It would be wonderful if 2021 was different to last year or if the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out made everything “normal” again. But the reality is, we’re all still living and working in the COVID era. That means business owners will still face challenges. From an HR perspective, Annette Dixon from End2End Business Solutions believes there are 3 major challenges you need to prepare for.
Challenge 1: Can your business survive after JobKeeper?
As HR consultants, the End2End team can’t advise you on things like budgeting, forecasting and sales. However, we can help you:
- Evaluate your staffing levels which includes positions and/or working hours for each staff member
- Identify roles and clarify responsibilities to ensure you have the right people performing the roles they are best suited to
- Develop remuneration expectations, employment opportunities, incentives (if appropriate) and retain key staff
- Navigate productivity, absenteeism and other performance issues
- Conduct “curly conversations” with staff
In addition, you will need to consider the potential increase of your Super Guarantee obligations and the impact it will have on your staffing budgets. For more information, refer to our article on the potential increases to the Super Guarantee: https://end2endbusinesssolutions.com.au/are-you-ready-to-pay-more-super-guarantee-to-your-employees/
When your people “issues” are settled, it makes your business more streamlined, efficient and productive. That leads to increased revenue and profitability so you won’t need to depend on JobKeeper to survive.
Get in touch to learn how we may be able to assist your business.
Challenge 2: Encouraging or providing COVID-19 vaccination opportunities for staff
Just like employees, business owners and managers have views on vaccinations. Your personal views need to remain outside the workplace. Refer to our article on managing workplace vaccination conversations and vaccine conscientious objectors for tips: https://end2endbusinesssolutions.com.au/the-covid-19-vaccine-roll-out-is-coming-will-it-affect-your-business/
But for staff who want the jab or for businesses who wish to encourage vaccination, what can you do?
Things to consider include:
- Is your business in a high-risk category where COVID vaccinations could be mandated?
- Will you provide staff with time off to receive their COVID vaccinations?
- Is this different to your policy on flu vaccinations? If so, how do you manage that difference?
- How do you resource your workplace while staff are taking leave to receive the vaccine?
- How do you handle additional sick leave requests caused by the slight side-affects some people experience after their COVID vaccinations?
- If you are a vaccine conscientious objector, what are your views if staff want to be vaccinated?
Get in touch with us if you would like assistance to work through these issues.
Challenge 3: Lockdowns are likely to continue so how do you mitigate risk?
The pre-Christmas lockdown of areas in the Sydney metro area highlighted a new style of lockdown – one that is location specific, short and sharp with little prior notice. For those businesses in Sydney’s Northern Beaches hotspot:
- Bookings were immediately cancelled and sales evaporated resulting in loss of income
- They were now overstocked so many needed to dispose of products or food that would not be sold
- It was important to quickly notify staff they would be working from home again, were stood down or had lost their shifts
- Plans were required to manage staff and operations in non-lockdown areas if the business had multiple sites
To ensure your business will smoothly manage a sudden lockdown, you need to create plans and procedures to follow so everyone knows what to do. Again, we can help you with this.
What’s your people plan for 2021?
The challenges of 2020 haven’t disappeared. Instead, more have become evident. It’s important to consider how you will approach these new challenges and vital that you plan now to mitigate the risks to your business.
Balancing compliance and agility can be difficult. That’s why careful planning is required. But you don’t need to do it alone. Annette Dixon and the team from End2End Business Solutions are here to guide and advise you. For help, call 02 8977 4002.