COVID-19 is a crisis like we have never seen, but there are ways to pull through this unprecedented period of uncertainty.
Many of us have, at one time or another, successfully worked through a crisis.
Although always significant, the cause was identifiable and quickly controlled. The effect may have lingered, but we knew what we were dealing with. We could plan. We could see better days ahead. Business was interrupted for a short while and job loss was minimal. The essence of civilization continued, and world trade continued to function.
These last seven months, however, have taught us that COVID-19 is not your run of the mill crisis. This one is different.
All elements of society have been impacted. As I write this article, parents are grappling with the safety of sending their children to school. Businesses are struggling with global supply chain issues and with re-opening under very restrictive health and safety rules.
Many employees are still working from home indefinitely. Office-based businesses may never be the same. According to the Government of Canada, more than 8.6 million total unique applicants have registered thus far for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), with over 24 million applications paid-out. CERB, however, will expire.
Many employers have been making use of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). Without it, many would not have survived. These same employers are seeing their CEWS claims gradually getting smaller as the federal government begins to remove employers from short-term life support.
The impact of this pandemic will optimistically come to an end next year once a suitable vaccine becomes widely available, but it also could last much longer. No one really knows.
Many businesses have used this downtime wisely. Many have changed their operating styles, requiring fewer employees moving forward. Most have increased their reliance on technology, both gaining efficiencies internally and externally to create new experiences with customers. On the other hand, many businesses are seeking creditor protection and some retailers have closed their doors.
Up until now we have had the luxury of some great weather, and being outdoors as we try to cope. With fall and winter right around the corner, and with travel restrictions and indoor gathering restrictions, many people are wondering what the short- to medium-term future looks like.
Many want to plan and get on with their lives. COVID Fatigue is causing restlessness. Pairing that restlessness to future uncertainty creates an emotional environment that none of us is prepared for, and many are not equipped to handle.
As automobile dealers we have been quite fortunate in many ways. COVID hit us early and hard. As an industry, we responded incredibly well and quickly redesigned our businesses to exceed health and safety requirements. In the process we were very successful in making our employees and customers believe in and trust our protocols.
At the same time, many of our customers’ transportation needs remained strong, as essential front-line heroes depended on us to keep them rolling.
Also, our industry’s retail financing structure continued to create vehicle demand for lease and loans expiry, producing a need for new vehicles and creating a supply of used vehicles.
In addition, customers and prospects, not financially impacted by COVID saw this as a time to purchase a new or used vehicle at reduced prices.
In short, we all benefitted and have seen our dealership business return. We have fared very well in comparison to other industries and should feel very fortunate. Many dealers have continued and even stepped up their support to local communities coast-to-coast. With any luck, this business will continue and position us well for the short-to medium-term.
However, our managers, employees, and customers are feeling pressures well beyond normal and will require our increased support. COVID has been called an ambiguous crisis. It has created a future that is unclear and inexact because a choice between alternatives cannot not be made with any degree of reliable predictability. This will create an environment of heightened management, with employee and customer stress caused by uncontrollable circumstances from beyond the confines of your dealership.
The emotional weight from the impact of COVID is substantial. As dealers we must continue to recognize this, as our businesses continue to be dependent on a focused employee base. How can we make life more palatable for our employees and customers as we all try our best to deal with the ongoing lingering effects of this pandemic?
More than ever before, as dealers we must truly understand our employees’ stress points originating from outside our dealership walls. We must show the understanding and flexibility to assist them. The employees that are organized and constantly planning will exhibit the most discomfort.
Communication is very important: open, honest, and non-judgmental dialogue where employees feel comfortable sharing their non-work sources of strains and tensions.
Stressors can place a tremendous burden on employees, greatly affecting their performance at work. Employees will have an exaggerated need to know what’s happening. This need arises so that there is a semblance of control over plans and choices. Lack of sharing information greatly increases stress as the fear for the unknown begins to take over. So, the first step is to make sure the lines of communication are wide open like never before.
Converting fear into an informed response will allow your employees to make better decisions. In a crisis like COVID, plans have no option but to be short-term. Taking elements of fear and digesting them into meaningful controllable actions will help your dealership move forward, since it’s impossible to fully digest the future and know exactly what to do. It will take a series of small informed steps to keep moving forward, both at your dealership and in your employees’ personal lives.
Make small decisions, hit bunt singles not home runs.
Create a framework that allows everyone in your dealership to share up-to-date information that can act as input to decision-making.
Breaking your dealership into small clusters will facilitate this and give everyone a home base to depend upon. Sharing of experiences and ideas is critical. This will help employees get and maintain their individual bearings and promote teamwork.
Have a sensible game plan. This is the time where dealers need to step up and share the parameters of a logical game plan. Core values often take precedent here over long-term vision and mission. What did not make sense a year ago, might make perfect sense today. Doing the right thing today might trigger a different behaviour from traditional norms.
You might not fully understand what ultimately will happen, but you are in full control to set the parameters for moving forward and thus navigating your dealership through this extended pandemic.
We find ourselves in a period that is anything but normal and it’s not of our doing. As dealers we need to steer our dealerships. We must guide our management and employees dynamically, as we all learn and walk this walk together over the coming months and into next year.
We’ve never managed through an extended crisis like this before. One good thing is that we will be much better prepared the next time such a wide scale response is required.
In the meantime we must use all the skills we have, and more, to effectively manage through this extended health and economic crisis.
