The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the rate of digitalization and flexibility in workplaces. Organizations are developing their existing HR practices to stay relevant. As the millennials (age 26 to 41) make up the maximum percentage of the workforce and remote working has emerged as the norm, HR professionals are forced to embrace upskilling of employees. Upskilling is the process of uplifting existing skills to the next level. Common examples of upskilling include digital skills, analytics skills, learning multiple foreign languages etc to close the skill gaps.

Typically, upskilling occurs along a set career path, giving employees clear opportunities for advancement as they level up their skills. Upskilling can include “soft” skills that can be advanced and specialized to fill workforce skills gaps.

Reskilling means teaching employees new set of skills. Examples of reskilling are digital marketing, public speaking, data analytics, multimedia modelling etc. It provides a creative approach to employees while solving problems. The World Economic Forum estimates that half of all employees will require reskilling by 2025 due to technological advancement.

Employees become the valuable assets of an organization, because of their abilities, knowledge, and experience that cannot be replaced. So, going forward, organizations need to place emphasis and importance on the contribution that employees that they have in order to drive themselves ahead.

According to Mercer’s 2022 Global Talent Trends study, the Human Resource departments in India Inc are prioritising workforce upskilling and reskilling post pandemic as they are faced with challenges that include talent acquisition, employee engagement, loss of employees and sickness and reduced productivity during and post pandemic. The study highlights that difficulty in hiring the right talent, at the right price, and in time remains a top concern to the effect of nearly 71 per cent in 2022. In res­ponse, organizations are reforming their talent strategies focusing more on internal talent.

In India, the leading private sector bank Axis Bank in 2019 teamed up with Coursera to offer world-class learning programmes to its employees. The course offers training in subjects such as data analytics, leadership, innovative thinking and many more. These courses are being offered by some of the top universities across the globe and all the Axis Bank employees are encouraged to take up the course. 

TCS has teamed up with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) to establish an MTech programme in Industrial Artificial Intelligence (AI) for working professionals. It is an 18-month course to upskill corporate workers in AI applications.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced two new free training courses aimed at providing hands-on cloud computing skill training in a fun and engaging manner. The first initiative is AWS Cloud Quest, a new game-based role-playing experience designed for early-career or new-to-cloud adult learners. The second initiative is AWS Educate, which provides self-paced training and resources, and ten hands-on labs in the AWS Management Console, to allow learners to practice their skills.

According to a global talent search report 77 per cent of Indian HR professionals whose organisations undertook reskilling and upskilling had to request their employees to do so. Indian organizations don’t rely much on gig economy. They use gig employees just to fill gaps.

India’s New Education Policy 2020 has taken a significant step of shifting its focus to skill-based education. Skill based education is the need of the hour. Multiple reports of HRD ministry have indicated that more than half of employees will require extensive retraining and upskilling. Not just in terms of technical ability, but also knowledge of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. However, soft skills such as communication, attention to detail, and listening must also be improved. The list also includes manners and etiquettes, hygiene and knowledge of current affairs.   

The employment opportunities in Industries such as intelligent automation and artificial intelligence are on a rise and it is said that these industries are expected to disturb the global workforce, necessitating the reskilling of up to 120 million workers. Organizations are always in search of employees with skillsets having both hard and soft skills are the ones who can lead the organizational success. Another fact is that the best candidates will always settle in organizations that offer upskilling and reskilling opportunities. Employers who provide professional development through on-the-job mentoring will attract better workforce.

A Forbes report says that the top trending jobs will be high demand: Blockchain Programmer, Specialist in Artificial Intelligence (AI), JavaScript Programmer, Robotic Process Automation, Back-end Programmer, Innovation Manager, Design thinkers, Engineer for Site Reliability, Customer Service Representative, Specialist in Cybersecurity, Python Programmer etc.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 60% of the formal employment in India will be prone to automation. Thus, automation implies at a micro as well as a macro level. Automation will also bring changes in skill demand, gender disparity in workforce and re-organization. The concept of ‘skill’ will increasingly denote worker’s adaptability to work with or around automation. Automation involves reskilling the workforce. Furthermore, the concept of ‘smart’ work and demand for specific skills will encourage educational institutions to redesign higher education and training and train students to be job ready. The challenges that this digital transformation taking places before the Indian policymakers is both technical and ethical.

Post covid majority of workforce is experiencing “Burn-out” which is a syndrome resulting from chronic job stress that has not been successfully managed. Employees are seeking new places because of burnout and also because they don’t feel respected and protected by employers. I am of a firm opinion that reskilling, upskilling or continuous learning is need of the hour. Lifelong learning is an indispensable tool for every career and organisation.

Organizations which deliver the highest quality of service or products are the ones who receive the most customers. Prominence is therefore important. But ability is also important, if prominence brings customers to organization, ability helps organizations to retain the customers. Ability of the organization tells who they are. So the eminence and ability consist of four operational processes volume, variety, variation and visibility. Organizations survive when operations management lays in the hands of able managers to manage core activities that transform key resources into deliverable products or services.  The process of creating the products and services are based fundamentally in creating value in each operational management processes.

