During the online conference “Back to Work,” students in the Master’s in Human Resources Management program—who lead the human resources departments of their teams—discussed the challenges and lessons they encountered in the retail sector following the COVID-19 health emergency.
The event, organized by the Graduate School of Business at Universidad ORT Uruguay, took place on Thursday, June 25, 2020.
The speakers were Leticia Freiría—who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and serves as head of Human Resources at Grupo Mosca Uruguay—; Agustina Scandogliero—who holds a bachelor’s degree in social communication and serves as head of Human Resources at Punta Carretas Shopping—; and Adriana Pera—who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and serves as Human Resources manager at Cuatroases.
Build capabilities
On Friday, March 13, 2020, upon confirmation of the first cases of coronavirus in the country, Grupo Mosca Uruguay established the key guidelines for managing the health crisis.
The first step was to establish a crisis committee, with the aim of ensuring the team's safety, compliance with health guidelines, and the protection of the company's assets.
Second, they implemented remote work. On March 18, they closed all retail locations and placed more than 200 people on unemployment insurance due to the suspension of operations, but kept store managers on the job. “We felt it was essential to support these leaders. We needed them close by, committed, and informed,” explained Leticia Freiría.
Today, Mosca has all of its retail locations open, though under varying conditions. “We’ve gained new insights and capabilities, just like our customers. For example, as a result of this situation, some customers have paid a bill online for the first time.”
“We also hold retrospective meetings at the end of each week to decide what to do differently and what to keep doing the same,” he added.
Challenges and Lessons Learned
Punta Carretas Shopping faced a number of challenges: managing remote work, reordering priorities, ensuring business continuity, using video conferencing platforms, and, finally, planning for the reopening.
“Today we can say that the situation was handled quite well, but at first all we knew was that this crisis was wreaking havoc in Europe and that people were very afraid to go to work,” said Agustina Scandogliero.
The challenges of returning to work included:
- Consider health and safety criteria and establish protocols.
- Dealing with new challenges, which involved assessing the costs of returning to work, developing a transition plan, and understanding the needs of employees.
- Effective communication with employees to foster a culture of health-conscious behavior.
One of the lessons Scandogliero learned was that they could “work differently.” At this point, “capacity and protocol are two words that are now part of the organization’s culture.”
He also emphasized the need to rethink the company's strategy and objectives, as well as to reinvent itself for a new normal and to care for people by supporting them and understanding their realities.
“As in any crisis, leaders always emerge: people who, without being formally appointed as leaders, took it upon themselves to carry out the tasks entrusted to them. Today, we are taking them into account for the future,” he said.
“None of us will ever be the same as we were before, because we’ve had to develop new skills and juggle multiple roles at once.”
Communication, planning, integration
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Adriana Pera explained that Cuatroases faced several challenges:
- Increase the frequency and channels of communication, and provide support to employees in the face of uncertainty.
- Promote knowledge sharing and collaboration, share information to inform decision-making, and tap into creativity to explore alternatives in the face of a prolonged shutdown.
- Plan and anticipate in an uncertain environment, minimize the negative impact of the measures, and make use of the available tools.
“During the branch closure phase, we achieved a level of integration within the organization that didn’t exist before,” Pera said.
Then came the reopening phase. “We were ready to return whenever we were told to, both in terms of taking care of people and in terms of information and shared responsibility. Returning meant that everyone had to understand the consequences of failing to take the necessary precautions.”
Pera concluded that the crisis brought Cuatroases’ strengths and weaknesses into sharper focus. At the same time, it provided an opportunity to rethink the business and the organization through new communication channels, incentives for innovation, and the implementation of technology and remote management.