Burst that bubble! Things are not going back to the way they used to be.
The President has ordered the extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and other “high-risk” areas in Luzon until 15 May 2020. Other relatively low-risk places have been placed under a General Community Quarantine (GCQ). The GCQ seems to be what the new normal will look like for quite some time once the ECQ is eventually lifted.
Based on new articles and from the interview of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, these are the salient features of the GCQ:
- Selected workers in non-essential services are allowed to go to work. Companies in electronics, exports, manufacturing, e-commerce, delivery, repair services, maintenance, and housing can resume full operations as long as they observe minimum health standards such as physical distancing;
- Those in finance, business process outsourcing (BPO), and non-leisure trade and services can have half of its employees work from home while the remaining 50 percent work on site;
- Schools, amusement centers, leisure facilities, gaming, and tourism services must remain close;
- Children (0 to 20 years old), elderly (60 years old and above), and people with high-risk health issues are not allowed to go out of their homes;
- Non-leisure shops in malls are allowed to reopen. Malls should limit entry of shoppers and implement mandatory temperature check and mandatory use of masks and alcohol;
- Priority construction projects can resume;
- Non-workers, except children, elderly and vulnerable people, are allowed to buy food and go out to avail of essential services;
- Public transport can operate at reduced capacity to ensure social distancing;
- Local government units shall enforce curfew for non-workers;
- Airports and ports can only operate for the unhampered delivery of goods; and
- Minimum health standards like the wearing of masks, taking of body temperatures, and hand-washing protocols will also continue to be enforced.
Until a proven vaccine is available and actually administered to more than a majority of the population, there is no way things are going completely back to how we remember it prior to 15 March 2020, just a mere 40 days ago. But then again even if such vaccine is miraculously made and administered this year, it would be complacent for us to think that a similar pandemic cannot happen again if we go back to how we did things. The reset button has been pressed, we have been rebooted. The question now is: how do we move forward into this new normal?
There is no boxed or template answer on what any of us can do moving forward. But I have gathered here some things to consider as you plan for your post-ECQ reincarnation, especially for medium and small enterprise owners like me:
Have a valid ID
We have observed that quarantine rules and policy-making have been based on where you live, where you work, and how old you are. Thus, you must always carry acceptable proof of these information every time you go out of your house. We recommend to always bring a government-issued ID and a company-issued ID, if you are in the work force. Your employees should also have a Company ID with the necessary information. The ID should, ideally, contain your address and birthdate.
Also note that government financial assistance programs are based on social security and tax identification numbers. Once government offices open, you should make sure you and your employees have this in order. If you are issuing a new Company ID based on the advice above, include these important information as well.
Prioritize personnel and workplace safety
Business is about people. And your employees, especially in medium and small enterprises, are already your family. The extra time given to us by the extended ECQ can be utilized to creatively redesign your work processes, office configuration, work schedules, and standard operating procedures to minimize the chances of exposure and transmission of any communicable disease. My office is very near my house so during the quarantine, I have been doing several walk-throughs and simulations on my own in the office and visualizing what changes I can impose to protect myself and my people.
It’s true that there are some additional investment and expenses that need to be made. But the benefit outweighs the cost or the expenses to be incurred if your whole office gets infected.
Embrace digital banking
Prior to ECQ, I am one of those skeptics about on-line and digital banking. But while helping out in the relief efforts for our High School batch and my cousin’s Construction Management Company during the ECQ, I saw how digital banking made transactions safe, fully recorded, and efficient. It also saved me or my personnel from possible additional exposure for any communicable disease while lining up in the bank. I am now a convert.
Mitigate the exposure from the use of public transportation
What I am most worried about when quarantine is lifted is that a significant portion of the working population will be using some form of public transportation or ride sharing arrangement again. That alone, if not managed well, can throw us back to an ECQ mode in less than a few days. Any employee who uses public transportation or any ride sharing arrangement, due to the lack of social distancing, may be a potential carrier of any communicable disease. So your policies must take this into consideration, including your hiring policies.
Even prior to the ECQ, our office has offered a dormitory set-up for some of our employees. Most of our messengers have already been using motorcycles to move around, and we have made bicycles available for us for nearby errands. We have also prioritized hiring from nearby communities since a year ago. During the recent eruption of Taal Volcano and other calamities, when offices needed to be suspended, we were able to provide our clients continuous service because we had a skeletal force that lived in the office dorms or within 2-kilometer radius from the office.
Incorporate a work-from-home culture and an online digital workflow
Admittedly, not all businesses or process can be shifted to a Work-from-Home set-up. However, there will be some functions that can be done at home at some times and for some people. Step back and take a look at your processes again assess what changes you can make towards incorporating a possible work-from-home culture.
Now is also the best time to learn and explore the benefits of the various digital and cloud platforms that can be utilized for remote and distant workplace collaborations.
Much skepticism over a Work-From-Home arrangement is caused by employees who have abused the privilege. But such mistrust can be addressed by tweaking how compensation and production is measured. A reliable metric system must be internally developed so the output matches the compensation. It also helps if the employee, on his own initiative, does his work with integrity and good output to increase the faith of employers in embracing the system.
We have already started with a telecommuting benefit for the senior staff of the office two years ago. I do a lot of travelling in my non-lawyering work, so for me to be able to do both my travel photography tours and legal work without disruption, we have implemented a scan-all-documents process two years ago. This has allowed us to continue serving our clients during the sudden quarantine and forced closure of our physical office.
Plan your cash flow and stay liquid
There is no better time to say than now that “Cash is King”. Our progressive and comfortable pre-Covid19 lives have made us take for granted the value of savings and managing your cash flow. Those who were able to tide well the last 40 days are those that have adequately prepared for the rainy days. Lo and behold, the rainy days have come.
I have personally sold and converted to cash some of my bicycles, cameras, lenses, books, and old gadgets. I realized I may have had accumulated an excess of what I really need. I have used the extra cash from the same to continue to provide financial assistance to my employees during this time, and also to continue to support the scholarships we have been supporting during the good time. Again, business is about people.
Welcome to our new normal. What are you going to do about it?
