A CEO Plan for Coronavirus: Actions to Take Now

This article was originally published here by Bain & Company.

— by Bain & Company

The Covid-19 outbreak is unlike any previous crisis: traditional crisis-response approaches will not be sufficient. CEOs need to act now, and act aggressively.

Let's start at the top: Take care of your people. Around the world, that’s everyone’s first duty—to themselves, their loved ones, their friends and neighbors. For millions of brave healthcare workers and others, it means caring directly for those who are sick.

If you’re a CEO, taking care of people also means taking care of your employees and customers. This crisis brings into sharp relief that it's the efforts of employees and the loyalty of customers that will see a company through these extraordinary times. The job of the CEO, simply, is to do everything possible to make sure they’re taken care of.

That principle is the first of the priorities in the CEO action plan we lay out below, but it’s woven throughout the other priorities as well. Of course, any CEO must consider what’s happening to revenues right now. Our prescription, though, goes back to people. The best way to take care of revenues now is to focus on their ultimate source. Do what’s needed to build trust and loyalty with your customers now, and that loyalty will survive beyond this crisis. Remember, there will be a beyond.

Finally, this crisis will change us all. It’s hard to step back right now, but as CEO, carve out time to think about what the future will look like, how employees and customers will be changed by this crisis, and what your company will need to do to meet their new needs.

The situation

  • The process of containment and slowing the spread of Covid-19 in each country will create a major disruption in itself, irrespective of the seriousness of the virus spread itself

  • Prepare for the worst, and be thankful if it doesn’t happen; a wait-and-see approach is a nonstarter

  • There's a high likelihood of a substantial revenue disruption, leading to a potential liquidity crisis for many businesses

  • The recovery may not be a quick bounce-back; plan for multiple quarters of lower revenue

  • Employees and customers are probably experiencing fear or panic

  • You need to appoint a senior, fully dedicated Covid-19 war room team focused on this all day, every day

  • As CEO, you must be out in front with a planned cascade of possible actions, probably more aggressive than your team can imagine right now

  • Customers will change some behaviors permanently, accelerating prior trends; bold action now can set you up for success through the downturn and beyond

Check out the rest of this article here!

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[Special thanks to Daniel Kuruvilla for the cover photo]

 

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