[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/04\/14\/what-matters-to-businesses-covid-19\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/04\/14\/what-matters-to-businesses-covid-19\/","headline":"The good we do today: What matters to businesses amid COVID-19","name":"The good we do today: What matters to businesses amid COVID-19","description":"What matters to businesses tomorrow is doing good today. Companies that emerge stronger after COVID-19 will be those helping society during this pandemic.","datePublished":"2020-04-14","dateModified":"2020-04-13","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/tracey-wallace\/#Person","name":"Tracey Wallace","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/tracey-wallace\/","identifier":367,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/21377d3250d3cee37a219265f855ca86717424033839661349c4b6845d2250cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/21377d3250d3cee37a219265f855ca86717424033839661349c4b6845d2250cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/What-matters-to-businesses.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/What-matters-to-businesses.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/04\/14\/what-matters-to-businesses-covid-19\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/commerce-general\/","name":"Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q26643"]},"COVID-19 and Business"],"wordCount":1233,"keywords":["COVID-19 | Coronavirus"],"articleBody":"The world as we know it will look different when this pandemic is over. What matters to businesses (and the world) today looks very different than even a month ago.Cleaner air policies may be put in place to help reduce pollution, which has aided the spread of COVID-19 by harming our respiratory systems over years over exposure.\u00a0Organizations that allow employees to work remotely may no longer be seen as the unicorns of employment. Instead, organizations may shift to work from home and remote work options for the long-haul, saving on rent and increasing employee productivity as has been cited by Zapier, Basecamp, Automattic, and Github \u2013 all profitable companies that have been remote since their inception.The future of supply chains may look a lot more like vertical \u2013 with more organizations owning every single part of their business, from production to marketing, allowing them to be more nimble in the face of Black Swan challenges. This also helps to bring back blue collar jobs to the United States, and potentially help to rebuild a shrinking middle class.\u00a0Of course, we first have to get through this pandemic, and it remains unclear right now which companies will be able to survive.\u00a0Brands that were darlings in the industry merely a month ago are furloughing and laying off employees.\u00a0Brands that were widely considered to have cornered an entire market and industry are showing their weak spots, and opening vast opportunities for others to swoop in with new, more powerful solutions.\u00a0Grief, anxiety, fear: Brands are offering an antidoteIt is a time of uncertainty for us all. That uncertainty breeds anxiety and grief, to which one of the stronger antidotes in gratitude, and finding renewed faith in humanity. Perhaps the businesses that will come out on the other side of this pandemic stronger than ever before are those that are helping people today, right now.\u00a0Those that are shifting their supply chains.\u00a0Those that are taking financial hits to keep employees on board.\u00a0Those that are freeing up their software for worldwide use.\u00a0Those that are proving that servant leadership is the best way to inspire your company, your consumers, and the wider world.\u00a0These are the brands that will lead us forward after this pandemic. Here are a few ways brands are helping – and ideas your brand might be able to build on.\u00a0Mental health support: 7500+ businesses turn to employee sentiment toolThese are challenging times. We aren\u2019t just working from home. We are trying to get work done at home during a global pandemic. The differences are stark. Grief, anxiety, and depression are on the rise.\u00a0\u201cMental health is something that has to be on the minds of companies today because making sure your employees are healthy and that they have what they need is going to be critical to anything before they can be productive,\u201d said SAP co-CEO Jennifer Morgan.\u00a0SAP has offered their employee sentiment analysis tool for free to organizations since the onset of the pandemic, and have had more than 7,500 jump on board. A virtual world shift is challenging for managers, leadership, and HR to adjust to quickly \u2013 especially as they try to help employees navigate the changing waters. A tool like this puts more power in their hands.\u00a0Physical health assessmentOr, you see organizations like Ro offering free tele-health assessment services for, well, anyone.\u00a0This content is hosted by a third party ( twitter.com ).To view the content, either update your cookie preferences or view it in a new browser window.Cookie PreferencesNew Window\u201cThe free assessment tool is the right thing to do, and that\u2019s a sensible way to be able to talk to people about it, because diagnosis is a key part in helping to curb this,\u201d says Alexis Ohanian, investor, Reddit cofounder, and Ro board member. \u201cIf we aren\u2019t doing that well, we\u2019re all worse off for much longer.\u201dProtecting essential service workers and customersThe popular grocery chain, HEB, based in Texas is a cult favorite. The organization is known for its ability and willingness to help in disasters of all kinds, and this pandemic has been no different.\u00a0Their stores remain open across the state, with stickers on the floor demarking 6 feet apart measurements so customers can social distance while getting necessary supplies. They also have plastic barriers between cask register clerks and customers, provide hand wipes to every customer who walks in, and has hand sanitizer stationed throughout the store.\u00a0But, HEB is doing much more. They have:Donated more than 75,000 meals to healthcare workers across the state.\u00a0Expanded their delivery services particularly for seniors to get food delivery across Texas.Worked with local restaurant chains to sell their pre-made meals in the grocery store to help keep these businesses alive.\u00a0This content is hosted by a third party ( www.instagram.com ).To view the content, either update your cookie preferences or view it in a new browser window.Cookie PreferencesNew Window\u201cWe have been working on our pandemic and influenza plan for quite a while now, since 2005, when we had the threat of H5N1 overseas in China. That\u2019s when we first developed what our plan looked like, [as well as] some of our requirements and business implications,\u201d Justen Noakes, director of emergency preparedness, HEB told Texas Monthly. \u201cIn 2009, we actually used that plan in response to H1N1, when the swine flu came to fruition in Cibolo, and refined it, made it more of an influenza plan. We\u2019ve continued to revise it, and it\u2019s been a part of our preparedness plan at H-E-B ever since.\u201dHelping provide for our last line of defendersThere is one group of people our culture doesn\u2019t often talk about, but who serve an incredibly important role: Funeral Directors.\u00a0Funeral homes right now are our last line of defense against COVID-19. These organizations help us to honor your loved ones, but they also handle bodies and bodily fluid, and we don\u2019t know yet how long the virus stays with the deceased.\u00a0These organizations, too, need PPE supplies as well as additional hands on help. Organizations like the National Funeral Directors Association are asking state governments to allow funeral directors to quickly access various state licenses so directors from texas might be able to go to New York or New Jersey to help out.\u00a0Others are forming a coalition, like Eterneva, CANA (Cremation Association of North America), and the Funeral Service Foundation to raise $200,000 for 50,000 N95 masks to go to directors most in need to protect them, their staff and their families while they provide critical services.\u00a0What matters to businesses tomorrow: Doing good todayBusinesses around the world are changing how they function in order to help out. After all, organizations are made up of people \u2013 all of whom are experiencing this challenging time. We might not be able to shake hands or hug right now. But we can inspire one another, and help to end this pandemic.\u00a0What businesses do now to help will shape what the future of our world and our societies looks like. It will shape, too, which businesses make it to the other side \u2013 and set a new standard for how organizations can help in times of crisis.\u00a0Check in on your employees\u00a0\u00a0and make sure they\u2019re okay.Free tools to do thiscan be found\u00a0here."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"04","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/04\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"14","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/04\/\/14\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The good we do today: What matters to businesses amid COVID-19","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/04\/14\/what-matters-to-businesses-covid-19\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]