NAVIGATING UNCHARTED

WATERS IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

Pragmatic governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic
By John Wallace, Jay Millen & Dave Winston

THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT AND

HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS
As COVID-19 continues to spread disruption to the cadence of daily life around
the globe, “the new normal” is a fast-evolving concept.

While these times feel unprecedented, there are lessons we can learn about
mobilizing and galvanizing societies from a communication planning, resource
management and incident response perspective by studying the Spanish
Influenza epidemic of 1917-1918 and World War II.

We are already seeing both public and private sector mobilization for testing,
countermeasures and treatments, and increased production and distribution
of essential supplies and equipment. This will be accelerated further with the
U.S. government’s declaration of a national emergency on March 13th, which
will provide added resources and expedited frameworks for development and
deployment at the local, state, national and global levels.

With this in mind, CEOs and boards should consider convening a special
session to assess and inventory what human resources and material
support your organization may offer or be called to provide at whatever level
is necessary. Everything from such mundane infrastructure capabilities
as multi-site video conferencing capability to logistics/warehousing
support should be catalogued with named subject matter experts.
NAVIGATING UNCHARTED WATERS IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Pragmatic governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

WHAT ABOUT OUR BUSINESS AND OUR PEOPLE?

Health and Safety First
If you have not already mobilized a planning team or created an emergency
operations center; do it now. This can be as simple as accelerated and focused
planning with the leadership team for smaller enterprises, or the formation of a
special committee of the board and a cross-functional team from the business to
specifically mobilize and steer through the COVID-19 crisis as the timeline dictates.

Dust off any existing emergency planning documents or crisis communication

frameworks if they exist, evaluate them quickly, and update them for the current
situation as you consider the following:

–– Have you issued a corporate guideline or directive on how the business is

responding to the current situation? If you have, make sure you have also
pushed out an update process and timeline for ongoing communication. If not,
get moving now and use this as a guide:

• Healthcare and insurance contact information reminders for employees

• Reporting processes

• Perceived business impact and support

• Assessment timelines and intervals at which the business will continue to

take snapshots of the situation

• Any employee or family identified COVID-19 cases

• Policy for avoiding exposure to include business travel, meeting protocols,

social distancing, facility and building cleaning/closure

• Self quarantine or isolation protocols for employees and daily workspace

and workplace hygiene protocols

–– Who will communicate broadly across the organization and on what

communication platforms? Do not leave people in the dark or with a
communication void – they will fill it in unpleasant ways, if history is any
guide. Consider multi-channel efforts, including videos, video conferencing,
conference calls, social media and intranet posts. Establish a multi-level
feedback loop to verify messaging is being received and understood.

–– How will you manage risk assessment and incident reporting? If you have
a robust environment, health and safety (EHS) system, leverage it for flash
reporting, incident tracking, and “observation” processes. Each facility, location,
or operation should have some sort of daily and weekly flash reporting process
that is transparent and available across the business. Additionally, you must
develop a risk assessment protocol for all employees and guidelines for
preventative health (see appendix) in a global marketplace.
NAVIGATING UNCHARTED WATERS IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Pragmatic governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

CONDUCTING MANAGEMENT TEAM AND BOARD

OPERATIONS
In any crisis, leader teams gather The cadence and length of COVID-19-
face-to-face to understand, adapt specific meetings will depend on your
and respond. In this case, we MUST particular business situation but at a
overcome our predisposition for face-to- minimum, a dedicated weekly meeting
face meetings and leverage technology specifically focused on this situation
to speed the response and mitigate should be held for the foreseeable
transmission risk. future, unless your current team
meetings are more frequent and you
Given today’s typical boardroom plan to incorporate this topic into those
and leader team demographics, we agendas.
believe a higher percentage will be
in an increased risk group should You must also be prepared for directors
they contract COVID-19. National or executives who get sidelined by
borders and business travel are COVID-19 and have a contingency
already significantly curtailed in most plan for “interim substitution” or
organizations, and the CDC advises outside advisors should this occur.
acting early and aggressively to stop
community spread; use video or the
telephone – period. Smaller enterprises
without current capabilities can easily
employ a cloud-based solution to meet
the need with minimal cost.

