For nearly three years, the world’s leading business models and strategies have been dismantled; courtesy, changes brought about by COVID-19. What worked yesterday no longer works today and leaders are constantly learning and testing new strategies. So far, here are a few lessons from the pandemic to share for the benefit of SME leaders

Staff welfare and mental wellbeing

Pre-pandemic, many SMEs leaders offered welfare such as transport, allowances and medical care to their employees. Little regard was given to the mental wellbeing of staff. Covid has exposed this as a weakness as uncertainty about staff health and job security has resulted in depression and low productivity. Forward-looking leaders have now re-engineered a holistic culture where employee’s well-being comes first. This holistic approach means a leader now has to prioritise physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

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Post pandemic, most leaders have now come to the realization that workplaces and organisations are social entities in which workers interact. As such, the level and quality of wellbeing of the workers can affect workplace performance not only regarding the workers’ own output, but also be the potential cause of social disequilibrium if not handled effectively.

Investing in your employees’ development

With the ever-changing nature of work, it is hard to predict with accuracy what jobs will look like in the near future. But COVID-19 has taught us that leaders should speed up the process of helping staff to be forward-looking and multitasking teams. Staff should be agile and mouldable to changing work environments and clients’ insatiable demands. Developing leadership models for remote working teams is also essential if leaders must work successfully. In today’s world, the organization with underfed staff in terms of skills and reskilling has a lot to lose eventually. Investment in staff rethinking and attitudes is a now non-negotiable KPI for any SME leader who intends to lead a successful and sustainable business.

This investment can be through coaching and mentoring activities, job rotations or benchmarking from industry players.

Building your technology infrastructure

Businesses which had not developed technological infrastructure before the pandemic have had their survival extremely hampered during these turbulent times.

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Infrastructure such as e-delivery, cybersecurity, payment platforms among others have proven to be lifeblood for SMEs. Now leaders who thought these technologies are a luxury for affluent brands/corporations have paid a heavy price of obscurity. Some promising SMEs have had to close down because leadership did not consider this investment crucial. In the face of Covid -19 restrictions, they had no solutions.

There is no doubt that more disruption of the status quo lies ahead; it’s the new norm. And yes, change sometimes can be very fast just as we have experienced during the pandemic period.

To be future-ready, lead your team into trying out new things; to experiment.

That is the only way you can provide quality leadership in times of uncertainty.

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