Since the Philippine government imposed the modified enhanced community quarantine in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces, we have witnessed how the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated both changes and uncertainties not only in our homes, but also in our workplaces. Employees have been laid off and businesses have shut down, either permanently or temporarily to cushion the blow. We cannot afford to be reactive, but rather, we need to take more proactive measures. But where do we begin, given no prior experience to draw from?
On April 27, 2020, I moderated the first installment of PBCWE (Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment) and PhilWEN’s (Philippine Women’s Economic Network) webinar series titled, “#WEEconomy: Perspectives on Leading and Learning Through the COVID-19 Crisis.” We invited speakers to discuss and shed light on business continuity, crisis leadership, technology entrepreneurship, flexible work vis-a-vis existing gender roles, and gender-responsive and inclusive policies. Allow me to showcase key insights from this webinar.
Staying afloat and relevant
Alissa Carpenter, a multigenerational workplace expert, once said, “We are in uncharted waters trying to float without knowing how to use the life vests.”An unprecedented crisis can easily overwhelm not only a company’s human resource but as well as its strategic objectives and viability. Most business leaders were “caught by surprise” by the pandemic with no established procedures to deal with the so-called new normal.
In times of uncertainty, leaders must be flexible and agile. To quote one of our panelists, Jonas Ravelas, first vice president and chief market strategist of BDO Unibank Inc., businesses must “reinvent or retrofit” to stay relevant. Mistakes will be made along the way, but these should not deter leaders from making the appropriate adjustments.
Diversity and inclusion (D&I) and gender equality are oftentimes tucked away in a tiny closet at the back of the minds of leaders. Now is the opportune time to use these to empower and engage the workforce in forming significant impact in the organizations and communities in which they operate. By breaking barriers, businesses open themselves to more diverse talent pools—creating opportunities for better ideas and solutions for reinvention and retrofitting.
Crisis leadership, good governance, and women
Real leaders are not born; they are formed in a crisis. Effective leadership is built on bold and decisive acts—creating and devising concrete and evidence-based ideas to manage crises. Leaders who display empathy, accountability and aspiration will stand out. Take it from these countries—Germany, Iceland, Taiwan, New Zealand, South Korea, among others—all led by women, whose essential and collaborative leadership style ultimately led to a more coherent and consistent response to the pandemic.
Responding to the crisis demands the best and brightest minds by involving diverse groups in the decision-making processes. This unique situation is critical in areas where D&I and gender equality remain shortsighted. From these female leaders, we learned that rapid response, monitoring, and evaluation are key to addressing the impact of COVID-19. It demands a hard look at how we value the vulnerable sectors and make sure they are not left behind.
As policies are being developed and implemented, governments need to invest more on research and development, data collection and innovation to accurately reflect the scale of effects arising from this crisis.
Going digital for survival
As the pandemic has kept us inside the safety of our homes, technology has kept us connected to the outside world. Technology has become our tool for survival, if not our lifeline.
The “old normal” will no longer work effectively, simply because the pandemic is quickly outdating it and exposing its flaws. In the journey toward digital transformation, we must first revisit our old way of doing things—the processes and systems that we were accustomed to. For example, an “onboarding” practice that operates in an offline environment will not work in an online space.
Quick digitization has allowed businesses to do remote work and incorporate flexible working arrangements—but it should not stop there. In the digital world of work, you need to support community members by also transitioning offline and physical events to online platforms for convenience and accessibility. As conferences and meetings switch into virtual events, businesses that can quickly adapt to the digital transformation will gain a higher chance of landing resiliently on the other side. Businesses need to continuously and rapidly harness the power of technology to stay connected during and beyond the crisis.
Echoing a key takeaway from Gina Romero, Connected Women’s CEO and cofounder, “The old normal was a harsh lesson but nonetheless serves as a gradual learning curve to shift the way we do things—a way to think about where our priorities must lie.”
Changing paradigms and mind-sets
Dr. Toots Albert, senior research fellow of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies said, “People will only change if paradigms change, and paradigms will only change if we give incentives to people to learn and understand how things should be.” There is a need for capacity-building programs on lifelong learning because the fundamental reality is that we are not learning as much.
In a nutshell, this crisis has revealed a new appreciation for the value of knowledge. To persistently be responsive and effective, new policies must be inclusive, formulated by diverse groups, driven by evidence and based on data that is widely shared in good faith across the affected population. Leaders must commit to transparency for the benefit of capturing clarity in their decision-making process.
All crises offer massive opportunities we can take advantage of. If businesses are successful in moving toward the new normal of work, they will surely emerge from the pandemic with a thriving workforce with fresh perspectives, spontaneous work patterns and optimistic behaviors.
We are just at the dawn of our recovery. Our war against COVID-19 is yet to be won, but to be victorious, we must be innovative, diverse, inclusive and transparent to ensure that both women and men will not be left behind.
We are all in this together, and together we must recover. INQThis article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines, or MAP. The author is a member of the MAP diversity and inclusion committee. She is the president of Mageo Consulting Inc., the chair of the Philippine Women’s Economic Network, and the cochair of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment.