The new challenges of the crisis, between necessities and opportunities

Spring 2020: in a hurry, without any warning sign, France goes into lockdown. The state asserts “we are at war” and it is indeed an accelerated battle plan that all companies must engage in. With immediate effect, unprecedented to refer to.

 

It is appropriate to pay tribute to all the leaders, HR directors, CIOs, CFOs and local managers who, with responsiveness, ingenuity and availability, have accelerated digitalisation to enable teleworking, consulted with social partners, organised short-time working, mobilised measures to preserve cash flow, prioritised activity, adapted processes and decision-making circuits, reassured and maintained the link with employees, etc. And to all those employees who have been able to adapt and mobilize to preserve the activity.

 

At the end of the lockdown, the health crisis continues to challenge companies. Those in cash flow crisis, who are struggling and have to restructure themselves to survive. Those forced to reposition and diversify to generate new longer-term growth levers. But also all those confronted with new subjects, HR, finance, IT, who do not have the internal skills to deal with them. Or those facing the challenge of rethinking their managerial and organizational models. Because the lockdown has certainly exacerbated the question of meaning at work, the role of each person in the organization and the levers of commitment. Having demonstrated the compatibility between productivity, results and home office, it also requires a deep reflection on the organization of work. Which place(s) of the work will be carried out? How often should I be in the office? For what content and quality of exchanges on days when employees are physically present?

 

A challenge of new skills, a challenge to rethink the role of the manager who is becoming more than ever a leader who gives meaning and vision, a challenge of ingenuity and creativity to transform oneself … In this new school year, whatever their situation, companies must reinvent themselves.

 

At WAYDEN, we have supported and experienced the challenges of confinement with our customers. Interim managers on assignment have mobilized alongside the management committees to adapt, manage the emergency and maintain activity. We have responded to their urgent needs for specific skills, starting in the midst of the lockdown of on-site or teleworking missions. And we are ready to respond with them to the new act of this new school year: rethinking organizations, deploying new managerial models, managing cash and cash flow crises, inventing and implementing new services, rethinking production and logistics chains, accelerating digitalization for an agile and flexible organization, restructuring, transform…

 

Because in the face of all these challenges, there is a real lever for success: a fresh, expert, oversized eye, with a strong ability to adapt but also a real managerial dimension. The one that will be able to understand, give meaning and federate, to succeed in the transformation.

 

Perrine LOCATELLI, Associate Director of WAYDEN, former HR Director in real estate and publishing