Volume

This refers to how much production of a specific product is required to satisfy its overall demand in the market.  This refers to the physical number of units or items produced.  A high volume manufacturing service example would be a fast-food joint like Dominos. They sell quite literally millions of pizzas and other related food items every day around the world, and one of the known characteristics of Dominos is that they have a very high degree of consistency in all of their products and their service delivery. 

Alternatively, a low-volume example might be an artist who produces specially made commissions and pieces of artwork. They are entirely unique, which are likely to take a very long time to produce and which cannot be easily replicated or repeated exactly, if at all. This is highly resource intensive and often long-term process. Scarcity is often used to boost sales, but it can also be used to create massive brand lift. It plays on the customer’s fear of missing out. Please remember this fact that marketers use limited-time offers like daily deals, limitations on quantities, or one-time only promotions to create a sense of urgency and leverage scarcity.

Volume is significant tool because it shows the confidence of buyers in a product or service. Though volume should never be used alone to determine price or selling patterns, but it is a base to gain insight into the markets and determine the next strategies.

Variety

This relates to the variety of goods/services to be produced and sold to customers. This V is all about diversity. Selling a variety of products or services helps organizations to increase sales and profit potential and reduces their dependence on one or two products, which can lead to business closure if demand for that product ends or wanes out.

For example HUL sells 44 brands spanning 14 distinct categories such as soaps, detergents, shampoos, skin care, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water purifiers, the Company is a part of the everyday life of millions of consumers across India. Its portfolio includes leading household brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf excel, Rin, Wheel, Glow & Lovely, Pond’s, Vaseline, Lakmé, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent, Closeup, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Kwality Wall’s and Pureit. HUL has a product to offer each segment of the society. In an given product category its has maintained variety.

The high variety gives more flexibility to produce goods services to match the customer’s requirements. Variety and volume correlate, the higher the variety the lower the volume of the products or services.

Variation

This refers to how much the level of demand changes over some time due to external factors. However, several factors make it difficult to predict variation. For example, a natural disaster such as Covid 19 pandemic struck the world which made the entire world go topsy-turvy in all walks of life. Most business processes do not exist as singular entities but rather as a plurality of variants that need to be collectively managed. Most of these approaches are built on the assumption that the variation points and variation drivers are given as input. The question of how process variation is drawn and conceptualized in the first place has received relatively little attention. It takes lot of experience and maturity of managers to fill the gaps. When processes fail to follow a precise pattern, it causes quality issues both in transactional and production processes.

Visibility

This refers to value chain of a company’s all processes put together. The customers need to experience the company’s product/service. The service industries have a high level of visibility compared to the manufacturing industries. For example, Amazon has a track and trace software on their website which enables their customers to have visibility of where their packages are at any given time. It is important that potential customers can locate the company they are looking for. Most people have had the experience of being lost. It is truly  frustrating driving around unable to find the location a customer is searching – may be its company’s workshop, warehouse, retail store, head office, customer care centre anything.  Organizations must make sure that their signage is clear and visible so visitors can easily locate. Otherwise the experience can turn into a negative one. High-visibility signage has already helped easy to find repeat customers.

Unilever’s operations management is responsible for keeping the four Vs integral with high productivity throughout the global organization. Operations managers develop procedures and processes to support the organization in achieving higher volume, variety, variance and visibility. The operations team of Unilever directly supports marketing, sales, financial and HR performance. It essentially addresses concerns in all strategic decision areas to maintain high productivity. As a leading consumer goods firm, Unilever has evolved operations management approaches to keep all four Vs highly productive.

Amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs informed India Inc that organization which will donate funds to battle/combat Covid 19 pandemic will be considered valid under CSR activities. Funds may be spent on various activities related to COVID-19 such as promotion of healthcare, distribution of food, payment of medical bills of poor, preventive healthcare and sanitation, and disaster management. 

Ratan Tata, Chairman Tata Trusts and Chairman Emeritus Tata Sons, pledged Rs 500 crore to protect and empower all affected communities. The money will be spent on personal protective equipment for medical personnel, respiratory systems for treating increasing cases, testing kits to increase per capita testing, setting up modular treatment facilities for infected patients and knowledge management and training of health workers and the general public.

Ambuja Cements and ACC, both part of Swiss cement major LafargeHolcim group, have collectively contributed ₹3.3 crore to three NGOs to support daily-wagers, migrant labour, slum-dwellers and homeless stranded across the country on account of the lockdown. Ambuja Cement and ACC are support Goonj, an NGO on the forefront of disaster relief with expertise in material management; and Praja Foundation and Mumbai Roti Bank, who are working with labourers and daily wage workers who have lost their livelihood on account of the country-wide lockdown to protect against the coronavirus. Together, these organisations are carrying out multi-pronged containment and relief efforts that require immediate attention across the country.

