COVID-19: How firms can protect their workforce, operations and values

As part of their immediate focus on continuity, organizations need to measure the impact of COVID-19 on the workforce. Start by quickly identifying which employees are mobile, both locally and globally, and then determine whether they’ve been in or near known pandemic hot spots for any reason.

• Identify mobile employees (including assignees, contingent workers and global business travelers) and any accompanying family members who are in or have recently entered a crisis location whether in transit or as a final destination.
• Consider the immigration impact on those affected by an outbreak in locations visited. Individuals may need to be quarantined or safe-housed and may be at risk of an involuntary immigration “overstay,” including prior to being relocated home or to a third country.
• Assemble comprehensive information regarding all current globally mobile employees, travelers in transit, and any accompanying family members in crisis locations and surrounding locations.

Next, assess the impact of the crisis for global travelers.

• Assess the impact on each globally mobile employee and any accompanying family members.
• Conduct a crisis risk assessment against their individual circumstances.
• Review the immigration status of each globally mobile employee and any accompanying family members, including the visa status in current location; the status of other visas held; and passports held, including their expiration date of passports, their physical location and their validity.
• Identify any impediments or restrictions to travel, relocation or remote work in location.
• Consider any physical barriers, exit permits, flight bans, regulatory bans and other legal restrictions.
• Assess the impact of relocation and any infrastructure requirements.
• Consider the costs, any impact on operations, any contractual obligations (including force majeure), and compliance with legal requirements while evaluating appropriate legal advice at every step.

And finally, develop an action plan that addresses current and future travel restrictions and lockdowns.

• Where lockdowns are not yet in force, prepare guidelines for working in each location and for traveling between sites and offices, including visitor and meeting protocols, visiting other locations and events.
• Prepare your lockdown strategy.
• Consider appropriate protective measures and infrastructure requirements.
• Determine action for each globally mobile employee and any accompanying family members.
• Understand remote working restrictions where business travelers may be grounded and any flexible government COVID-19 policy.
• Assess the risk and potential impact to determine response measures and priorities:
  • Risk assessment of crisis in location
  • Personal/unique circumstances of individuals and any heightened risk factors
  • Visa and/or work permit status and travel opportunity of each individual
  • Travel impediments
  • Ability to make an immigration application amid government department closures and any flexible government policy toward an “overstay”
• Use these assessments to make informed business decisions and to develop prioritized action plans.

During this time of crisis, it’s important to focus on the overall environment, communication and employee well-being. In times of business disruption, leadership and communication are key.

Environment

Ensure that all of your working locations are following guidance from local authorities on managing health and safety on sites, in offices, while traveling and while working remotely. Monitor the impacts on technology due to increased remote working; where needed, increase support and provision of IT support and equipment. Review the employee environment for different employee segments, ensuring the inclusion of those employees with no option for remote working.

Communication

Align your communication channels globally, regionally and locally while allowing for flexibility, evolving updates and messaging. Review communication media to ensure that all employees and relevant stakeholders – contractors, suppliers, consultants, clients and customers – are included. Provide guidance on alternative ways of working while protecting productivity, performance and safety for each work location. Review your guidance on data security. For those who can’t work from home, discuss flexible and adaptive delivery models and alternative working arrangements for the short term.

Employee well-being

Ensure that employees know where to find information, guidance and support, recognizing the potential impacts on their physical, emotional and financial well-being. Encourage employees to continue to focus on self-development and learning, maintaining connectivity with colleagues and teaming while prioritizing family and community commitments. Establish communication channels and forums that allow employees to express their concerns, be heard and resolve their most pressing issues. Start with the right tone from the top and make sure that prejudice and unconscious bias are addressed and eliminated.

Balancing cost in the short term, particularly in turbulent times, is critical to protecting long-term strategy. Impact will be felt around reduced revenue due to disruption of supply chain and customer purchasing, increased cost and loss of productivity due to absences, travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines, workforce absences due to long-term school closures, and unexpected spikes in health care costs. 

We are not resilient when:

• Workforce costs are not visible
• The workforce mix is not deliberate
• There are gaps in technology and process to enable remote and automated work
• The workforce cannot adjust to dynamic conditions
• Employees face financial ruin from absence or health care costs

We are resilient when:

• We understand the seven drivers of workforce cost
• We have the ability to remix staffing
• Workforce costs are visible
• We deploy virtual talent and leverage intelligent automation
• We have an agile, flexible culture
• Employees have the needed tools and financial means to deal with the unexpected

Given the increasing complexity and multiple factors involved in workforce strategy, a longer-term view of the likely impact of market volatility, in addition to the outcomes of multiple intervention strategies, will demand a more robust, quantitative workforce planning approach.

In order to provide a complete view of workforce resilience, the four key pillars of workforce planning and optimization, namely capacity, capability, cost and composition (or the four Cs), should be considered.

Capacity

Anticipating future workforce size requires organizations to consider potential impact from leveraging digital technology like automation in existing roles and at the same time strategically redeploy displaced workers.

Cost

In order to remain competitive in light of ongoing disruption and generate value for the business, managing costs is imperative. It is critical to have the right mix and number of workers at the right place. Consider how the economic impact of the crisis may alter reward and retention policies.

Capability

The best way to prepare the prospective workforce is to understand the organization’s future skill requirements. This is critical for job holders, since as roles evolve, they will need to acquire new skills.

Composition

To source critical skills that can be deployed rapidly across the business, organizations need to leverage the wider talent ecosystem. This is driven by scarcity of skills, emergence of new talent platforms and changing generational expectations.