The big question we all need to ask is “How are we going to Plan our operations Post Covid Lockdown?”
Introduction
Even though we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the big question we should be asking now and into the future is: “How are we going to adjust our operations post lockdown?”
The answer is not so straightforward. We at SDP think that in order to answer, every business is going to have to ask themselves a handful of questions. The first thing is to define what your business model will be going forward and, once you’ve got that, where you as HR employees specifically can contribute to that model.
To help you do that, you should consider the following things about your company:
- Will it be the same as before lockdown?
- Will it be with the same company goals?
- Will it have the same number of employees?
- Will my employees be safe travelling to work?
- Will all employees be in the workplace at one time?
We would expect that you will answer “no” to many of the above questions – the world is unlikely to be the same again.
How is the world changing?
Already we see the changes happening. Even a visit to the doctor has changed with the E-Doctor program, meaning that only serious cases are seeing the doctor in person.
All companies, including yours (and ours), will need to adopt a proactive approach to understand what changes will occur and be ready to adjust their business strategies quickly to meet current and future client needs. This must, by necessity, include embracing the digital world.
For example:
- Banks will really need to lift their service standards on internet, electronic banking and bill paying etc. Sadly, we are really behind our peers in Asia in this area. We may need to change our bank to one that has the services that we need.
- Government departments will also need to improve their interfaces with companies and employees via the internet. This current poor showing of trying to avail of their services shows how far they need to go to support this new economy. Not much we can do here except complain to them about the failures in their system.
- Delivery companies have a great opportunity to really find their niche, but they need to have their service to the customer as their highest priority. Also, a variety of payment methods need to be offered to the clients. Let us look for the ones that are innovative and meet our requirements rather than accepting the status quo.
- Will a mobile Palengke service come out of this crisis at the expense of the wet market? Maybe as it seemed to solve the problem during the lockdown. They have even gone digital in that you can order online, and they will have it ready for you at your gate.
Will we become a nation of on-line shoppers? Maybe not but it will increase in popularity if the delivery of orders can be fast and not shipped from overseas all the time taking 14 + days.
This crisis has changed our methods of interaction with our clients, not just for the short term but maybe forever. Product preferences, travel, entertainment and dining to name a few will all be different post lockdown.
How can you adapt?
We all need to think about our past (and existing) customers and ask ourselves, are they going to come back to us? To get them to stay or come back, we really need to determine their needs and how we can change to supply these needs quicker and better than our competitors can. This will also apply to gaining new customers/clients.
This change can take many forms such as:
- Changing our service delivery model
- Changing our product mix
- Giving them a service that will really benefit them.
- Going Digital
- Changing the way we do sales or services
Things you may need to adopt to gain an advantage:
A New Plan.
We all have our 2020 business plan, but this will need significant modification. This should be our priority.
We really need to consider going digital as this will be a major part of the New Tomorrow.
Get New Insights.
Conduct new market research as a priority.
Interview your clients as to what they think they will need from you.
Talk to your sales, support staff and employees to learn what they are hearing in this new environment.
I read in an article that saya we should train our staff to ask this “How can we help you get through this?” and not “Here’s what we’ve got!”
(Sorry about not being able to give credit to author as I cannot remember the source) The above should not just be Lip Service, but our new company motto. If we can build this trust and support for each other, we will survive and thrive.
How can HR employees help?
While the questions, thoughts and changes in your CEO’s mind may not be fully formed, you as human resources should try to anticipate those thoughts—and the flow on changes. As business models change, the HR processes you currently implement will also need to be changed. Remember, David Ulrich (HR Guru) considers that the 4 Quadrant Roles of HR are: Business Partner, Change Agent, Administrative Expert and Employee Advocate.
This is the time for you to be creative and to partner with the business leader in adapting to the new current and future business environments and to be the change agent within your organization.
We are here to support you as you take on that role: SDP will continue assisting all our existing and new clients adjust to this “New Tomorrow” to the best of our ability.
Our Managed Payroll Service took a lot of stress from companies during this lockdown as they were assured that we at SDP had this part of their operations fully managed.
How can we help you help your company?
As we are a company that is fully involved in the Human Resources Services, we would like to share some things with you that may help you (and your colleagues) evolve and provide support to your company and its employees better.
There are several things that you really want to consider for HR going forward. Here are a few:
- Promote self-service culture
- Are you going to have a modified WFH policy
- Promote the trust and accountability culture with employees
- Adapting to your employee’s new fears and concerns
- A Business Continuity Plan. (BCP)
- Return To Work Protocol policy
- Safety of employees travel method to office or factory
- Changes to your On-Boarding processes
Self-service culture
In the past, when we discussed the Employee Self-Service HRIS function with clients, we often heard “Not everyone has a mobile phone with internet”, or “How can we trust our employees to take control of their data, they may not be the correct employee, etc.” Because of this we have turned off this feature in their instance. Now that the company has had to submit their claims to SSS and Dole etc., they are finding that the employee data is not updated. They have since turned this on and now use Workflow Approval to validate the new employee submitted data. Employees without internet still update using the earlier method. It is little things like this that we need to reevaluate to ensure that we have the best service to our clients.
Business Continuity Plan
Before the lockdown, we at SDP had a BCP in place for Force Majeure and we were able to seamlessly adapt to the WFH model. We continued to support existing clients, implement new clients and continue uninterrupted our managed payroll service. This planning is something that all companies need to have in place more so now.
Our SunFish HCM and GreatDay HR already has the Old Normal covered well. We are also well positioned to help with the Work From Home model (or variations) that will become more common as we go forward. We are also well placed to help you with the “New Tomorrow”
Many companies signed up for our FREE Time and Attendance Mobile App software during this lockdown. They took advantage of the many extra features we put in to help them and their employees continue their operations in a WFH model.
Inside SunFish, we have a mapping facility that allows you to see the location of your employee’s homes on a Google map. This has allowed several companies to set up car pooling and shuttle services to get their employees safely to the office, call center,hospital or factory.
Our Security Patrol feature is creatively being used by a Janitorial Services company to record when each office, comfort room etc. was disinfected, cleaned and by who. They can also record notes on each room they service. All this in our mobile app.
Our Kiosk for Time and Attendance is now going completely contactless to help reduce the exposure of our employees unnecessarily to risk of the virus when they login.
Our mobile App GreatDay has an internal social media chat facility that is being used to set up groups within the company so that they can keep in constant contact and share activities files and tasks etc. This is ideal when some are in the office and some are WFH.
Conclusion
The above are only a few of the many features we have in our HR SaaS programs with more coming all the time.
To compliment the above, we have our 375 strong Development team working on even more enhancements and new features for the “New Tomorrow”. These will be rolled out over the next few months. Sorry but I cannot share these with you just yet.
If you want to know how SunFish DataOn Philippines Inc. can help you adjust to the new normal, please email us at info@dataon.ph or visit our website https://dataon.ph