While the COVID-19 pandemic has crushed the economy, in many cases it has brought out the best in people working from home and shown businesses how they can tune up their capacities for everyday work.
That was one of the conclusions of panelists Thursday during Providence Business News’ virtual Business Continuity Summit.
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The entire Business Continuity Summit may be viewed online.
Panelists who answered questions about coping during coronavirus crisis and adapting business practices for future needs included Daniel Gertrudes, CEO and managing director of GrowthLab Financial Services; Scott R. Jensen, director of R.I. Department of Labor and Training; Ross Nelson, vice president of Cox Business Northeast region; and Rick Norberg, CEO of Vertikal6.
More than 190 people viewed the summit.
A major theme was how businesses have had to ramp up their technical capabilities – including educating employees – in order to allow work to continue remotely and online since public life shut down in March.
Some questions from the audience drilled straight to the heart of managers’ concerns. For instance, an audience member asked Jensen about an employer’s obligation in terms of unemployment insurance if a business re-opened but a worker would not or could not return to the job.
Some people receiving unemployment insurance will receive an extra $600 a week on top of their normal check through the terms of the federal stimulus package, Jensen said, calling the programs “generous.”
“Some people in Rhode Island are now making more money in unemployment insurance than they were when they were working,” Jensen said.
“If a company opens up and a person is available to come back to work and they don’t, they are not eligible for unemployment insurance,” he said. “We will freeze their account and have a discussion with them about going back to work.”
Jensen said this would not apply to a worker with COVID-19 or who was taking care of a sick family member.
For the most part, panelists applauded their own employees and said they were putting in a good effort to be as productive as possible from home.
Panelists also said the health crisis is showing businesses that they need to ramp up their information-technology capacity and training with greater understanding of and use of the cloud, artificial intelligence and other tech solutions.
Nelson said he is in a position to see the efforts that many businesses – not just his own – are investing in technology solutions to manage present needs and also to upgrade for the future.
“Companies are interested in cloud solutions; they are looking at how to survive,” Nelson said. “Our sales folks are reaching out to customers to see if they can help with information about features they have but might not be using, like voice applications, unified message applications, simultaneous ring, video conferencing.”
Panelists said it is important to keep in touch with employees at home and support them with their personal struggles, if even with just regular check-ins.
They also emphasized that this crisis is a big reminder that businesses should look at and improve their use of technology, their cyber security, their overall plans for business continuity, and the need for annual strategic planning.
Said Jensen, “We have got to think of this crisis as a way to retool how we are doing things.”
