Tackling remote ways of working
The COVID-19 pandemic is locking down large parts of the world and countries are taking unprecedented actions to prevent and delay the spreading of the Coronavirus. Given this new and unforeseeable situation, many companies urge their employees to work from home as a means of social distancing. To facilitate the sudden shift to this new work environment, EQT’s digital team is supporting the portfolio companies with virtual training sessions and hands-on advice.
The rapid outbreak of COVID-19 is affecting all industries and organizations and EQT’s thoughts are with the people affected and the medical staff helping those most in need. As the challenging situation continues to evolve, many companies are transitioning to operating remotely as employees are asked to work from home.
Having a robust digital infrastructure can play a vital role in securing organizations’ business continuity while reducing the impact of COVID-19 on the work environment. Thanks to a well-established IT-strategy, EQT was able to quickly support the shift from its 18 offices to 700 kitchen tables ensuring that its employees can stay fully productive and collaborate seamlessly in the cloud, despite working from home.
Recognizing the imminent need for support in this field, EQT is reaching out to its portfolio companies to offer assistance through virtual training sessions and digital support around remote ways of working.
During the past week, around 100 CEOs, CFOs and Heads of IT and HR from 40 EQT portfolio companies in 12 countries have participated in webinars hosted by EQT ’s inhouse digital specialist team, which normally supports the EQT platform and the portfolio companies with digital transformation initiatives.
Misha Logvinov, Head of IT Strategy at EQT, explained: “At EQT, people are at the center of everything and our main priority is that EQT’s and the portfolio companies’ employees and their families are safe during these turbulent times. We want to make it as easy as possible for employees to work remotely and engage with each other without sacrificing security, collaboration or productivity. Our ambition with the virtual training sessions is to support senior executives of EQT’s portfolio companies so that they in turn can share best practices internally within their respective organizations.”
Listed below is a sample of the topics that were discussed during the webinars, including tips on how to facilitate remote working in organizations.
Fully leverage your Business Continuity plan
It is not too late to formalize and activate your Business Continuity or Disaster Recovery plans. Learn from this situation and update your contingency plans to ensure you are better prepared for the next crisis.
Communicate in a strategic aligned way, internally and externally
Over-communicate on the things that your employees need to know, such as policies and guidelines during a crisis situation.
Take advantage of modern tools
There are numerous ways to easily set up and use digital tools that can aid your response efforts and improve employee engagement.
Double down on cybersecurity
Bad actors are taking advantage of the COVID-19 situation and increasing their attacks on businesses and individuals. Attention to cybersecurity efforts for your remote workforce should be heightened.
Invest in preparing yourself and your team
Behavioral, cultural and communication adjustments can greatly aid your corporate resilience to this dynamically changing crisis.