India is struggling with its worst public health crisis. In times like these, collaborative models are required more and are effective in both containment of the disease and support for those whose livelihood and even survival is at risk. Public health services, politically neglected for decades in most Indian states, have proven their irreplaceable value during this crisis. Although despised by the rich and middle classes, they are shouldering the lion’s share of not just preventive and outreach services but also clinical care. Nearly 80%-90% of critical Covid-19 cases were being treated by public health services. States with robust public health systems like Kerala have been far more successful in containing Covid-19, compared to richer states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, which have under-staffed public health systems. Most corporates gave their contributions to these NGOs who were delivering at grass-root relief measures.

State-run Coal India Ltd said it has contributed ₹221 crore to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM Cares) to fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Employees of CIL voluntarily contributed one day’s salary, which amounted to ₹ 61 crore, and the miner donated an amount of ₹160 crore from its corporate social responsibility corpus to the ‘PM Cares Fund’. Despite several challenges during the crisis period, the subsidiaries of the Maharatna PSU produced coal. The Maharatna PSU has set a 710 million tonne production target in the current fiscal even though there is a concern over demand. 

The CSR arm called ‘SBI Foundation’, of State Bank of India (SBI), committed ₹ 30 crore to implement various COVID-19 relief measures across the country. The fund will be utilised for providing food to the needy, for consolidating healthcare infrastructure, capacity building of healthcare workers and research on coronavirus-related projects along with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). To implement these initiatives, SBI Foundation set up a new flagship programme on health theme which included distribution of ventilators and personal protective equipment to hospitals and supply of 10,000 freshly cooked meals daily at four centres.

The lockdown crippled the economy for more than seven months which sparked exceptional distress; it turned the so-called lower middle class into the new poor class of the society. Teachers in unaided private schools, office assistants, data entry operators, salespersons, receptionists, beauticians, entertainment industry support workers those who run small mobile phone service and repair shops and other service providers who fall in ₹5,000 to ₹15,000 monthly income group were the badly hit. They grappled to survive. While the nation paid attention to the socially poor and the migrant workers who are faced the brunt of lockdown, we hardly paid any attention to lower middle class families with meagre income due to the society’s lopsided priorities.

The lower middle class is always caught in a dilemma as their dignity holds them back from extending their hands to seek aid. The focus of all aid programmes of both the government and NGOs is people who are traditionally perceived poor and who are indeed poor but the lower middle class, who are also in dire need of assistance are left out.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group was among the first corporate leaders to come out with clear commitments. He said that his group will begin work to use existing manufacturing facilities to make ventilators to combat Coronavirus. From converting existing manufacturing plants to make ventilators to giving free fuel to emergency vehicles, Mahindra Group announced a slew of initiatives to help combat the crisis over the coronavirus epidemic. Anand Mahindra said he will donate 100% of his salary to create a fund to help small businesses and self-employed people who are expected to be impacted the most due to the outbreak. He also urged our businesses to also set aside contributions for those who are the hardest hit in their ecosystem.

The Godrej Group announced that it is earmarking a fund of Rs 50 crore for community support and relief initiatives in India. This was an initial spending and the corporate said that it hopes to supplement it over time. It has been buying and supplying medical equipment and protective supplies for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). As a part of the initiative, the group has donated Rs 5 crore to the BMC, donated 115 hospital beds to Maharashtra government hospitals and helped set up a 75-bed quarantine centre at the Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai. Moreover, it has supported the free distribution of 1 million packets of Godrej Protekt Mr. Magic powder-to-liquid hand wash in Maharashtra through partnership with the BMC and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), partnered with communities linked to their CSR programmes to support 1.12 lakh beneficiaries across 8 states with hand wash, sanitizers and soap, donated sanitizers to the Mumbai police force, begun ramping up capacity to meet the demand for soap, hand wash and sanitizers and initiated outreach through various networks and hand wash education programmes.

As a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, Bosch Group in India immediately donated ₹ five crore to PM CARES Fund and pledged additional Rs 45 crore for various community welfare initiatives, the company said in a statement. Bosch India started various welfare initiatives to help the underprivileged. The company supplied cooked meals from its kitchen in Bidadi plant and through the Art of Living Foundation to about 4,000 migrant workers and other needy individuals, on a daily basis.

ICICI Group announced that it is committed ₹ 100 crore to support the nation in its fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. Of this, the Group pledges to contribute ₹ 80 crore to the ‘PM Cares Fund’ and ₹ 20 crore to state governments and local authorities in their efforts to battle the pandemic. The sum of ₹ 100 crore is being contributed by ICICI Bank and all its subsidiaries.

ReNew Power, India’s largest Independent Power Producer in the renewable energy space, ₹ 20 crore to the central and state governments to aid efforts aimed at combating the Covid-19 pandemic. The company’s endeavour was fixed on helping communities impacted by the lockdown and to bolster the health infrastructure to tackle the pandemic. Sumant Sinha, the Managing Director of ReNew in one of his interviews said that his company believes in helping equip the hospitals and their staff with the right medical equipment will strengthen local efforts in tackling this emergency. The company worked across its sites in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and cover around 140 villages. Additionally, ReNew is adopted a village in Haryana, where around 350 vulnerable households were provided with dry ration and hygiene kits.