CONTINUING OPERATIONS AND RUNNING THE

BUSINESS
Your leader team is the expert on how and what you must do for business continuity
as the situation evolves. While there are certainly differences in the needs of financial
services, consumer, healthcare, lifestyle, and industrial companies, some key
considerations for your business review are:

–– Supply chain capability and resource availability. Are your raw material and
service suppliers readily available today and in the foreseeable future, or are
they concentrated in risky geographies? From a local or regional level to your
global suppliers what do you need and what will you need? Review this on a
product, service, bill of material, and geographic basis.
NAVIGATING UNCHARTED WATERS IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Pragmatic governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

–– Demand change and forecast. Do you have the ability to assess impact and
forecast customer demand? In one direction, tissue, household cleaner and
basic goods already have and will likely continue to spike in demand for a period
of weeks or months. But, on the backend of this, the need to resupply will likely
require a gap lasting several weeks to a few months. In the other direction, the
hospitality and travel sector will have high volatility and low demand until the
regulatory and governance situations improve. Stay focused on macro changes
and think of alternative uses or potential demand for your business platform:
i.e. hotel chains using facilities for quarantine or emergency patient treatment
capabilities.

–– Understand your run or burn rate. Have you evaluated changes in this due to
demand drop off or spikes in the evolving environment? If you haven’t already
done so, develop sensitivity analyses to worst, best, and median demand and
availability cases. Bad news only gets worse with age or as a complete surprise;
avoid both while balancing the needs of your shareholders and your employees.

–– Staffing and leadership. Do you have minimum staffing plans to be able to

continue operations and curtailment/furlough policies to address variable
workforce requirements? At both ends of the spectrum if significant portions
of your workforce are affected and sidelined due to COVID-19, or you must
curtail operations to maintain and preserve business viability, you need to
have a plan and practice in place that will not alienate your team for the future.

The “how” may be much more important than the “what” in this case. Be
thoughtful in how you communicate and execute on this plan. If working remotely
is not an option, can you expand to a three-shift operation to maximize social
distancing/avoid broader exposure while maintaining output?

–– New hires and staffing. Are you psychologically prepared to make decisions in
ways you never thought possible? Do you have modified hiring practices in place
that consider social distancing, remote working, and substitution for in-person
interviewing in place?

• An in the weeds example – hiring a replacement driver for a customer

delivery route. Interviews can be conducted by video, testing and background
checks can be done online, and new hire orientation conducted by web-
based modules. In this scenario, the new hire never “meets” or is exposed
to an existing team member during the hiring process and has minimal
physical interaction during on-boarding, as deliveries are prepackaged and
move from the loading bay to the truck without the need for direct contact.

• Ongoing Needs - have you altered or considered altering your hiring

process (from entry level to executive level) to limit direct exposure for
candidates and employees? Are you willing to make the decision to move
to video interviews and meetings for the foreseeable future? Consider that
your competitors may be willing to do this, which could put you at a hiring
disadvantage in a war for talent.
NAVIGATING UNCHARTED WATERS IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Pragmatic governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

–– Customer Interaction. Have you maintained a presence with your customers,

and are you proactively reaching out to understand their changed or evolving
needs?

• Evaluate routine or fulfillment and product/service delivery on a more

frequent basis to understand changes.

•
Brainstorm other products or services you don’t currently deliver, or
adjacent products/services you could deliver for your customer base.

• Revenue heals many wounds – before you have to scramble even further,
think hard about what you can do to expand the revenue cycle or portfolio
and get people mobilized on that effort.

• Put together a framework for “rapid innovation,” evaluating this quickly and
get it into the hands of your sales force or channel partners quickly.

LEADERSHIP, NOT JUST MANAGEMENT REQUIRED

As opposed to “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,” our businesses, investors,
teams and communities are likely better served by “Batten down the hatches,
variable speed ahead.” We are in challenging times for sure, and stress is the biggest
strain on our ability to cope with change. As we face complexity and uncertainty, we
have an obligation to remain calm and ease the concerns of those in our charge by
being transparent and timely in our communications and looking out for the personal
and financial stability of all concerned.

We lead people and manage process. Think carefully about every member of your
team from the C-suite to the board room to the shop floor. Is everyone ready, willing,
and able to carry this burden for as long as it takes? If they are not, can they be
coached and led through it, or will they need a strong partner to lean on or worse
yet, replacement for the greater good? These are the contingency plans you must
think through and discuss. Pilots practice emergency procedures so they don’t have
to think when faced with one; so should you.

When we emerge from this crisis, our employees, our customers, and our
communities will remember those leaders who stayed the course and guided them
through uncertainty. More importantly, they will remember how they did it…
NAVIGATING UNCHARTED WATERS IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Pragmatic governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ADDITIONAL READING AND REFERENCES

It is too soon to tell if this will be a short- or long-term problem, but preparing for
both is an urgent necessity. As the virus spreads, it may be difficult to “stay ahead”
of the local situation but to stay informed more broadly, the best resource is the US
Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention website.

