Dr. Bijan Khajehpour

11 May 2020 | VGL Forum

Key takeaways from a Virtual VGL Forum with two global business leaders on trends and best practices from global companies following the COVID-19 crisis.

The interactive session was focused on the workforce implications of the current crisis, especially what kind of arrangements would be needed to achieve business continuity and staff efficiency in the post-pandemic era.

The speakers, Hatti Johansson and Sam Rakyan from Willis Towers Watson distinguished between three phases to which leaders have to pay attention, i.e. 1) managing through crisis, 2) restoring stability and 3) operating post-crisis.

Presenting data from recent surveys, the speakers laid out the financial, operational and managerial measures that companies have taken to address the negative impact of the pandemic on their businesses. 

Advice for leaders

Looking to the future, the experts advised leaders to pay attention to the following issues in the process of restoring stability and post-crisis operations:

• Attend to the changes that need to take place in the work environment (addressing safety, inclusion, new rewards programs, new operational rules etc.);
• Adapt leadership and management patterns to take into account the learning of this crisis and consolidate a learning mindset;
• Engage various stakeholders to understand their perspectives and have an active stakeholder communication strategy;
• Focus on the well-being of the company and employees;
• Include the impact of the emerging changes on the medium- to long-term performance and adjust company objectives accordingly.

This virtual VGL Forum laid out the key issues that will help organizations and leaders find the most balanced approaches to aligning business needs and workforce priorities in a work environment that has never been experienced before.

You can find future sessions of the VGL Forum here.

Dr. Bijan Khajehpour

Bijan is a veteran strategy advisor and has over 25 years of strategic consulting experience with global companies. He is the Managing Partner of Eunepa. LinkedIn