Tag: social distancing

If there’s any situation that’s going to show your true colours, it’s a crisis. Sticking to your values during a crisis is vital. It is important to navigate your way through the COVID-19 crisis, successfully and with integrity. As part of SAICA's new Leadership in a Time of Crisis series, I highlighted the importance of leading ethically during these difficult times. 

Ideas that begin as lockdown coping strategies can also revolutionise your business. As any South African business person will tell you, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a stressful time to be running a company. However, as we have worked to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, we have also gained a glimpse of what the future of business might look like. It is an exciting prospect.

In 2020, new vocabulary has seeped into global consciousness. From ‘new normal’ to the more practical yet equally disliked ‘social distancing’, the additions to this year’s dictionary paint a bleak, dystopian picture. But in the last few weeks, fresh terms are being met with interest from wanderlust-stricken travellers and cautious optimism from governments and businesses hoping to rebound from the economic damage of COVID-19.

Being nimble and awake to the rapid changes occurring to bank fraud will be essential. History tells us that things like natural disasters, times of economic instability, and fears of recession or unemployment provide the perfect environment for increased fraud and financial crime.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll worldwide for both individuals and economies. As a precaution, many countries have implemented strict lockdown measures such as closing schools, restaurants and borders, while mask-wearing in public and social distancing have become a must.

Employees returning to work from the COVID-19 lockdown will need to show reasonable justification if they halt work on the basis that they are exposed to the virus. Legal provisions allowing employees to withdraw from a hazardous working situation could, in the context of COVID-19, be open to abuse by unprincipled employees or trades unions.

After more than two months of hard lockdown, corporate travellers have been itching to get back to the boardroom. With Level 3 regulations implemented on June 1, a number of businesses were able to resume operations while business travellers could – to some extent – take to the skies again.

Manufacturers and distributors are operating in intensely pressured times. Stats SA reported that manufacturing output contracted for the ninth consecutive month in February of 2020 with the full extent of the damage caused by COVID-19 and the nationwide lockdown still unknown.

Okay, I have decided to nail my colours to the mast on COVID-19. And before you ask… No, I am not an epidemiologist or economist. Nor am I a politician with votes to garner, or a journalist who revels in sensationalism. I am just an opinionated individual with no power other than to express my opinion. And I am angry and saddened and sound it.

Yes. Now we know that working from home works, many employees will want to keep doing it when the coronavirus crisis fades. Many employers won’t mind because they have already invested in the costs associated with remote working such as cloud set-ups and connectivity and have had some proof that the concept works.