My Strategy For Surviving Coronavirus
By Peter Jones of The HR Dept Swindon, North Wiltshire and East Cotswolds. The team have been operating in Swindon since 2007 supporting local businesses with HR and employment law support.
When did you realise the Coronavirus could be a problem for you and your business?
At the end of February, we were contacted by customers who had orders cancelled and needed to take drastic action to reduce their costs. Unfortunately this involved making staff redundant or laying them off. Initially we thought this was going to be an issue for a few business sectors. It's now clear many businesses will be affected by the crisis.
What has been your plan to continue?
Our biggest concern was everyone in our team getting sick at the same time and not being able to support our clients. We took a decision to split teams and ask team members to work from home very early on.
We are fortunate as we have the technology to operate from multiple locations without a drop in service to clients. The next few weeks and possibly months will be incredibly busy for us. However, we will be available to advise and support businesses during these difficult times.
What advice would you give to others in business?
Review your business continuity plans and work out what roles and tasks are critical for your business to keep operating. Stay positive and don’t give up. Although it will be incredibly tough in the short term, there is no reason why the economy will not bounce back once the crisis ends.
What can we do to help each other?
Stay in touch with your team and customers. There is nothing worse than feeling you are going through tough times alone.
What do you think can be learned from this in the business world?
This event has the potential to change the way we work forever, and that may not be a bad thing. We will realise flexible working is possible and people's attitude to flexible working will change.
Your parting thought?
Please try and stay as positive as possible. This is a temporary situation and things will improve once the crisis has passed.
For more information visit https://www.hrdept.co.uk/swindon-north-wiltshire-east-cotswolds/
