Not many people want to say it out loud, but the economy is not going to miraculously snap back to normal once everyone has been vaccinated next summer.
It’s naïve to think that many of the closed businesses in our communities are simply hibernating, awaiting the day when things are better. Some may be revived, but, in truth, most of them are finished, with little hope of the revenue needed to get out from under the weight of lease, payroll, vendor, tax and loan obligations. The desolation you can see with your own eyes along Main Street is only the tip of a tragic economic iceberg.
Positivity and goalsetting are important communication themes in times like this, which is why smart political, business and civic leaders continue to focus attention on achievable, short-term milestones that build upon each other in a one-step-at-a-time cadence. It’s also important to objectively evaluate how we got here and whether this tragedy could have been avoided or at least dramatically mitigated had we behaved differently at any given point in the past 10 months. For the purposes of responsible issues management and crisis planning, those lessons must be learned.
As we start back on the path to economic normalcy in 2021, beginning just the first leg of a long journey, here’s my sense of the communication challenges and opportunities to think about and prepare for in the new year.
1. Biting the Back-to-the-Office Bullet: Many organizations have already decided to embrace remote workforce strategies, reducing asset management and overhead costs. At some point in 2021, however, thousands of businesses will have to communicate a final decision on where their white-collar employees will work. It’s not just workers who will be impacted; political leaders in the communities now studded with vacant office buildings also have a stake in these decisions.
2. I Thought I Was Essential: Nothing highlighted our society’s class divisions more than asking (and, in most cases, requiring) the lowest-paid, hardest-working blue-collar employees to report for duty in a pandemic while the “big bosses” stayed safe at home. Gratitude is important, but you can’t pay the bills with it. Don’t think for a minute that those who risked their health and safety are going to forget they were essential when times were tough. Employers that find ways to address economic and racial inequities in their organizations will benefit.
3. Merger and Acquisition Mania: Brush off your notes on how best to communicate M&As because there will be wave of them during 2021 and probably into first half of 2022. In some cases, the acquisitions available among distressed enterprises will simply be too attractive to resist. In other cases, mergers will present a path to mutual survival. Communicating these activities in human terms, rather than relying on traditional messaging about spreadsheets and synergies, is recommended.
4. Development Dealings: Empty parking facilities, deserted office buildings, vacant retail spaces, struggling owners, low borrowing costs, revenue-starved cities and hungry lenders – these are the ingredients for a fertile environment to fuel an explosion in commercial real estate activity. With the passage of national infrastructure legislation designed to stimulate economic activity also in the cards, professional property development and community affairs communications will be at premium.
5. A Wave of Entrepreneurism: After massive forest fires, new growth always reclaims the charred landscape, often in unexpected ways. It seems certain that a new wave of entrepreneurs will emerge in the post-pandemic world with ideas and plans for new businesses and business models. Some will be pure start-ups and others will be well-funded old hands re-positioning themselves for new opportunities, but all of them will need to master the fundamentals of reputation management and investor relations to succeed.
6. Healthy Environmental Priorities: Public concern about the environment and climate change was strong before the pandemic and it will be top of mind in 2021. The public wants healthier environments at home, in transit and at work, while new national leadership intends to makes big climate goals a priority. Organizations that recognize the need for consumer confidence and employee well-being in pursuit of sustainable green behaviors will be rewarded. This time, it’s personal.
7. Recruitment-Retention Tug of War: With so many unemployed, it’s a buyer’s market for employers with open positions right now and it seems likely to remain so at least through the first quarter of the new year. A you’re-lucky-to-have-a-job attitude lasts only as long as employees feel lucky. After more than a year of hardship and turmoil, they may try their luck elsewhere as new opportunities beckon in a revived economy. Reinforcing employee engagement consistently through 2021 is a wise investment.
8. Crisis Planning Crunch Time: I’m really hoping you learned a lot about your organization’s crisis preparedness in 2020. You don't need to look hard to find instances where the failure to plan cost lives this year. It’s understandable if you haven't had the time to identify and absorb all the lessons, but you’re quite literally whistling past the graveyard if you think your communications practices and operational infrastructure won’t be tested again. A lot of people are depending on you to be much better prepared next time.
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