i work with companies across the globe advising them on how to adapt their business continuity plans to deal with COVID19 and i think there is not any company from small to large not doing something about this
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Kenyaâs response like any other country is full of assumptions. We know we had a fast response and that may help but if we see community transmission which is when rather than if, we are likely to see a lockdown which will have a major impact on business - in addition to current impact already being experienced!
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Hi Maggie, so nice to know about you in this discussion!
Cata- great initiative. Will this have a negative impact on your business or is the Govt of Brazil buying these hand santizers?
UNGC has called companies to support the global effort by contributing to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund which has been created to support the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners in a massive effort to help countries prevent, detect, and manage COVID-19 â particularly those where the needs are the greatest.
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Agree Francesca. Companies care about the health of their staff and their customers. Many businesses have taken determined measures, such as changing their work organisation and turning to telework, providing access to equipment such as hand disinfectant gel, masks, and gloves as well as informing and advising them about precautious measures for them and their families beyond the work-time. However, the much bigger challenge will be to retain staff in times of massive liquidity constraints and decreasing business.
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At Amref, we have advised staff to work at home for roles that donât need to be in the office. The question of child care has not been big because many families afford child care. However, we have had to expand our virtual working capacity significantly to accommodate virtual meeting scheduling
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I know survival is the priority⌠But how we respond now will also affect the long-term. It will be interesting to see if the Covid-19 responses also help redefine a âsharing economyâ. The sharing (be it formal or informal) of time and resources. In China, during the midst of the crisis, rather than lay-off workers, some businesses lent their workers to other businesses that were needing more workers so they could remain employed. This mentality is really useful across the board.
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Iâm all for that. As always, but now more than ever, deployment must be quick, targeted and absolutely effective
Giles, I agree re PPPs:
Weâre all in this together.
1.Straight Talk, Trust, Candor, Transparency.
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Data Analytics and Evidence-Based Decisions.
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Thought Leadership and Innovation.
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Transformative Technologies.
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Collective Action and Partnerships across Sectors.
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Love this point Mary Lou! As I write, our fourth grader is downstairs on day 2 of online lessons from home. I donât think it can be overstated how challenging it is for parents who are fully engaged via-remote work with their jobs, to now also try to help their kids and their teachers carry on the lessons & requirements from home. In my view it begins with an appreciation & recognition from business of the layers of responsibility being placed on their employees, and acknowledgment that weâre all in this together.
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Hey Cata
I wouldnât miss part of this discussion!
Kudos on all the positive steps ABI is taking. Very encouraging to see that the commitment of the company at community level continues to be a priority.
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What I believe is not being done so great at the moment is demystifying how amazing SOAP is. We need to remind people of the power of soap,it has been around since 2800 BC so it is easy to forget what a miracle product it is. People need to know that all those viruses and germs are invisible and only soap+water will work
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Business plays a critical role in planning, implementing and adapting to crisis due to their community reach and impact on employees, partners and markets.
Additionally, communication from employers on coronavirus is the most credible source of information per a recent Edelman ten-country study (March 6-10) conducted in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. This is consistent with 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer showed that âmy employerâ was the most trusted institution by 18 points over business in general and NGOs, by 27 points over government and media.
Employers are central in the response, as the Edelman survey also found while health authorities are the most trusted to respond to the crisis, âemployersâ are next before health insurance, education, pharmaceutical, government, NGOs and the media.
We all can maximize our communication prowess with evidence- and science based messages with the commercial sector being a positive vector to address COVID-19.
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I love this idea. Itâs one that has a sustainable vision. One that acknowledges the need for malleable job design
Would like to hear more about this as we are just starting this process in Africa and Amref is providing a lot of this support to businesses
This is what I worry about. Perhaps there should be a repository of best practice in terms of innovative ways companies are finding to retain staff (which must also involve saving staff costs) in this crisis. @zahid
Hi Nina, We at AB InBev are donating the hand sanitizers produced out of the alcohol extracted from our non-alcohol beers. This is the case of Brazil and we are replicating in other countries. Our priority is the health and safety of our employees (close to 200,000 around the world) and support groups of our value chain (small retailers, small suppliers and contractors). Collective action with local governments, organizations and companies is key.
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Maybe someone has an idea or suggestions as to how the SMEs will handle a most likely shutdown if this was to happen. Some of these are people who are involved in hand to mouth and they generate income on a daily basis. A worst scenario of a shutdown cold create more disaster by people contradictiong with the shutdown rules.
indeed and again this is a struggle for small as well as large companies. In most countries the government has been called in to play a role. In Denmark where i live government, companies and employees/workers have come up with a tripartite agreement fore dealing with the crisis. and i think we need to consider what can be done to reduce the spread of the disease NOW, and then later on what can be done for the recovery