In 1963, the free-market philosopher Milton Friedman described corporate social responsibility as “fundamentally subversive”, writing that corporate responsibility is the pursuit to be carried out by individual organizations for understanding the uncontrolled markets. The tough times showed that businesses do not exist in a vacuum but are part of the society and talking to and learning from the people is part and parcel of organizations. 

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has taken a biggest step towards helping its employees to battle domestic abuse. For the first time in India Inc, HUI has coded a policy to protect its staff from domestic abuse. This is significant as it extends the responsibility of a company towards employees’ well-being beyond the office and into the employee’s personal and home life. HUL has designed and implemented this policy at a time when a significant number of its workforce is working from home. The HUL policy aims to protect and provide assistance to staff members who are fighters of abuse, or acts of emotional and physical abuse beyond the office.

Anuradha Razdan, HUL executive director (HR), says “We want to stand up as advocates for change that we would like to see in society by proactively coming up with a policy which calls out to our employees: ‘If you are someone who has faced this and wants to come out and talk, the organisation is here to support you’.”

The UN has described the worldwide increase in domestic abuse as a “shadow pandemic” alongside Covid-19. Globally cases have increased by 20% during the lockdown, as many people are trapped at home with their abuser.

Workplace is evolving; in the area of human resources organizations are adopting and encouraging practices to improve employees’ well-being. Working from home affects every employee perversely depending on their responsibilities and living situations. For example, workers with younger children need to balance keeping them occupied while trying to keep up with work tasks. And the same goes for those with elder-care responsibilities. Understanding employee needs is crucial. For the first time in history, organizations have realised that they need to have open conversations with their employees about how and when work can be accomplished without intruding on employees’ privacy. Organizations are offering a wider range of options for flexibility, such as more freedom when assignments need to be turned in or adjusting work hours per day to allow more time to care for children and elders. Employee mental and physical health is important for effective work – life balance. 

Domestic violence cases are increasing, as employees began working from home after worldwide lockdowns imposed to combat covid-19, and has become a greater concern for organizations. According to HUL, one in three women and one in seven men are abused at some point in their life. HUL looked at this fact, which is the right direction. The new policy will certainly increase productivity positively and contribute to the well-being of their employees.

According to a law firm DSK Legal, the policies of harassment, the POSH Act, are limited to workplace harassment. Now, as the home is extended workplace, it may be a good idea to actually cover up even those bullies. HUL’s initiative could set a precedent for India Inc., which has adopted HR policies with the aim of making workplaces fair and inclusive.

Standard Chartered has developed a toolkit that provides examples of the various mechanisms that can be taken into attention when attempting to support victims of domestic abuse. It also provides a range of available resources for doing so. Standard Chartered Bank has made announcement for its LGBT + employees. It will extend medical and domestic relocation benefits to its LGBT+ employees and their partners in India. All personnel will now be able to declare an LGBT+ partner as an eligible beneficiary under the bank’s medical reimbursement policy. The declared partner will also get covered under the domestic relocation policy. Organizations are showing they care for their employees.

Last year Tata Steel introduced a policy on employee partners who identify themselves as part of the LGBT + community to take advantage of HR benefits permitted by law.

LaliT Suri Hospitality group too proudly identifies itself as an LGBT-friendly workshop. The idea is to provide more appropriate opportunities to people in the community and to stop any form of stigma attached to them that could prevent them from getting employment.

More recently, cricketer Virat Kohli’s decision to leave the on-going India-Australia tour as his wife Anushka Sharma expects their first child has also highlighted more men seeking paternity leave and increasing participation in chores at home. Kohli truly personified a perfect example of how men must be evolved in wife’s pre and post childbirth event.

In a new policy announced in August, Zomato’s food ordering platform allowed all women (including transgender people) to use up to 10 days of periodical leaves in a year. Zomato wants to foster a culture of trust, truth and acceptance. Zomato understands that men and women are born with different biological realities. The organization wants to make sure that it brings out innovative HR polices as 35% of Zomato’s employees are female.

Today, organizations are faced with an ever-increasing complexity on their side of the employment pact. Purpose for working and respect has gathered central importance for employees. This fact calls for strong relationships between employer and employee and is expanding the management thought process in strengthening employee value. Success is not simply about creating a good customer experience; it is also about generating a more engaging and rewarding employee experience.

Today’s workforce which includes a cross-section of Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z has distinct wants, needs and ways of thinking. This has increased the level of leadership complexity and requires more tailored solutions catering to desires for both flexibility and sovereignty in terms of Employee Value Proposition (EVP). To attract and retain talent, leaders must demonstrate their commitment to the needs and success of their incongruent workforce.

As we face off the biggest pandemic in today’s modern memory, which is literally doctored and engineered in China, the fact is millions of lives are lost and life world is facing a chaos and disruption. Global economy is gone for a toss as never before. This pandemic is above all human crisis that calls for camaraderie. It has taught the world many lessons and one such lesson is about business ethics which starts with ethical communication.   

