During a time of such uncertainty as the current coronavirus outbreak, one thing is for certain: in a post-COVID-19 world, there will be a myriad of lessons to be learned by businesses.

We’re exploring how and what businesses can learn once this challenging period ends. 

Evaluating and learning from coronavirus

Taking stock after COVID-19 will be essential.

We will need to evaluate costs and/or savings, productivity levels, morale and the impact on trust between teams and management.

• Did the work still get done?

• Did your employees feel engaged, or isolated?

• Would they want to continue homeworking if it was an option?

• If so, what would they need to achieve this?

Equally, look at how your business coped and adapted to the situation you found yourself in. Was your communication plan adequate, or could it be improved should the worst happen again in future?  

The benefits of flexibility

One major coronavirus takeaway for businesses worldwide will surely be the many benefits of flexible working.

By allowing people to work from home for an extended period, employers previously sceptical of home working are likely to wake up to the advantages.

If months of enforced working from home results in heightened productivity, higher morale and a stronger culture of trust, employers can continue that flexibility and ultimately build a more modern, 21st century workforce.

Looking to the future, flexibility shouldn’t be a policy that companies begrudgingly implement when forced - instead, businesses can look at how remote working can benefit everyone. 

Helping employees to be more productive, cut down stressful and expensive commutes, which damage the environment, and strike a better work-life balance could be one extremely positive outcome of a challenging situation.

Stop, start, keep

When you eventually evaluate the impact COVID-19 had on your business, it will be beneficial to categorise the changes you made during that time into a “stop, start, keep” format with colleagues.

This will enable you to establish which practices should be retained or improved upon in a post-coronavirus working landscape, and which simply didn’t work for your business. 

For businesses that already had a culture of flexibility, it will be a time to assess how an extended period of company-wide homeworking tested flexible policies to their limits, helping managers to understand where improvements can be made.

Maintaining loyalty during adversity

Businesses that communicate clearly and honestly with their people during this period are likely to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic in a stronger position than before. 

Keeping motivation levels high in the face of pay cuts, furloughing, unpaid leave or reduced hours will certainly be one of the biggest challenges of your career, but businesses that manage to stay afloat and support their employees are likely to retain them - and their trust and loyalty - in the long term.

For tips on how to make homeworking work for your business, and how to keep the lines of communication flowing, read the first part of our coronavirus series here.