Developing Resilience to Handle the Global Pandemic Crisis

By Dr Victor SL Tan

ne of the greatest O capacity of human beings is resilience: the ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity. What comprises resilience? A good way to understand resilience is to look at how palm trees survive the storms. Palm trees are so resilient that they bend with the wind and do not break. The palm trees can even withstand hurricane as its roots are widely and deeply spread. In fact, with fiercer winds, the roots will stretch and grow stronger. The palm trees have an inbuilt system of resilience to enable them to overcome the hardiest of weather and conditions.

Likewise, we can build resilience in people to withstand a crisis and the toughest of environment. Companies can use the 5As framework of developing resilience in their teams.

1ANTICIPATE

In our consulting work during the Asian Financial Crisis, 19981999 as well as the Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009, we noted that companies which anticipated the possible impending recession or financial meltdown were better prepared for them. Anticipation is not about mere prediction or having a crystal ball to read into the future. It is about preparing for change and in case of an unexpected turn of events. While no one can predict the future, one can undertake scenario planning. To enable companies better anticipate the possible changes that are coming, leaders can look at industry trends, competitor analysis, as well as PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Environment and Legal) analysis. They should take into consideration these inputs in building a risk management system as well as have a solid contingency plan to fortify the company against any future crises.

2ADAPT

Many people who went back to work after the MCO realised that the workplace and business landscape had changed. Besides social distancing, sanitisation,

temperature taking and contact tracing, there are many other safety regulations to observe. The marketplace is also very different with business slowing down and in a tight cash flow situation. Companies are cutting down costs, including retrenching of staff, while the remaining ones have to multitask and adapt to the additional roles and responsibilities.

Staff who work from home and have online meetings via Zoom or Microsoft Team have to adapt to the new way of working. With restrictions when doing offline sales, staff have to adapt to doing sales online using social media and digital marketing to promote their products and services. In view of the impending recession, many buyers or consumers are withholding their purchases. The “new normal” has begun and employees have to accept and embrace it.

To stay afloat, companies need to be creative in finding new ways to do business, even in this restrictive and challenging environment. Charles Darwin said it best, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

3ALIGN

It is important that companies have an intimate understanding of the changing needs of the marketplace. Companies need to align their business focus on the new marketplace.

Some companies seize the opportunities that are available instead of mourning over lost ones. For example, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, car manufacturers such as GM and Ford have modified and aligned some of their unused production lines to produce medical devices such as ventilators.

Resilience is often is about doing whatever it takes to bounce back from the downturn, even if it means developing new products to align to the pressing current market needs.

4ADVANCE

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted many businesses and industries. Many things have changed and people cannot go about doing things the old way. Progress is not possible if people are stuck in the past and are not willing to move out of their comfort zone.

This global pandemic has indeed “moved the cheese” of many companies and industries. To advance, they cannot regress into the past; they need to progress confidently into the future. For many people, moving forward with new technology and new ways of working is frightening. Courage is not the absence of fear but the advancement towards uncharted frontier in fear, and triumph over it.

5ACCOMPLISH

Companies are facing a crisis with uncertainties as no one can say for sure when this pandemic will end. Most experts can only say that the pandemic will end when an effective vaccine is found and administered widely.

Meanwhile, companies need to accomplish many goals to stay on their business recovery path. They need to manage their cash flow and control their cost. They have to explore creative ways to generate revenue through new products and services using modern technology. In such challenging times, the morale of staff may be affected. As such, companies should keep their communication open to win the trust of their people. Only with the commitment of their staff can companies keep up their productivity. While pursuing these goals, companies should also not let up on keeping their employees safe and healthy through monitoring of compliance with the required SOPs.

In essence, the resilient framework calls for companies to undertake the 5 A’s – anticipate, adapt, align, advance and accomplish in the various areas under people and culture, process and operations, policies and strategies; and technology. They should do this first in the context of preventing problems. Should problems still arise, they should then respond to them effectively.

Dr Victor SL Tan is the CEO of KL Strategic Change Consulting Group. He is a Management Consultant and had been involved in turnaround management for companies during the Asian Financial Crisis and the Global Financial meltdown. He is the author of 11 change management books. His latest book is on Leading Positive And Profitable Change. For feedback, email him at victorsltan@klscc.com or contact him at 012-390 3168.