The importance of ethical communications has never been clearer. Much of the debate around media ethics in recent years has focused on far-reaching questions why business is important. The global COVID-19 pandemic has pushed ethical considerations back to the basics. Concerns about governmental transparency and corporate responsibility have become a fresh urgency. The implications are more immediate and those working in the media, now more than ever, have a responsibility for their role in shaping public debate.

As businesses go about their work, managers must continue to ask themselves whether it is their responsibility to communicate as they are. 

Businesses have a challenge on their hands. In an atmosphere of financial uncertainty, they have difficult decisions, first to make and then to communicate. They will have to consider both internal and external stakeholders. They must address concerns about safety and hygiene. They must clarify what they are doing in terms of business continuation and protocol. Before they get into the nitty-gritty of messaging, outreach and marketing spend, they must consider the ethical dimension of what they do.

With the global coronavirus outburst, business world is now grappling with ethical communication demanded by their consumers. The big brands of world are increasingly being tested for their moral backbone. Alert and observant consumers are refusing to support companies who are not honest in keeping their promises and are turning a blind eye to the complaints of customers. The Covid 19 pandemic has harnessed the power of social media like never before; customers are able to hold organizations directly and evidently accountable.

Prior to the pandemic, a paradigm shift towards digitization of the economy was already underway. The current scenario has accelerated the paradigm, as evidenced by the marked shift in spending towards digital businesses. As customers are already facing autonomy due to the virus, no longer they are willing to allow brands stay silent. They have a platform and a stronger network to discuss their issues.

The major principles governing communications, the correct and incorrect aspects of the same, the moral and immoral dimensions relevant to the communication are called ethics of communication. In other words, communication ethics is the notion that human beings are governed by morals which essentially affects communication. Simply any kind of moral good present in communication of any form is generally termed as communication ethics. It is important that whatever we communicate should be guided by certain ethical principles.

Amazon has been a crowned winner during the Covid crisis because its sales have soared due to the shutting of bricks-and-mortar shops and malls. It’s also interesting to note that its share price has risen by more than a third in the past few months. And, yet Amazon has been bitterly criticized although the most serious accusations are made against it the US and France rather than the UK. In France all Amazon warehouses were temporarily closed after a huge row about worker safety. In the US Amazon experienced lot of workers quitting due to over warehouse safety and conditions. Many of its workers pledged to stay home in protest because Amazon has failed to provide face masks, and has refused to pay sick leave (the US is one of the few wealthy countries in which companies are not required to), is not allowing workers proper time to wash their hands, and that too many people are working at once to allow for proper social distancing. The fight intensified after Amazon fired four workers who had publicly criticized safety measures. In progressive countries such as Us, UK and France customers gauge the behavior of companies. 

Even in India in a survey conducted by EY Earnest & Young presents response in favor of ethical communication. For example, at the onset of COVID-19 in India, an MNC promised its employees that the organization would retain all its employees during the hardship period but later started firing endless numbers of employees’ right from the lowest to the topmost rung of the ladder. This is a clear breach of trust and faith, no one who is still with the organization will ever trust the employer come what may. Any organization which breaches trust of any of its stakeholders, finds it difficult to get back the trust. Another survey conducted by Deloitte reports that employees do not need a perfect company but just want transparency and truthfulness more than anything else.

Ethical communication always helps organization in admitting openly that they fell short of their goals, they have committed some mistakes, which in long run lead to huge improvements and positive changes for the future which help to garner support from all stakeholders.

It is so important to acknowledge that clients cannot be cheated in the present problematic times; it is better to inform them the truth only. One of the news items in Miami News Times reported that a popular cruise line recently misled its guests about COVID-19 by having sales staff tell them the only thing they needed to worry about for their upcoming cruise was bringing enough sunscreen. The cruise line ignored the pandemic and the associated safety measures which the clients are worried about. Most of the customers who had booked for the cruise did not appreciate the irresponsible behavior of the cruise liner staff, and they decided to drop out of the cruise. Their response is a perfect example of what not to do during such difficult times. This response caused a media storm that generated negative press for the cruise line.

In acknowledging the current times, organizations can establish and build trust and confidence with others that can have a long-lasting impact. Avoiding the truth is bad practice for any business and providing relevant updates won’t cause a panic. When the state of the world returns to normal, individuals will remember how businesses responded to the pandemic and during this time of need.

The pandemic that has taken over our daily lives, businesses and society at large are forcing us to rethink how we react during times of crisis. Practicing empathy in statements, newsletters, social media announcements and other avenues of communication can help establish rapport with customers. It shows that businesses care. However, having empathy goes beyond a written statement.  It must be practiced in action. While many businesses choose to address COVID-19 solely online, on social media or with e-newsletters, it has been observed that organizations that pitch clients for stories on how to stay afloat throughout this pandemic, are appreciated the most. For instance, offering a client spokesperson for TV news segments to provide expert insight or resourceful information on what they are doing to stay in business can set an example for similar companies.

Conclusion: In a sea of statements, social media announcements and email newsletters, making presence felt is difficult. This is where sincere and realistic communication matters.

