Priorities for business leaders during and post Covid-19

This pandemic will end, sooner than later!

One thing, however, is certain…. The world, especially the business environment as we knew it, would have changed irreversibly. Some changes are or will be visible immediately while others will make themselves visible going forward.

What next for a corporate enterprise, then?

• Is it still business-as-usual?
• Or, readiness for new paradigms and realities?

The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic calls on business leaders and the Board to meet the challenges on multiple fronts, ensuring the health of the business and positioning the enterprise to thrive at a new normal while attending to customer expectations and people’s needs.

Now more than ever, the business leaders have a crucial role to play in stabilizing the organization in this challenging economic scenario, while also ensuring employees’ well-being. The leaders have to focus on both – through solutions that contribute to the present and are easy to implement. Alongside, is the need to work out game-changing innovations to position their organisation for the future.

New rules of engagement

Amongst these shifting sands, it’s important to consider new rules of engagement and ways to create virtual business intimacy. Businesses need to undertake a critical re-evaluation of their business processes and discard the no longer relevant ones, while adopting new processes and workways as part of the future strategy road map. Basically, to stay buoyant and grow, businesses need to take up those vital steps that will shape the recovery of the business coupled with some fundamental and strategic shifts.

Priorities for business leaders

Some priorities that may have a direct contribution to resurgence story for businesses post Covid-19 are going to be:

• Cost Optimization
• Organizational Architecture
• Leadership
• New Workways
• Talent Engagement

All of these are just the starting point. Depending on stage of business, cash flows, business priorities, industry realities the specifics to be addressed under all the above will need to be worked out and addressed.

Readiness to change & being agile

It’s like a change scenario, however, the time for execution is relatively compromised. While every thing cannot be done in a short time frame, a balanced focus on all priorities is needed – rather quickly to start with, and it can be built on and improved as we move forward.

Among the multiple dimensions, organizational effectiveness and people practices will need optimal mind space from the leadership team, as much as they invest in the new business plan. And a key driver for change will be the ability to embrace the new workways and implement these in quick response to the pace of change.

Businesses always survived and thrived when they are agile, are quick to adapt, and adopt newer and more efficient ways of working. The same stands true for now.