Recommended steps to protect your employees and business against coronavirus.

Coronavirus continues to spread around the World, the same pattern seems to be following, cases rise rapidly reaching a peak,  only then only entering into a  declining phases once that Country imposes lockdown or other measures to limit the spread.   The challenge this creates is unprecedented due to the international scale and suddenness this has impacted on economies.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR EMPLOYEES AND BUSINESS AGAINST CORONAVIRUS?

We all are well-aware of the global pandemic “Coronavirus”. Presently, the dissemination of coronavirus is a global issue and this spread seems to be a never-ending process. As a matter of fact, it is getting worse day-by-day. The cases of coronavirus-affected persons are increasing with the logarithmic value all over the world. It has created a miraculous challenge for countries all over the world due to its sudden and large international scale as well as the miserable effects over the economies.

The only way to stop the spread of this life-threatening fatal virus is, to adopt the precautionary measures and create social distance. Just to induce social distancing, governments have imposed lockdowns and other measures, but of course, these measures prove to be disastrous for the economies of the countries under lockdown.

As far as precautionary measures are concerned, everyone is responsible for his maintenance, but how can we protect our employees and business from the effect of coronavirus?

The workplaces, offices, and business places are going to be crowded, and creating social distance in such places is a real challenge. In the primary stages, the person affected by coronavirus cannot be recognized based on physical appearance. What they end up doing is meeting with healthy persons and infecting them too. Ultimately, a large population gets infected too rapidly.

Now, what is the bottom line?

When employees and business owners get infected by the coronavirus, the ultimate decline is faced by the business, since it grows by the hard work and uphill battle of the employees. On the other hand, international trade has been fulfilling the needs of the world, but due to the outbreak of coronavirus, it has almost stopped.

So, we all need to work in such manners that we do not get infected with the virus and meanwhile continue to trade.

You must be wondering what can we do to protect our employees and business from the effect of coronavirus?

Are there any solutions?

Can we fight coronavirus and meanwhile grow our business?

The answer is, yes!

Of course, you can protect your employees and at the same time, work harder and protect and grow your business.

We have compiled the most basic and the most preventive measures that will help you protect your employees and ultimately protect your business against coronavirus.

STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR EMPLOYEES:

Since employees are the working hands of any company or business, every business owner must take measures to protect his employees against the widespread coronavirus. We at the reportingaccounts.com, also take such measures.

See the steps below that we follow to protect our employees:

Working remotely:

We let our staff work from home. Since we have staff all over the world including Bosnia, India, Macedonia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, it is not a big change for them, but for the UK-based team, who has been working in our main offices in Telford, it is no doubt a new task for them.

Working from home can be as beneficial as office work. All it needs is the leap of faith in the team so that they just get in with it.

However, commuting every day to the job can be a waste of time as compared to working remotely. This also saves the energy and time of the employees wasted during traveling. Also, remote working has proved to cope up with the increased demand.

Moreover, working from home reduces the chances of more people getting infected by the already infected person. So, this will potentially protect your employees against the coronavirus.

Precautionary measures:

Make sure you have all the precautionary measures including hand sanitizers, handwashes, toilet papers, and other things in place. Since these are running out of stock all over the world, grab them timely from the supermarket or order online during the time stock lasts.

Make sure all the staff members are well-aware of the safety instructions and are using hand sanitizers as well as other safety precautions so that they are protected from the virus.

Follow regular cleaning and disinfecting of the workplace environment with an alcohol-based cleaner and disinfectant.

Social distancing:

Make sure all the staff maintains a physical distance of at least 2 meters from each other. If maintaining physical social distance at the workplace is a challenge, consider the shifts system to carry out the regular business activities.

Set the social distancing strategies in a way that is practical and feasible to all employees. Train the employees about the importance of social distancing so that they happily comply with all the measures of physical distance and do not spread the virus.

This is one of the most basic compliance to protect your employees against coronavirus.

Furthermore, once you have trained the employees about the importance of social distancing, make sure all the employees follow the safety instructions which include washing their hands frequently and complying with the respiratory hygiene through covering the mouth with upper arm and shoulder while coughing.

If in certain cases, social distancing is not possible, follow the precautionary measures strictly.

The shifts system will also aid in this cause because”

Avoid traveling:

Avoid unnecessary traveling and meetings on the local, or international level. Whether traveling to see the suppliers or customers, or to attend some public events, avoid it.
Instead, use video conference software for online meetings.

Moreover, when working at home, employees feel free and more comfortable which helps them physically as well as psychologically to work more and better.

In most cases, especially in the case where coronavirus is a threat to each life, excess and unnecessary traveling sucks. Whilst traveling nowadays is a breath-taking command, allowing your employees to avoid traveling will give them a plus.

