The New Normal: 5 Business Norms in the Post-COVID Era
As countries cautiously re-open their economies having gone through the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted everyone鈥檚 daily lives, businesses now find themselves operating in a completely different environment. Many businesses have had to adapt over the course of the past few months to survive while others with well-thought business models thrived during the pandemic and emerged stronger. Either way, doing business in the post-COVID era will be different. Here are 5 business norms that will be prevalent and become 鈥淭he New Normal鈥:
1) Working Hours
The fixed working hours of 9am to 6pm is dead. The pandemic has demonstrated that we are able to work from home and work wherever; whenever. In fact, some workers have indicated that their productivity increased and there was greater work-life harmony during the pandemic than before. 鈥淭he New Normal鈥 will consist of flexible working hours, staggered shifts and/or split team rotations. The increased flexibility in working hours will serve to provide greater agility that would be beneficial for businesses.
2) Safe Distancing in the Workplace
Google and Facebook have indicated that employees should plan to work from home till the end of 2020, while Twitter has decided that a part of its workforce will work from home 鈥渇orever鈥. With all these alternate working arrangements, one would wonder if the workplace is still necessary. And if it still is, the workplace will certainly look different from before.
Safe distancing measures will have to be put in place. 鈥淭he New Normal鈥 will see workplaces having a capacity limit, personal space observed strictly, frequent health screenings and sanitisation, physical staff gatherings being reduced and team building activities becoming more creative – perhaps involving gamification and other online activities. The old workplace would require a serious re-think to adhere to new workplace, health and safety regulations.
3) Investment in Technology
For most businesses, the investment in Technology is often being represented as a 鈥淟iability鈥 on the balance sheet. There would be yearly maintenance fees and constant upgrades to both hardware and software. One could argue that the investment in Technology is an 鈥淎sset鈥 as evidenced by the businesses that have thrived during the pandemic. Businesses that have a strong online presence coupled with a robust distribution channel have continued operating profitably during the pandemic.
鈥淭he New Normal鈥 will see greater investments in Technology for businesses and perhaps the further innovation of new products / services that can only be delivered online. At the minimum, businesses should invest in online meeting tools such as , , etc. Furthermore, there is already Holographic Technology available and these technological advancements will certainly serve to enhance business connectivity.
4) Your Online Profile
When was the last time you Googled your own name? Google has become our online personal reputation index and this will only increase in importance moving forward. Our online presence will become more important that our physical presence.
Apart from social media like IG, TW, FB and WC (if you don鈥檛 know the abbreviations, it probably means you don鈥檛 have a social media presence), there are other professional networks like LI (LinkedIn) which is critical for businesses to be on. To take it a step further, it is not acceptable to just have a presence. The key word here is 鈥淓ngagement鈥. 鈥淭he New Normal鈥 will comprise of businesses engaging with their audiences and stakeholders online. And a word about LI, it is not just your 鈥淐onnections鈥 but your 鈥淔ollowers鈥 and the content that you share that really matters.
5) Sustainability of our Planet
The triple bottom line was a term coined in the 1990s that encouraged businesses to consider the 3Ps: 鈥淧rofit鈥, 鈥淧eople鈥 and 鈥淧lanet鈥. It recommended that companies commit to focus on social and environmental concerns just as they do on profits. While it appears that 鈥淧rofit鈥 and 鈥淧eople鈥 issues have been actioned quite readily by businesses, the broader element of 鈥淧lanet鈥 has been somewhat neglected.
During the pandemic, countries were in lockdown and people had to stay at home. Within a few months, we began to witness how quickly the Earth started to heal itself. Dramatic viral pictures of cities once enveloped in smog and now having blue skies have only served to remind us that we are the main cause of the pollution problems.
Lest we forget, 鈥淭he New Normal鈥 will see us being more conscious of the environment that we live in and thinking twice about our carbon footprint. We would henceforth be (hopefully) equipped with a moral compass to make environmentally friendly business decisions.
This article is contributed by Dr John Fong.
