#FightBackCorona: Start planning for recovery - Nikhil Dey

These are extraordinary times and we all are in uncharted territory. There is a lot of fear and negativity in all spheres due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While the Corona Warriors are doing a tremendous job fighting from the frontlines, we at Adgully are embarking on an endeavour to highlight the positive developments during these challenging times.

Over the next few weeks, Adgully will be featuring a series of brief interactions with industry leaders in India and find out how they are keeping their spirits up as well as keeping their employees motivated, also how they are joining in the fight against the adverse impact of the global pandemic.

Nikhil Dey, Vice Chair, India, Weber Shandwick, gives several important pointers on staying connected with employees while working from home, as well as harnessing the tech tools available. He also presents 7 key learnings from around the world that can help in navigating through these difficult times.

How are you keeping your employees motivated and are encouraging them to give their best, even as they are working from home?

Solving Together:

We are connecting at pan-India level, regional level and global level. If ever there was a time when we needed to share and learn from each other, it is now. As part of this effort, we have launched an initiative called “We Stand Together”, where colleagues from around the region host a live workout video, training session (photography/ visualisation) or yoga session to foster an ongoing sense of community and connection. An Employee Assistance Program is also available to all employees and their family members for any emotional and practical support.

To ensure that we are able to bring the best minds and experience together to help our clients, we have a COVID-19 task force that is collating and sharing learnings, case studies and best practice from different markets. We are available 24x7 to support our clients on the road to recovery.

Harnessing Technologies:

Microsoft Teams has been a part of our collaboration ecosystem globally during this period more so than ever before. The company has made this platform central to how it works across offices for calls, messaging, sharing documents, working together so that people are not spreading themselves thin while trying to keep up with multiple platforms. It also provides a central repository of information that is easy to tap into and access.

To give you a flavour of the information we have pulled together basis our learnings and made publicly available, take a look at these links:

https://www.webershandwick.com/news/employee-perceptions-employer-covid-19-responses/

https://www.webershandwick.com/news/learnings-from-chinas-road-to-recovery/

What is most needed in challenging times such as these:

(a) From the general public

(b) From the authorities

(c) From business leaders

Weber Shandwick has been quick to respond by bringing together a task force to help lead through this change. There are 7 key learnings from around the world that we have distilled and been putting into practice for our people and for our clients.

1. Keep the focus on your people.
2. Be prepared for tomorrow as best you can.
3. Communicate to your people in all channels.
4. Establish and/or update protocols for connecting employees with the support they need.
5. Listen actively.
6. Give employees an outlet.
7. Start planning for recovery.