The COVID-19 situation has brought situation like house lockup and it has slowed down the economy like never before taking its toll in the form of business closures, sweeping unemployment, increasing death toll, isolation and overall slowing down of mankind. But the effects of the pandemic in terms of strict lockdown in full force across many countries around the globe, boosted media consumption.  The OTT platform saw an immense boom in business. COVID enabled OTT video to be a major source of entertainment for viewers. In India Arre, Disney + Hotstar, Eros Now, BigFlix, Hooq, Netflix, Hungama Play and some thirty more platforms has mushroomed in majority households. One of the recent news in Economic Times says there are currently about 40 providers of OTT service, which distribute streaming media over the Internet.  

The OTT has disrupted the entertainment sector. It has made movie-watching convenient, handy and reasonable across all segment of the users. Anybody with a mobile phone and internet connection can catch-up with a movie sitting anywhere in the world. Not all households have PCs and laptops for each member; the pandemic has restricted movements of people making social life impossible. To add, shopping also means buying from one of the many apps that are offering home delivery services; from video conference calls with family, kids learning via online education to streaming online workouts, lots of things have changed. Post-pandemic, some of these habits are likely to stick. Companies that had been grappling with integrating technology have had to act quicker.

When life is turned topsy-turvy, what you expect people to do, the world is busy binge-watch TV shows and movies! A recent study showed that India is the cheapest country for mobile data in the world and that has played a key role in mushrooming OTT platforms.

OTT pricing is quite cheap delivered over the internet and does not require a traditional broadcast or cable video infrastructure to distribute it. For telecom, cable, media and content businesses,   OTT video subscriptions represent a new business model built around ongoing customer relationships.

Some factors that helped OTT platforms are:

Rising incursion of broadband

This played a key driver in accelerating the growth of the OTT video segment worldwide. COVID 19 especially has made governments realize the value of advanced connectivity and its applicability in use cases such as advanced telemedicine, remote working, and this played through augmented and virtual reality. It seems 5G has the potential to power mobile technology through increased mobile adoption and expanded high-speed broadband internet access via fixed wireless access (FWA). Therefore, Governments all over the world are investing in high-speed broadband initiatives to amplify broadband coverage and adoption. These initiatives have been playing a crucial role in OTT video success.

Accessible high-speed Smartphones 

By simply connecting their smart devices with the subscribed OTT services, viewers gain access to content anytime, anywhere, and on their device of choice. This is also aided by the fact that Mobile Network Operators (MNO), particularly in emerging countries in the APAC & MENA regions have accelerated the rollout of mobile broadband making MNO partnerships and designing of affordable packages. Customers have started gaining access to even more content on their mobile devices. Therefore, the mobile channel is quickly emerging as the most preferred video delivery platform as well as the predominant service distribution channel for accelerated growth.

Innovations in media streaming technology 

OTT video was born out of convenience in watching programs at any given time. People did not want to be tied down to specific times to view content. Instead, they wanted to view content at any time, any place, and on any device of their choice. This is the main reason for rise of OTT platform. Technology has played a pivotal role in the propagation of OTT video services. Complimentary features such as streaming services being cloud-based, support to Live-content with Video-on-demand (VOD), a large content repository, zero-buffering, adaptive bitrate streaming taking seconds of time only.

Customized OTT Apps 

Localization of content, a gamut of choices with regards to genre, titles, personalization, and flexibility of viewing on any device at any place and anytime has provided a seamless experience to viewers. From an OTT services provider perspective, such deep consumer insights gleaned from OTT apps helps them tailor their offerings by making data-driven decisions.

Innovative pricing models

 Amazon Prime Video is one of the most affordable OTT platforms in India. The service is priced at Rs 999 per year and at Rs 129 per month. Under these plans the company offers customers access to 4K content, unlimited downloads and access to a huge library of content. Innovative pricing techniques adopted by several OTT players have helped attract and retain customers on their OTT platforms.

Conclusion

OTT seems to be the new alternative to watching movies in theatres and many filmmakers are rethinking their distribution strategies for releasing their movies and reach out to a wider audience in a hassle free manner. During the pandemic due to the health scare OTT gained popularity. Filmmakers seem to be quite happy with the deal they are getting from the video streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Zee5, Disney Hot Star and the like. One membership is all that is needed for the entire family to watch several movies that too in the confines of their homes. There is no need about not getting a ticket to watch the first day first show, you have the option to pause and play, save a lot of money on transport and parking.

The pandemic has changed our concept of time. Most of us by now have lost track of time wondering which day of week it is, which month and what time of the day we are in.  It feels as if time has come to a standstill. The pandemic is the absolutely perfect example of VUCA world – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.

We all are going through the COVID-19 pandemic; we are living through is scary, depressing yet a life-changing experiences. This pandemic is worst then world wars, terrorist’s attacks or the Great Depression. It’s bigger than a lot of previous social shifts, not only because of its tragic outcomes, but also because it is distressing so many of us at once and changing every aspect of life from our professional work, income, health, social life everything.

