Voices of Gagen MacDonald Gagen MacDonald

COVID-19 caught a lot of people with their guard down when it launched a surprise attack on the world. It forced organizations of all types and in all sectors to make sudden, dramatic changes. In addition to taking many lives, the pandemic is destroying jobs, permanently closing businesses, wiping out life savings, opening old societal wounds, shredding opportunities and shattering dreams. In our work, we’ve found some examples of exemplary pandemic responses, told through our core tenets.

For those of us who are students of innovation and disruption, the last several months have been like an accelerated graduate-level course. Market dynamics that challenged our intellects and experience earlier this year seem rudimentary compared with the multidimensional problems we’re grappling with now: economic retrenchment, a global pandemic, violent social unrest and other extra-market forces.

The pace and scale of change is stress-testing business systems as never before. While most now believe the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will unfold over an 18- to 24-month period, so far, leadership teams have focused principally on operational matters: employee and customer safety, supply chain disruptions, productivity among sheltering workers, compliance with federal, state and local directives. The success and sustainability of a business has always been a function of its ability to adapt its structure, strategy and culture to emerging internal and external forces. Moreover, these three are inextricably linked.

Over the last several months, words like “unprecedented” and “extraordinary” have appeared a lot. For good reason. COVID-19 truly is the ahistorical event those adjectives aim to describe. Yet, while the COVID-19 pandemic is singular and unique, in many ways, it is just further evidence of the accelerating disruption we’ve been forecasting for years.

As companies begin to think about the “new normal” and what it means for the world of work, Corporate Communication is playing a greater role in driving employee engagement and connecting with employees in innovative ways to help them stay confident and focused while managing the transition. The best ideas address the changing employee experience, the impact of virtual leadership and the critical delivery of timely, relevant and transparent communication. Here are ten tips to get you started right away.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we are confronted with nearly every possible public health crisis situation imaginable—from unexpected school closings to shelter in place orders, confirmed cases to fatalities, protecting the essential workers, psychological safety and more. It is new territory for most of us in corporate communications and there’s a lot we can learn from those on the front lines.