Post-Pandemic Business Planning

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused most businesses a great deal of pain in recent months, it has also produced changes that, if incorporated into business planning, could provide opportunities for enhanced growth and success. Employers and their benefit consultants may want to develop strategies moving forward emphasizing:

• Health and Safety
  Whether it involves taking employees’ temperatures, requiring masks, sanitizing the workplace, re-orienting employee workspaces, rotating when employees can work from the office or other physical means of in-office separation, the health and safety of employees should be a top concern of employers in the remodeled workplace.
• Flexibility and Adaptability
  While most would agree the nature of business has changed drastically as a result of the pandemic, few can state with certainty exactly what the workplace will look like as we move forward. As a result, any sound business planning needs to have mechanisms in place to allow for flexibility as new ideas and trends emerge. Company leadership should be open and prepared to adapt to new corporate, economic and health developments in order to succeed and flourish.
• Technology and Innovation
  Companies that invest in technology and place a value on innovation have historically demonstrated greater success than their peers. This crisis has proved no different. Increased investment in cloud computing and cybersecurity have become necessary to facilitate the shift of employees working from home. Similarly, this new business "normal" has also pushed employers to step outside the box and create new and innovative methods for continuing their business operations through adjusted workflows, adaptive customer service methodologies and reconfiguration of business resources.
• Strong Leadership
  As businesses have been turned upside down through the COVID-19 crisis, employees have relied on company leaders to direct them and provide guidance. As companies continue to reopen and re-establish operations, those same leaders will be critical in formulating and creating safe and effective means of conducting business. Employers should also be aware of any non-management employees who show strong leadership qualities.
• The Human Needs of Employees
  Employees may be struggling financially, stressed over the health of loved ones, balancing childcare issues with work or battling anxiety over their own ability to cope with issues in the post-pandemic world. Company leaders need to balance a demonstration of strength and decisiveness in their actions but show compassion, care, vulnerability and empathy toward the plight of each employee.

My Benefit Advisor (MBA) guides employers of all sizes through planning, communicating, and managing a successful employee benefits program. We are ready to help you find the solution that fits your needs, from group insurance to individual coverage. For more information about MBA, contact us.