State of the industry: navigating through Covid

The global pandemic has created a domino effect of changes to all aspects of our personal and professional lives on an unprecedented scale and timeline. People are rapidly adapting to our new reality, and one thing is for certain; the survival of businesses is dependent on the health of the people who make up both its workforce and consumer base. 

During COVID, many people are facing unprecedented hardships. Whether they’ve been directly impacted through job loss or contracting Covid-19, or indirectly through the mental and physical stress associated with isolation, mental fatigue, or the onslaught of information being consumed daily. 

So, how has the business world reacted to the COVID situation? 

From March to May businesses were at a “standstill”. Many experienced reduced sales from predicted models using previous years forecasting or from being forced to shut down due to government regulation and intervention to slow the spread of the novel virus. 

By June, businesses had started to adapt to this new reality. We saw new measures emerge quickly to allow retail and service businesses the chance to survive while operating safely. Restaurants and gyms reformed, adapting to new requirements in mapped out spaces that previously favored maximization over moderation. Retail stores modified how they allowed consumers to interact with their stores: gating and encouraging lower household volumes as well as placing prompts to guide shoppers through the store in a controlled manner. 

These adaptations allow businesses and individuals to retain a level of normalcy that was lost early on in the pandemic. Alongside these changes were quick actions by the Canadian government, for both individuals and businesses. 

The Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB) and Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) were announced at the end of March and enacted only a few weeks later, on April 6th and April 11th respectively. With the former replaced by 3 new programs and the latter extended through until December, it's a true testament to the public dedication to help businesses navigate and survive this pandemic.

What challenges have businesses faced

We’ve recently started to see the true impacts of COVID on the tech sector - a ripple effect that I predict will last well into Q2, FY21. Owners will be tasked with solving these challenges along with managing revenue needs in order to sustain business and more importantly, their employees.

Mental health is a growing problem that must be addressed by leadership. Just as business owners are facing the stress of uncertainty and adaptation, this stress is similarly felt by their employees at all levels. Recognizing and addressing the mental health impacts of the pandemic across all levels must be a priority. 

Our reliance on technology in lieu of a physical office is creating new possibilities for exhaustion. The aptly named ‘Zoom Doom’ - a side effect of too many video meetings that can leave people feeling drained, tired, and even in mild physical pain - is an example of how a lack of physical interactions is causing unintended consequences. 

Our reliance on remote technologies will only grow as businesses are forced to continue working from a distance while future vaccinations are still being developed. These digital transformation plans have been accelerated, forcing businesses to adapt over the span of months instead of years. 

Examples of adaptation

Spending on remote access tools is increasing; we communicate over Slack and Zoom, project manage with Asana or Trello, design via Miro, present standup notes and weekly summaries with Notion, and so on. Businesses have inured a “transform or die” mentality - if you cannot manage your team efficiently from a distance then it’s assumed your business will not survive 2020. 

Tech giants like Shopify and Square are implementing a long-term remote working strategy, with Shopify opting to close its primary office and announce plans to allow employees to work from home indefinitely. While this will benefit those employees with knowledge based skills, it’s to the detriment of those who worked service based jobs, like the catering staff and building maintenance employees.

The decline of service-based career opportunities with these growing companies should have us question how companies align their growth strategies with their mission and values. Who and how do we set a company’s ‘North Star’? It also raises the question, who will take care of the more vulnerable members of society while we transition how we hire for and maintain companies.  

We’ve had an abundance of hardships during COVID, but there have also been some positives. We’ve seen the death of distance - businesses can now truly hire for talent outside the constraints of location. Legacy expectation of “you must live here or eventually move to” certain locales is slowly diminishing.  

Long-term, we will see the impacts of the pandemic on the foundation of how we experience work. The most recent Gartner Symposium stated most employees want to work at home 2-3 days/week. We’ve seen both emotional and monetary benefits with working from home, and most people want to experience the positives of office collaboration along with increased time with their families. 

Do we need to re-adjust our expectations of real-estate for companies? Should owners be cognizant of shifting the cost of real-estate to their workers? These are all new challenges that businesses will face in the coming months. 

Business trends in a post-COVID world

The two biggest changes I predict will be the speed of change to digital environments and a shift in purpose for business leadership, most importantly the embrace of purpose beyond profit. As Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture, announced in a series of articles in Forbes 2020 is a year to “Let There Be Change”- originally meant to be a rallying point for a decade long plan to bring their company digital, it’s now every company’s mantra. And if it isn’t, it should be. 

Business leaders need to embrace the value of technology - for individuals, businesses, and governments - to make monumental changes. The pandemic has re-taught us the value of human connection and reaffirmed our ability to adapt and persevere in the most trying times. As individuals and businesses continue to navigate COVID, business leaders must remember to empathize, inspire and motivate their employees, and remember the shared experience we are all experiencing together. 

Businesses cannot exist without the individuals who drive them; if leaders do not create strategies to fix growing mental health concerns, help the vulnerable members of their communities, and provide employees with a purpose to align with, then their business will not survive in a post-COVID world.