Ways of Working in a Crisis

The global spread of COVID-19 has forced many businesses into crisis mode. How they respond over these first chaotic weeks will determine whether they survive. Pivoting to cash, flipping their organisational structure and thinking innovatively about staffing may all prove critical. Criticaleye reports on the crucial steps leaders have taken.

Featuring Commentary From:

Roger Bayly, Managing Director, Alvarez and Marsal: Take action quickly to reduce the cash burn rate – the more cash you can get around you earlier, the more options you have down the line.

Julian Goldsmith, Senior Relationship Manager, Criticaleye: Find a way to give yourself space to think, reflect and plan how to bounce back in the crucial recovery phase. Key to this will be drawing upon the learnings and experiences of others.

Dariusz Kucz, NED, PZ Cussons: You need to have a good crisis manager with their own team, and they need to report to the CEO and the execs. The CEO should not be the crisis manager.

Lorna Rose, Managing Director (Central), Barchester Healthcare: Our HR director is talking to other HR directors… and looking at the opportunity for staff with transferable skills to come across.

Catriona Schmolke, SVP Operational Centres of Excellence, Jacobs: When scenario planning, what you don’t need is people who say, ‘This is all going to get better’ – that will distract you from challenging each other.