Because of the risk of viral transmission, many people are dying apart from their loved ones, and many others are mourning lonely without their friends and relatives for sharing their grief. It’s distressing to feel helpless to not go to see your near and dear ones suffering Corona… I experienced the agony when my sisters were admitted in hospital for Corona and I couldn’t reach out to assist them in this crucial time. I am so thankful to God that both my sisters have recovered and have returned back to their home. I could visit them only after two months because of the restriction on traveling from one district to another.   

Pandemic has created only chaos; the media constantly gives out news of number of deaths due to Corona, numbers of new additions of Corona patients and numbers of recovery of Corona. Countless people are anguished for losing their jobs, not being able to manage their basic daily expenses, worried about their children’s education, unable to pay their loan instalments…..in short  plans for the future have gone topsy-turvy. It’s only feeling of uncertainty all the while. Over and above all while we fear for our near and dear ones’ health and comfort.

The point is we all learn to live with adversities. When adversity hits us, we start to ask questions. The tougher it hits us, the deeper our questions become. Sometimes, those questions end up being unexpected gifts that take us on higher levels, where our souls demand us to go. Sometimes we tend to run away from these difficult questions, and sometimes we are left with no choice but to fight.

George A. Bonanno is a professor of clinical psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, U.S.A. He is responsible for introducing the provocative idea of our mind’s agility to tackle loss and trauma. He is known as a pioneering researcher in the field of grief and trauma.

In situations as the present pandemic which is very difficult for people, George Bonanno says that people will get through it, probably the same way that people have gotten through other kinds of losses. They will just need to be a little more creative about it. Based on decades of research, Bonanno calls grief a “natural adaptive reaction” it is a painful but necessary mental recalibration to accommodate a new absence, new loss, new beginning.

Anything this big creates the opportunity for new thinking. If the size of the crisis is associated with the amount of new learning it can generate new opportunities. Our brilliance will be magnified many-fold when we emerge in the new normal. New and expanded points of view are generally a good thing. In fact, the roots of the word “emergency” come from the Latin “emergere” meaning to rise up or out.

Socrates said “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

This phase will also  pass.

The human mind is the most powerful tool that we possess. It can do positive as well as negative wonders. The placebo effect is defined as a phenomenon that influences beneficially in illness, failures, despair etc. It is attributable to the brain–mind responses to stimuli we receive from some people or some objects in our life. The placebo effect is more famous in medical context; it is a substance with no known medical effects, such as sterile water, saline solution, or a sugar pill, alternative therapies such as reiki, pranik healing. People follow some Gurus some follow soothsayers because they get Placebo Effect.

The fact is that placebo reduces negative emotions which in turn decrease pain, anxiety and despair. I am talking here about placebo leadership. Leadership is not an easy task; it doesn’t happen just by itself. Placebo leaders are empathetic. Empathetic leaders understand the needs of others; they are aware of people’s feelings.

Nelson Mandela was the first democratically elected President of South Africa. He was the face and leader of the Anti-Apartheid movement, relentlessly fighting against racial discrimination all through his life. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the state following the Rivonia Trial. His tremendous focus, determination, and will dismantled the apartheid, Mandela come out as a champion and lead his country into having an equal and free future. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. I call Nelson Mandela a placebo leader.

Placebo leaders make encouraging impact on their people. They maintain communication and show up during periods of uncertainty.  Even when there is not much to say, keeping a regular pulse of communication, especially face to face, provides reassurance and consistency. Visibility of leaders in crucial times is comforting. During the Corona virus pandemic it is observed that women-led countries have tackled the pandemic much better. Seven countries in the world where women are heading the nations, have tackled Covid 19 tactfully.  Their empathetic leadership has cautiously tackled the situation. Those seven countries have lowest numbers of casualties.

Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand could practically wiped out Covid 19 by end of May 2020. She gives the credit to the spirit and discipline followed by her citizens.  Germany, led by Angela Merkel, has lowest death rates than other Euro Nations. Sanna Martin, the young Prime Minister all of 34, of Finland governs with a coalition of four female-led parties, has had fewer than 10 percent as many deaths as compared to Sweden. And, Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan, has presided over one of the most successful efforts in the world at containing the virus, using testing, contact tracing and isolation measures to control infections without a full national lockdown.

Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland has successfully brought down the death rate by Covid-19 in Iceland. In Norway, Prime Minister Erna Solberg is using technology to the fullest use to track isolated patients. The patients don’t feel lonely.  The current Prime Minister of Denmark is Mette Frederiksen closed her country’s borders on 13 March. A few days later she closed kindergartens, schools and universities and banned gatherings of more than 10 people. Her decisiveness appears to have spared Denmark the worst of the pandemic: its death toll stands at less than 250, and the number of patients being treated in hospital for Covid-19 is falling drastically. Placebo modulates emotions via verbal information.

The worst effects are seen in such times when rumour mills spread alarming information. But when people get the chance to ask questions themselves to find out what points their leaders are making, when they are asked how they are feeling and when they get regular information and hard facts from the Government agencies they feel comfortable. Possibly the biggest impact of sustained communication is on trust which is a crucial commodity during change. 

