A PROTECT YOUR EMPLOYEES – AND PROVIDE PURPOSEFUL LEADERSHIP Your employees are worried now as they are also having to deal with a lot of anxiety and changed home logistics. Many of your employees will have small children and elderly family members to take care of. Make sure that they know that there is room for this. Many employees will also experience a sudden transition to a home office. This makes it even more pressing that you provide alternative channels of information as it is no longer possible for your employees to have direct access to their managers or to you. You need to make it a priority to have frequent online Q&A sessions where you keep your employees updated on everything that is going on. Be as open and honest about the situation as possible. The current situation calls for clear leadership, and leaders will be judged by the decisions they took in this situation. Also encourage your employees to stay in touch with each other through whatever online channels are available to them. Many employees and work places are still very unfamiliar with the technologies available for online meetings. It may seem trivial but turn on the video camera to let your colleagues see you in your sweatshirt. This is the time to show that we are all human. Finally, encourage everybody to take care of themselves and of each other. You should take into account that this will be the new normal for at least some weeks ahead. Some of our clients are now stepping up on internal training efforts in this situation where production is low. In the last financial crisis, German manufacturing companies changed focus to internal optimisation projects, allowing them to exit the crisis in a better shape than before and hereby recovering faster. B STAY CLOSE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS Remember to take care of your customers. While some businesses will flourish (e.g. online retailers, medical devices), most businesses face a steep, short-term decline in demand. First, because their revenue situation will be negatively affected by the abrupt economic slowdown, and second, because their supply chain situation will not allow them utilise all goods supplied by all sub-suppliers. Your customers will appreciate that their suppliers and partners maintain momentum and ensure that their operation is up and running. One company we know is receiving solid recognition for keeping their business running and converting all physical sales meetings into online meetings, maintaining momentum in the market. Try to think ahead: What if the lock-down continues 8-12 weeks? What will the situation look like after summer? Now, more than ever, your relationship with your customers should be a priority to ensure the continued strength of your business as well as of theirs. For this reason, we recommend four key actions that focus on your customers: • Engage in dialogue with your key customers to understand their situation and response • Build demand forecasts • Focus sales efforts on items that you are able to deliver and that customers are able to put to use, given the Global supply chain situation • If your working capital situation permits it, use credit lines actively to support your mostly affected customers
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