The Industrial Resources Planning Board of U.S. Office of Price Administration

during WWII can serve as a guide or case study, illuminating the “additional duties”
we may be asked to perform or resources (leadership and manufacturing/services)
to provide in the months ahead. (see Freedom’s Forge by Arthur L Herman for an in-
depth discussion)

Freedom’s Forge by Arthur L. Hermann, 2013. Available through Amazon and the
National WWII Museum.

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney,
2017

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

JOHN WALLACE is JAY MILLEN is the managing DAVE WINSTON is the leader
Caldwell’s president and CEO. partner of Caldwell’s CEO of Caldwell’s Industrial Practice
A relentless results and client- & Board Practice and leads and the leader of the Dallas
focused leader, he draws on 20 our Charleston office team. office. With over 20 years of
years of successful executive Working with publicly-traded executive search experience,
search direction experience to and privately-held companies, he has successfully completed
drive exceptional results based Jay assists clients in senior- searches for board directors,
on objective measures, market level recruitment and in the CEOs, presidents, COOs, CFOs,
intelligence, strategic planning development of board and CEO and a broad range of functional
initiatives, and clear targets for succession plans as well as vice presidents, and has placed
growth. industry specific leaders at all these executives in start-up
levels in the natural resources firms, small and medium-sized
and manufacturing sectors. public and private firms, and
major corporations.
APPENDIX 1
COVID-19 RISK MITIGATION QUESTIONNAIRE FOR POTENTIAL NEW HIRES

1. Are you currently in good health with no symptoms of cold, flu, fever,
congestion?

2. Have you traveled to any COVID-19 hot spots in the past 90 days?

a. Have you undertaken any business or personal air travel?

b. Taken a cruise ship journey to any destination?

3. Have you or any of your household family members been in direct contact
with any person diagnosed with COVID-19?

4. Have you or any of your household family members been required to be

tested or quarantined for COVID-19?

5. Do you have any current work or business mandated travel restrictions that
would prevent you from meeting either locally or point-to-point destination
or are there specific “NO GO” areas identified by your current employer?

6. Do you have to report or document any and all interactions outside your
current employer to your current employer?

7. Are you comfortable participating in a video/social distancing interview

process prior to the point of selection in lieu of face-to-face meetings with
us and the client?
APPENDIX 2
WORKPLACE HYGIENE PRACTICES
1. Provide ample soap and disinfecting supplies available for your employees
at your office locations.

2. Have a deep clean of all offices conducted weekly, using Lysol and Clorox
bleach agents.

3. Wipe down your workstation, phone and computer daily with Lysol or Clorox
wipes in the office or at home office.

4. Have a daily discussion with your office and family members about potential
contact points, social interaction, and public transit.

5. Avoid large gatherings with general crowds in which you do not know who is
attending to limit potential exposure.

6. Wash your hands with soap and hot water before and after you eat, before
and after making a location change, or after any physical activity.

7. Use Clorox and/or Lysol wipes to wipe down seats and or hand holds on
public transit, Uber/taxi, or personal vehicles.

8. Cover all coughs. If you have any symptoms of cold or flu, do not go into your
office. Call your personal physician and notify your immediate leader and
teammates.

9. Be aware of your surroundings at all time, avoid choke points or tight

enclosures with crowding, and steer clear of those routes even if it requires
extra time.

10. Cover any scratches, open wounds or cuts, and disinfect them frequently.

11. Avoid touching your face, eyes, and mouth.

WE BELIEVE TALENT TRANSFORMS
At Caldwell we believe Talent Transforms. As a leading provider of executive talent, we
enable our clients to thrive and succeed by helping them identify, recruit and retain their best
people. Our reputation–50 years in the making–has been built on transformative searches
across functions and geographies at the very highest levels of management and operations.
With offices and partners across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, we take pride in
delivering an unmatched level of service and expertise to our clients.

Understanding that transformative talent is not limited to executive levels, our Caldwell
Advance solution focuses on emerging leaders and advancing professionals who can also
have a profound impact on a company’s ability to turn potential into success. We also leverage
our skills and networks to provide agile talent solutions in the form of flexible and on-demand
advisory solutions for companies looking for support in strategy and operations. Our Caldwell
Analytics division leverages an award-winning talent optimization platform with a suite of
talent strategy and assessment tools that – when integrated with our search process – helps
clients hire the right people, then manage and inspire them to achieve maximum business
results as fast as possible.

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