the midst of a major human, economic, and health crisis. Some employers at the sight of the crisis have decided to off load their staff leaving them to face the uncertainties and the bleak future. Just as the Captain loosened the speed boats, these leaders are forgetting they may need that same staff in the calm waters that are ahead. Admittedly, these are the deep waters of being in business and a number of business leaders are lost as to what to do. Some leaders are taking decisions that will sweep them completely out of the business scene. Some are failing to make decisions that may have similar consequences. And yet some are taking bold decisions that will totally transform their businesses. It is definitely a tough time. How to handle human capital is one of the critical areas all business leaders are facing right now. In spite of the dwindled revenues, does one hold on to the people they currently employ or its time to shed off some? Does one reduce salaries or maintains them? What are the legal provisions of scaling down staff? What is the optimum number of staff for the level of business currently generated? etc. Tough questions and in most cases no answers.

Unfortunately in business just like in most areas of life, sands are shifting. A new terrain is being laid out, like actors on the stage in a play, businesses from the old era to the new one are being changed. A new scene is beginning and people are taking their positions. While there is all the turmoil and its affecting everyone, unfortunately leaders still have to hit the ground running. In my years in the corporate world, I have never experienced such turmoil.

Unfortunately for business leaders, what they do over the next few weeks/months has a massive impact on their business' future. The business scene waits for no one- as with most matters in business, there is hardly time for a pause. Realise that post COVID 19 the business will still need top players to take off again. It still needs to retain or even upgrade its current or pre-COVID-19 capacity.

The thing is, I’m seeing too many HR Practitioners and Business Leaders who are waiting this thing out…They are hoping that the storm passes, and things will go back to how they were before…

While they could be right, it is definite we are at the dawn of a new reality. The future is no longer the same. the economy will be in a completely different shape post COVID-19. There has been a re-configuring of the business landscape the way we used to know it.

New tactics and strategies are now an essential element for your business to thrive let alone maintain its pre -COVID 19 status. There is going to be new players in the new economy and those new players are those leaders and/or organisations that are being proactive at this very moment. 

As we must have learnt from this epidemic, PEOPLE are the most critical component of our businesses. The machines, infrastructure, technology etc still could not keep the businesses running on their own.

Going forward, what are the practical actions that will help your organization not only to survive but thrive beyond the crisis? How do you reshape your workforce, how do you reshape to perform? As the saying goes, Leadership greatness is forged in the heat of adversity. “There is no better time to observe the quality of leaders than when seismic challenges are rocking their world.”

Some leaders may find it natural to want to abandon or postpone work devoted to talent management issues. But the truth is that there is no better time to review and shift talent management practices. Now is the opportune moment for you to gain complete clarity, knowledge, and intimacy of the leaders who will constitute your team going forward. You need to reassess and strengthen the leaders whom you will lead your organization with back to recovery and beyond.

One question you may have to answer soon in one of the interviews for senior positions is, ‘What did you do for your People during the Coronavirus crisis? This is where you will need to demonstrate that you truly value your people. This crisis has shown most leaders' real beliefs about people. Soon after hitting hitting the turbulence some were quick to throw off their 'valued asset' into the swirling waters. 

One of the top agenda items for most leaders and organisations is that of near-term survival. Also, equally important is the question of how to position the organisation once the crisis is over and when we get back to “normal.” Very critical unknowns in this turbulence.

The questions you need to be asking are, as an organisation do you have plans or mechanisms to operate in the new normal? Does your top leadership team have the ability to absorb the shock? How do you ensure you come out better than the competition?Furthermore, do you have within your organisation an executive team that ensures you hit the ground running? If not, this period presents an opportunity for you to realise the need to put in place such a team that becomes key to your organisation’s survival and long-term prosperity.

As Kevin Sneader and Shubham Singhal cite in their article, “The future is not what it used to be: Thoughts on the shape of the next normal”, the Wall Street Journal observed that the crisis has revealed weaknesses in succession plans as leaders get sick and deputies quickly need to be found across all aspects of operations. Companies are learning the hard way that succession planning must go much deeper than the C-suite, and much broader.

In conclusion, you can rebuild your team once again. I say this acknowledging we are not out of the woods yet. We are still to face some tough times before we get through. Just like the leaders themselves most employees are shell shocked and need leadership now more more than ever before. The last thing they should feel or see is a leader who abandons them in the middle of a crisis. Get in touch with your team, communicate, reassure, find solutions to coach your immediate team. Cascade the process down the organisation and lets get going once again. We have to dock safely with as many of those in our team still on board.

Brian Maphosa is a Marshall Goldsmith Certified Executive & Team Coach. Also certified for Global Leadership Assessment (GLA360). His mission is to measurably increase leadership effectiveness.

He is also the Regional Director for The Alpa Group in which he works with SME business owners and CEOs/MDs who seek to double the value of their businesses over the next 2-3 years and dominate their market niche. He does this through facilitating Peer to Peer Boards in a city near you as well as online. For more details CLICK HERE