Engagement with Trade Unions and employee representatives is key. The employment crisis following the 2008 financial crisis has shown how important the cooperation of social partners is to address the employment challenges. Engaging with workers and employers and their representatives, is vital for building public trust and support for the measures that we need to overcome this crisis. Now is the time to work together and ensure that as many people are kept in employment as possible.
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It will be interesting to see how the support changes over the next few months. If parents are expected to go back to work, but schools are still closed, how will this work? And in the US, if the school year stretches into the summer months, when many families use summer camps as child care… Perhaps this really will be the tipping point for ‘WFH culture’.
A2.2: Chinese companies, forced to confront the reality of coronavirus shutdowns, provide a blueprint for successfully altering business practices. As storefronts shuttered their doors and workers stayed in place, savvy business owners shifted their sales strategy to avoid heavy losses. For instance, the cosmetics company Lin Qingxuan in Wuhan closed 40% of its stores — but the brand’s 100+ beauty advisors took to digital platforms like WeChat to engage customers virtually and increase online sales. As a result, its sales in Wuhan achieved 200% growth compared to the prior year’s sales. Businesses closing stores should find ways to keep employees earning a paycheck by selling on social media, putting email lists to good use or using a video tool to reach new leads.
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A2.3: Further, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recommends that business communicate transparently with customers. Everyone is facing this crisis together, so be transparent about what your business is going through. Customers can empathize with brands facing a crisis, as long as you communicate with them properly. Describe the steps you’re taking to mitigate risk and give them insight into the steps you’re taking to help the community.
They do and see photos of self driven hand washing activities by communities
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In terms of supply chains and suppliers as key stakeholders, businesses - especially larger businesses - need to work with and listen to their suppliers - especially SMEs to understand how the value chain can be made more resilient. This can include basic measures like changing the payment terms and conditions (e.g. paying SME suppliers more quickly) to address short-term cash flow issues.
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Communities are not just waiting for us. They are taking this into their own hands and it’s up to business to fit in
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Rapid cross sector collaboration between govt and large business. Essential. and I agree with Githinji that they should be looking at how to line up alongside the communities
Crispin
Indeed, multisectoral engagement is essential to facilitate the approach beyond public health and the medical sciences. This requires leaders in academia and policymaking to interact with business, multilateral organizations, and civil society. Realizing the potential for competing priorities and conflicting interests, we developed seven guiding principles for Multisector Engagement for Sustainable Health (MESH) in an iterative process at Harvard Kennedy School.
Here is the list: (1) agree on shared mission and goals in alignment s; (2) ensure alignment of interests; (3) establish credibility and strengthen coordination with key actors; (4) clarify contributions with financial, technical and in-kind support with each parties’ contribution; (5) commit to ethical communication with transparent, accountable, and just systems; (6) create an evaluation plan with adequate support and independence to report progress on key metrics internally and externally; and (7) advance long-term stewardship for sustainable social change through partnership structure and terms of collaboration.
BPSD and our networks can begin to apply these to COVID-19 at multiple levels as you suggest.
The full paper is here https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/mrcbg/working.papers/106_MESH.pdf
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very true! I agree, Myriam!
I agree with your point about resilience. In Oxfam we define resilience as people’s ability to cope, adapt and transform. All three matter. All three apply to business.
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Not too difficult for parents in Africa because many homes are able to afford full time child care because labour costs are low. For Europe and NA, this will be an interesting one to watch
Very true. And it is being addressed and managed as best as possible at the local level. Our local Chamber of Commerce is having calls daily - to review the new announcements from the federal, state and local governments. This may be the only way to address this rapidly changing situation.
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Great Examples Githinji. Although we mustn’t forget to add soap! I think these kind of initiatives are vital to support and scale up. I have spoken to lots of NGOs in the last few days and several are forward-funding a scale up of their exisiting work. This means that they are committing resources from other programmes in order to respond in a timtely and necessary manner because they are best placed to do so. They are doing this without a guarantee that they will get this money back so they are now looking to buisness and other donors for support.
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Agree. But particularly in the global South, urgent action is also required from international organisations. Time has come to see the UN Reform in action. Enhanced cooperation and coordination is required among all actors in the multilateral system. The International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization are at the heart of the international guidance to manage this pandemic and identify short, medium and long term sustainable solutions for individuals, communities, nations and regions. The International Monetary Fund, the OECD, the World Bank and Regional Development Banks need also to be ready to support stimulus packages to economies in need. At national level, the UN Resident Coordinator is called-on to focus next to SDG 3, particularly also on SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth.
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Yes Jodie. Changing payment terms is perhaps the single biggest simple change to make Today. It is crippling for SMEs at the best of times. This is a time to change it and keep it changed.
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Yes this disaster should be also looked as an oportunity to try and expand the core businessess that organisations are doing. This is by demonstrating that they are not only interested in making profits but they can come down and offer assistance nd help at the time of need where they can . Supermakets should allow elderly, the sick and physically challenged to have a n upper hand to do thier shopping. People will like to be associated with buisneses who went out ot thier way to help at this critial time of urgency nd need!
Indeed- good to know this has also taken priority. Keeping people on the payroll is equally important. Businesses do need to have contingency plans to weather this period and maintain the workforce healthwise and financially
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