This weekend and indeed the work week has understandably brought about a range of conversations in the Inwit Zone about our ongoing response to the impact of the Corona Virus on companies. I want to make some comments about Hong Kong where we have done business for some years.
Australia faces 3 issues as of Mid march 2020. One of which is the ASX crash which began from last week in January.The escalating of morbidity rates, and a small number of deaths. The third issue is the intensification of Government directives and warnings concerning public events, gatherings and quarantines with more interventions likely to continue.
As Hong Kong Adminsitrative region was one of the first to be hit with the Corona Virus, we have an experience of the the Virus which sits roughly 5-6 weeks ahead of Australia. As a reference point for us here, the home isolation and quarantine in Hong Kong lasted for about 3 weeks from the 8th February. Schools are still closed. With a culture that takes education very seriously that in itself is a very strong indicator as to how serious Hong Kong is about quarantining the community. Face masks and hygiene are taken very seriously by Hong Kong citizens. If someone in a family got sick the whole family was quarantined further..
Australian society is very different from Hong Kong in politics and cultural attitudes. People in Hong Kong and China are used to doing as they are told. Conforming to regulations particularly quarantine or visiting or shopping restrictions in Hong Kong is imposed from above. Comparatively, in Australia, you are not used to complying easily. Australian’s will find regulations imposed during this episode that more difficult.
Hong Kong worker’s in finance and banking and Insurance and Human Resources and commercial sectors were sent home to work for a period of about 3-4 weeks.
We just want to make the following comments from a Hong Kong perspective.
In Hong Kong employees were sent home when it was apparent the Virus was not abating. Managers observe that people are not as productive in the first 2-3 weeks and there is little activity or at least reduced activity. This is the other aspect to out-of-office work. Decrease in productivity resulted from the simple fact that people are not used to it or the regime of working at home has lots of distractions initially and IT was not fast or efficient enough or required tweaking. It’s not in the majority of cases turning work at home into holiday. It is simply the adjustment to new circumstances and accommodation at home which might include 3 generations and the usual electronic and digital issues that accompany working in the digital space. There are also functions in modern workspaces that still require manual attention such as some legal documentation or mortgage or banking documentation. Some older people will still continue to use snail mail.
Speaking with Australian friends working in similar arenas in Adelaide and Sydney, the biggest concern right at the moment appears to be their financial security e.g. “I’m glad we were savers and have cash in the bank”. And the view that people are thankful they have a job which pays a regular salary. The Bourse and market crashes cannot be underestimated in relation to the angst of employees and the possible trajectories of consumer confidence. You have also just gone through devastating bushfires.
A large fear speaking to younger Australians is that they will actually get the virus. The balance of probability appears to be around 70-80% will get it in some form. That it will be similar to a bad cold with flu symptoms and then gets better. Given its mortality rate, the vast majority of people will survive and get on with life.
An important strategy recommended by Multi-national companies in Hong Kong allows people to work from home and its also very socially responsible during this time. This has a medium long-term effect in that it affirms employee engagement and loyalty because employees need to know they were looked after during the crisis and that the company cared enough to ensure their health.
Another note that needs detailing is that customer loyalty was bruised in the initial stages of the virus quarantine period as they were not interested in getting a call. They prefered face to face contact or just didn’t return calls.
Bottom line. Working from home due to Corona quarantine can be managed. It requires leadership who are available and flexible and supportive. Those leaders should be aware of individuals and their responses to being self-directive or dependent on instruction. Some people work better at home than others. There may be home circumstances that are not conducive to working easily at home.
In the workplace and in branches where people can’t work from home, people will work in office accommodation regularly deep cleaned. Some matters emerge. One of them was the idiosyncratic response to hygiene that some people will have. Some people need to wipe a doorknob 27 times. Some are very sensitive to people coughing, or keeping a distance, or snorting away, or blowing their nose. They get agitated. Others could not care less. This has caused causes issues in offices or sites. In Hong Kong there are even specific cultural offences. For example, conducting seminars without a face mask offended Chinese. Or not wearing masks in public transport is considered very bad form.
