The COVID-19 pandemic is a ‘generation-defining moment’ on a scale we’ve
never seen before, and the predictions of economists right now are
dire. The global economy is set to decline by 32% this year (the OBR
states the UK economy could shrink by a record 35% by June), with the Government set to
spend a reported £330billion on measures to support the economy.
Yet, that’s the economist’s role — to put numbers on the costs and
benefits of strategies on a macro and micro scale. Even with the grim
news, the monetary value of choice and consequence is helpful for
scenario planning and is how many businesses navigate the market.
Before the pandemic hit, we had already begun working on our advanced
resilience calculator to understand what impact team morale, and employee
happiness and wellbeing had on a company’s bottom line. In these extraordinary
times, it is an even more imperative exercise as the cost of ignoring
team morale will accumulate quickly over the coming months.
By putting a monetary value to lost productivity and innovation, as well
as the effect of increased staff turnover and sickness absence,
the calculator reveals that the cost of ignoring low morale in the
workplace will accumulate quickly over the coming months.
The cost of a half-point shift
Our calculator’s estimates are relatively conservative. We look at the
impact of a half-point shift on our five-point scale, which assesses
employee wellbeing and team morale. After entering your information, our
calculator shows what low employee morale could cost you if your company
didn’t bounce back.
For example, a 200-person organization comes out with a $1 million
loss this year, and that’s only from a half-point fall. During the
early weeks, where coronavirus started to strike across our clients, we
saw a fall two or three times that size — a sharp shock to employee
morale that mirrored the sharp economic shock.
As the crisis continues, that loss could become a more significant
problem to a company’s bottom line. While the calculator lays out the
monetary estimates, our Friday Pulse platform is what can help you
navigate your way through the crisis and mitigate these losses. As well
as giving you a real-time feel for how your teams are coping, it’s
weekly cadence also supports line managers to have regular check-ins
with their teams which, over time, helps build a better team spirit.
Surviving the economists' predictions
It’s easy to respond to economist predictions by merely thinking about
company survival or the logistics of working together. However, the only
way that businesses can survive is to display resilience through having
a sense of togetherness. That’s not just corporate fluff but rather a
true alignment in purposes throughout the organization, built on the
ability to be creative and adapt to various situations.
That is the heart of resilience — the ability not just to bounce back,
but to be creative and adapt.
As it is, there’s plenty to bounce back from right now. However,
bouncing back to how things were before the pandemic might not be the
right course of action. When we emerge from this crisis — and we will —
we’ll enter a world of disrupted markets, a place where ‘business as
usual’ is far from reality as everyone struggles for a new normal. For
your company to survive, you need to be able to find creative solutions
to your challenges.
And creativity only comes when people feel psychologically safe, and
part of the team (more on this in future blog posts — stay tuned!).
Every company in the world has felt, and will feel, the continuing
impact of this virus. Will our generation be defined by entering into a
prolonged economic slump, or will we be able to display greater
resilience than ever before?
We're here to help
We’re all in this together. At Friday Pulse, we know that everyone’s
budgets are constrained and under pressure. To help, during the crisis,
we are offering free access to our people platform for companies and teams (50 -
1,000 employees) for 12 weeks.
If you are interested in learning more on how Friday Pulse can help your
organization weather the pandemic please contact our Head of Helping
People, Clive Steer
at clive@fridaypulse.com