5 minute read
Navigating COVID: Challenges, Lessons, and New Possibilities
Several members of the Tauber Industry Advisory Board (IAB) shared insights on the challenges they and their organizations have been facing during the COVID pandemic. While some topics were specific to an organization or industry, broad themes — and useful lessons — emerged.
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In the early days of the COVID pandemic, as an increasingly troubling and rapidly changing flood of information flowed from governments, health officials, and media outlets throughout the world, businesses gave urgent attention to their own communication practices and tools. Brian Tauber (CPP Global) noted the importance of communicating personally and empathetically with his employees worldwide: “I make videos [distributed via text] so every employee will hear messages directly from my mouth, can see my eyes and hear my tone . . . The employees are scared for their safety, their paychecks, and their healthcare. Everything else pales in comparison. My messages address their concerns, not extraneous topics about the company or my efforts.” Tauber also touched on the importance of being clear about the priorities of the organization and using them to frame every message. Tauber closed with, “As a leader, I feel the weight of responsibility unlike any other time in my career.”
The health and safety of employees as a top priority was a thread that ran through all the responses from Tauber Industry Advisory Board members, along with a heightened recognition of the importance of considering mental health. Jeff Tazelaar
Borg Warner - Personal protection equipment (ppe) donation to Beaumont Hospitals which included 7,500 N95 masks, 1,500 protective goggles, and 1,500 disposable gowns.
(Dow) said, “Bringing that ‘we’re all in this together’ mindset and truly having open discussions about health and well-being, especially mental health, was a positive shift. It blew the taboo of mental health and allowed us to really talk about it.” Joe Dudas (Mayo Clinic) cited using a staff rotation plan to avoid overtaxing key personnel when running 24/7 operations. Piyush Bhargava (Dell) noted that Dell encourages team members to prioritize their life-work balance and take time off to rest and recharge, while Robert Noack (Pfizer) welcomed the greater sense of empathy and flexibility that has emerged during the pandemic.
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As organizations adapted to an explosion of employees working remotely at least part of the time, flexibility and agility—of both the organization and employees themselves—became more important, and a commitment to continue hybrid work options post-pandemic was common. In many cases, some already existed. For example, Randall Scheps (Howmet) pointed out that Howmet’s large sales force is dispersed around the country and has always worked from home. The option for other employees to work remotely two days a week will probably be permanent. Piyush Bhargava (Dell) said, “Before March 2020, 65% of team members worked in a flexible way on any given day and 30% worked remotely. When the pandemic started, our fully remote workforce catapulted to 90% in a weekend and most of these employees are still remote today. Bhargava shared that, in a survey of Dell global team members, almost 90% of respondents said they preferred a mix of onsite and offsite working. “We have embraced the concept that work isn’t a place and time but an outcome,” he said. Along similar lines, Robert Noack (Pfizer) said, “We embraced the ability to get work done from anywhere.” Noack said that Pfizer already had a good infrastructure with many meeting options, but virtual meetings and instant messenger communications have taken off during the pandemic. On pandemic-influenced changes in how Pfizer does business, Noack said, “It’s a testament to flexibility in terms of how we are able to accomplish what we needed to wherever we were; it changed what we can accomplish from where. It reinforced the hybrid setup— we had a core of people on-site, and those who could do off-site did so.” All respondents emphasized that adaptations were made on a team-by-team basis. “We saw COVID coming from our units in China at the end of 2019 and early in 2020 . . . we could watch it coming across the world.” (Tazelaar) “At first, we thought it would be temporary.” (Noack) “The scale and speed required to manage through COVID necessitated on-the-fly changes and new learnings.” (Dudas)
The widespread adoption of hybrid and remote work options has led to changes in hiring practices. Joe Dudas (Mayo Clinic) shared that, “We have changed our staffing criteria to ensure workers are a good fit for teleworking/remote work; we are probing on remote work skills and experience.” Piyush Bhargava (Dell) identified a bright spot: “Remote work allowed us to expand our talent pool. We can hire regardless of location—creating opportunity among various communities not tied to a specific location.” Other hiring adaptations mentioned included virtual orientations and assigning a team member to help a new hire with questions and introductions. Christopher Lanker (BorgWarner) said that all new employees gained with the acquisition of Delphi Technologies received a care package to welcome them to the team and an invitation to a virtual welcome event.
Respondents cited existing elements at their respective organizations that undergirded the many adaptations responding to a pandemic requires, e.g., a culture of innovation, robust digital systems, and previous investments in automation and replenishment technology. Christopher Lanker (BorgWarner) said, “Our company has always been nimble in large part due to our decentralized operating model . . . This drives the decisionmaking capability down through the organization, into the hands of every employee.”
How work gets done has changed more dramatically in the last eighteen months than anyone could have imagined. Going forward, flexibility and agility will continue to be the watchwords.
“The disruption in the supply chain is something that has touched every company and industry at some point during this pandemic.” (Lanker)
“People are smart and deserve the truth, even when it’s not what they want to hear.” (Tauber)
BorgWarner - Seneca, SC, plant that was hit by a tornado in the midst of the pandemic.
Story Participants Piyush Bhargava (IAB Vice President), Vice President, Global Care, Customer & Finance Services, Dell Inc. Joe Dudas (IAB Vice President), Vice Chair, Supply Chain Management, Mayo Clinic Christopher Lanker, Vice President and General Manager, Emissions, Thermal and Turbo Systems, Asia Pacific, BorgWarner Robert Noack, Senior Director, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Drug Product Supply, Pfizer Inc. Randall Scheps, President, Howmet Wheel Systems Brian Tauber, CEO, CPP Global Jeff Tazelaar, Digital Fulfillment Center Director, The Dow Chemical Company