I call Ratan Tata also a placebo leader. The 82-year-old leader of Tata Trust donated a massive sum of Rs.500 crores for fighting Covid-19 crisis calling it as ‘one of the toughest challenges that the human race will face’. Ratan Tata is well known for his philanthropy, shared the note from his charitable organisation. He captioned the post, “Tata Trusts and Tata group companies have in the past raised to the needs of the nation. At this moment, the need of the hour is greater than any other time.” On 26 November 2008, in a series of attacks in Mumbai, when Taj Mahal Palace hotel was attacked, destroying the interiors, killing of guests, including the destruction of the hotel’s roof in the shootout, it’s worth a mention here that Mr.Ratan Tata went all out to care for each and every employee of the hotel to help them recoup from the shock. All categories of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated during the time the hotel was closed. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money orders. Employees were treated like family members.

I get tired of hearing about soft skills as most important skills required for effective leadership. Please note that U.S Army Field Manual on Leadership Development is one of the best sources on leadership, insists repeatedly that empathy is essential for competent leadership. Without empathy, one cannot build or nurture followers.  Devoid of compassion one cannot inspire followers or elicit loyalty. Empathy is most essential in negotiations of any kind.

Biologically women have more resistance power, they are more flexible and they evaluate problems in a different way.  They solve problems by uncovering every reason or hint at what would and would not solve the problem. They tend to look at a problem from every angle while speculating what might work. In the year 2001, Harvard researchers found that certain parts of the brain were differently sized in males and females. The study found that parts of the frontal lobe, responsible for problem-solving and decision-making, and the limbic cortex responsible for regulating emotions, were larger in women. That’s why may be women tend to make everything personal and leading with her emotions in a quest to see how she would feel about each possible solution.

Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand could practically eradicate Covid 19 by end of March 2020. She gives the credit to the spirit and efforts of her citizens.  Germany, led by Angela Merkel, has lowest death rates than other Euro Nations. Sanna Martin, the young Prime Minister all of 34, of Finland governs with a coalition of four female-led parties, has had fewer than 10 percent as many deaths as compared to Sweden. And, Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan, has presided over one of the most successful efforts in the world at containing the virus, using testing, contact tracing and isolation measures to control infections without a full national lockdown. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland has successfully brought down the death rate by Covid-19 in Iceland. In Norway, Prime Minister Erna Solberg is using technology to the fullest use to track isolated patients. The patients don’t feel lonely.  The current Prime Minister of Denmark is Mette Frederiksen closed her country’s borders on 13 March. A few days later she closed kindergartens, schools and universities and banned gatherings of more than 10 people. This decisiveness appears to have spared Denmark the worst of the pandemic: its death toll stands at less than 250, and the number of patients being treated in hospital for Covid-19 is falling drastically.

Women are right-brain oriented and therefore faster at grasping computational and verbal data and they are also intuitive. They are more flexible and find it easier to multitask. Men are usually left-brain oriented.  That often makes them better at solving abstract equations and problems.

There are stupid stereotypes that often create difficulties for women in politics. People feel that leaders should be aggressive dominating. But if women demonstrate those traits, then they are seen as unfeminine and abnormal. This eccentricity does not allow women to stay in politics.

But, Jacinda Ardern’s approach to fighting the pandemic was altogether different than the traditional archetype. But on this new kind of crisis, her cautious leadership has proved successful. She took decision of shutting down the economy quite early which was a risk-averse strategy. Nobody then knew what was going to happen, but, she took a chance as she gave priority to life first. Her cautious leadership has proved successful.

After New Zealand began its lockdown March 25, Ardern addressed the nation via a casual Facebook Live session she conducted on her phone session after putting her toddler to bed. She played her mother’s role first. Dressed in a cosy-looking sweatshirt, she empathized with citizens’ anxieties and offered apologies to anyone who was troubled or alarmed by the emergency alert that announced the lockdown order; she approached the topic with empathy.

So many researchers have concluded that women tend to have more of a desire to build than a desire to win. Women are more willing to explore negotiate and to solicit other people’s opinions.  By contrast, men often think if they ask other people for advice, they’ll be perceived as unsure or as a leader who doesn’t have answers; they therefore tend to avoid advice coming from anybody. They empower others; they encourage openness and are empathetic to their co-workers.

Male leaders can beat gendered expectations, of being dashing and aggressive, and many have. But these women did what it takes to protect their nation very politely, with compassion because at heart their priority was welfare of their nations.   It takes lot of caution may be women can be ridiculed for being so, and it may be politically costly for women to do so because they do not have to violate perceived gender norms to adopt cautious, defensive policies.

Women Heads of states can underplay their roles when demanded. Women as head of states are becoming increasingly precious. As the world has become more and more vulnerable to climate change, natural disasters, wars, water shortage, gender bias, education, and malnutrition and economically weaker sections increasing we can only wish that more and more women come forward and take charge of more and more nations in world as empathetic leadership is need of the hour.