It is crucial that businesses keep themselves strong and viable for the future beyond Covid-19, but to do this they must change their perspective …
There is a lot of information out there right now about the legislation and compliance behind staffing decisions, and also about the mechanics and safety elements of having a workforce transitioning to working from home. This information is crucial and it is valuable. But what we’re finding is that so much of the conversation and the information in the media, information being put out by government bodies and by advisory groups is around employer and employee entitlements and obligations.
The downside to this is that it’s a very narrow view on how we could handle this problem. It does not have to be a win, lose. It does not have to be a situation of ‘the skies are falling’ and we must cut jobs.
We’re not saying businesses shouldn’t be taking reasonable measures to keep themselves viable. Small businesses must keep themselves viable. They must ensure they are in a position to rebuild, restart, and come back in full force when this is over – and it will be over.
A lot of business are looking at redundancies and stand downs as a means of keeping wages costs under control in the face of a recession. Keep in mind through all of this that, as a business owner, you need to keep your long term view in mind. You’ve employed your people for a reason. You’ve trained them. Hopefully you value them as a part of your team.
As we look around our business communities, we are seeing businesses making knee-jerk decisions about their staff and taking measures such as termination or redundancy rather than considering all their options. And companies that are able to have their employees working from home, coming at this from a place of scepticism and looking for ways to ‘monitor’ their people. We are hearing discussions about software that measures keystrokes, apps for measuring productivity, and even concerns about the availability of a computer mouse that automatically vibrates every few minutes to make it appear that an employee is active on their computer!
Understandably, for a lot of businesses, the focus is on the here and now. But we believe that small business is the backbone and lifeblood of the Australian economy – and we must make sure we are smart in how we tackle the current environment to make sure we survive rather than continue with these knee-jerk, fear based decisions.
And that’s where the change of perspective comes in. Focus on the positives – while you are able to take advantage of the government assistance and use this time to build your business stronger and more innovative than it was before. We are here to help, with information, advice and support. Look out for our free webinars and tools and take a fresh look at your business today.