A good reason to avoid travel is that the employees may get stuck at a certain place just like the sports teams are stuck in third countries and cannot reach back to their sweet home, or at least at the moment.

No one would like to get stuck into a third-place where he cannot meet his family or cannot feel the comfort of home, or for instance, homeland.

Following the safety measures, yourself is necessary but not enough. It is also crucial to employees’ safety that you should keep an eye if they are frequently washing their hands, using hand sanitizers, covering their nose and mouth, and maintaining the appropriate physical distance from each other.

It is a matter of fact that a single act of irresponsibility can ruin the lives of others as well. So, to keep all employees safe, you have to keep an eye on all the staff members and train them to avoid any act of irresponsibility.

Moreover, avoiding unnecessary travel can also help to stop the spread of coronavirus and ultimately protects your employees against the coronavirus.

STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS:

While you protect your employees from coronavirus, it is also essential that you protect your business from its effects too. No doubt, protecting your business especially when coronavirus just makes its way all across the world, is a challenging task. This is probably because all the suppliers and buyers are already at home. So, you need to do something with your business that provides an opportunity for the employees to work from home meanwhile performing all the duties as well as extra tasks so that your business gets all the attention it needs.

This task requires a lot of planning and strategies to cope up with the virus meanwhile operating your business in the right place.

Now the wonder is, what planning and strategies?

To know these strategies, go through the below section in which we have shared some of the steps that we take to protect our business from the adverse effects of coronaviru

Here you go…

Expect the worst:

First of all, because you don’t know how long this condition of the pandemic will last, so expect your business at the worst stages. Only then, you will be able to plan such strategies that will help you sustain the conditions when disaster strikes.

It is just like creating an emergency preparedness plan. This plan includes all the emergency steps to take when the company faces adverse effects of coronavirus along with the measures to protect your business and employees before the disaster strikes.

Dedicated persons:

Assign a dedicated employee to stay in contact with the clients as well as suppliers. Make sure the employee contacts the buyers and suppliers of the company regularly.

Moreover, you also need to keep an eye on any delays or interruptions in shippings and deliveries as these minor factors play a great role in the sustenance of a business. Make sure your clients and suppliers are happy with your performance and give you a pleasant response.

Assign the task to a dedicated person who deals with the customers and suppliers pleasantly.

Continuous monitoring:

Ensure an active monitoring system for your top customers and suppliers and monitor the entire set-up, including customer and supplier base, regularly. Keep records of your customers and their customers, the same for the suppliers and their suppliers. Save the data at a reliable and easy to access place.

Additionally, keep an eye on all the emails your company receives from the buyers and suppliers.

Ask or check for their business continuity plans as well as their plans and strategies to keep their business at the right pace without disruption. Make sure to monitor the shipping routes of your imports regularly. Keep check of the regions and countries that are most affected by the coronavirus.

As a matter of chance, check for suppliers and keep them on standby so that they may be approached in case of any disruption to your existing supply chain.

Insolvencies:

Insolvencies always pose a bad impression of your business. But, in the present situation of coronavirus pandemic, when almost all the countries in the world and their markets are going to suffer, insolvencies are going to be there. This may be due to any of the various reasons, or due to a combination of more than one reason including disruption in the supply chain.

However, to avoid insolvencies and protect your business against this effect of coronavirus, you need to keep a handsome amount in your bank account that you may use to pay off all the debts or to just clear all the payments.

Insolvencies can be discussed with the suppliers and customers to avoid the chance of their occurrence. Otherwise, you may consult the legal help to assist you and suggest the best possible solutions to your insolvency.

CONCLUSION:

Coronavirus is the most widespread disease of the present world. It has adversely affected economies worldwide. Therefore, everyone is seeking help to protect himself as well as their employees and business from the effects of coronavirus. Though it spreads from person to person at a significantly high pace, it can be controlled by taking proper precautionary measures as well as maintaining a physical distance. But in the offices and marketplaces, maintaining a physical distance in quite challenging. To protect the employees and businesses from adverse effects of coronavirus, you must design some plans and strategies for the purpose and implement them on the employees and businesses strictly.

The most basic plans and strategies to protect the employees against coronavirus include remote working. As the employees will work from home, there will be the least chances of employees to get infected by or spread the virus. When remote working is not applicable, making sure to provide all the precautionary safety measures including hand sanitizers, toilet papers, and other equipment in place is the foremost responsibility of the business owners. Moreover training the employees for social distancing and providing them the opportunity to avoid unnecessary traveling is a plus. However, the strategies to protect the business against coronavirus are a bit different from those for the employees. To protect the business assign particular and dedicated persons for specific tasks and keep an eye on your employees’ performance along with the customers and suppliers.

Bio - Adrian Lawrence is the CEO of reporting accounts, he contributes regularly to this Blog and other leading financial publications such as Marketwatch, he can be contact through this site and  also via his profile on Linkedin