Almost the entire global geography has been affected by the Covid 19 pandemic.

While the global population was in combat with the pandemic conditions, it also severely impacted the business sector. This sudden situation made business operations also undergo a sea change.

Companies started revisiting their process maps and workflows to accommodate the new normal. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) have also been under scrutiny as they need to be revised to accommodate this transition.

Business continuity plans are being revised to mitigate the impact on daily operations. Post Covid-19 SOP must ensure smooth business operations and employee safety to go hand in hand.

Organizations can create SOPs for 5 main areas:

Strategic
Health & Safety Protocol
Operational & Workforce Management
Financial
IT Infrastructure
Strategic
Post Covid companies and businesses will need to revisit their business goals / objectives. With uncertainty regarding the economic geography and also regards the pandemic control scenario it is imperative for business owners to rework on their organizational / business goals and objectives.

Business plans should be designed to capture short term, midterm and long term objectives. Many organizations will need resources to work remotely and the business plans need to accommodate this change too.

Below few points need to be captured while designing strategic SOP plans

I. Product Portfolio Review: Companies need to analyze the demand quotient for their products. With the changing demand supply requirements companies need to effectively use limited resources to manufacture essential goods and services.

II. Delegation of Responsibility: In post COVID scenario divided delegation of responsibility will help in smooth functioning of operations. Giving additional authority to team members will ensure faster business deliveries and will help in creation of skilled workforce within teams.

III. Communication: This is the key to maintain and build trust among the workforce and vendors.

Well-timed and regular communication will help management keep their internal and external relationships strong.

IV. Using digital platforms to share post covid strategies: Publishing bulletins on internal (Yammer, Internal Employee Portals, etc.) and external digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

regarding post covid business strategies and their positive impact will help build organization branding.

2. Health & Safety Protocol

Government has issued guidelines for companies to manage their business operations. Organizations must include the health and safety guidelines in SOPs as it will keep the employees aware and educated about the same.

This component of an SOPs is the critical one in the current global scenario. Each organization may adapt protocols as per their post COVID-19 situation and needs.

The SOP is not confined only to employees but also to third party contractors and vendors, business partner and contract associates. Designing and adherence to an SOP which encompasses protocols for internal and external resources is ideal to ensure complete workplace health and safety measures post COVID.

This document needs to educate employees on personal hygiene and infection control. Incident reporting measures must be mentioned for quick action in case of any COVID or non COVID emergency.

Plans need to be developed regarding employee and visitor screening and the mandatory checkpoints need to be added to the SOP plan. Sanitization, social distancing, mask wearing and adherence to respective country health safety guidelines are some of the points which will be helpful in creation of effective SOP.

Quarantine guidelines for any travelling employee or vendor are required to be added as well. Capturing all protocols and guidelines pertaining to workplace health and safety flawlessly in an SOP will mitigate the risk of infection control on company premise to a great extent.

The SOP document must also state what will be the repercussion if any employee fails to adhere to these guidelines. This will ensure discipline and strict policy adherence.

3. Operational & Workforce Management

Post Covid 19 there is a need for effective operational framework and workforce management in the global business sector. Along with strategic and health & safety protocols it is necessary to be cautious regarding employee redundancy.

Post COVID-19 there is a lot of turbulence visible in business graphs. Adequate measures need to be put in action to gear up the business activity.

At the same time organizations need to reinvent new working methodologies to ensure operations run smoothly. SOPs need to mention these methodologies and other measure which are to be adapted by organizations for operational efficiency.

Below few points added to SOPs help in glitch free operational framework.

I. Resource Management:

Analysis of employees migrating to home cities, employees unable to work from home and employees unable to resume work for any reason needs to be conducted. Identification of these gaps help management and HR team to make action plans to manage business backlog.

New hiring requirement need to be assessed as it should not create employee redundancy.

II. Update company policies and processes:

Post COVID 19 scenario demands revoking of earlier employee and company policies and invoking of new plans. Revisiting the key policies and amending the same in accordance to post COVID 19 environment help identify critical process changes.

These changes need to be communicated to employees for smooth functioning of business activities.

III. Work from home guidelines:

One of the key points in post COVID 19 SOP is the WFH guideline. Communication regarding flexible work hours and duration of this setup, query resolution of employees stuck in remote locations due to lockdown and having limited access to this working mode, communication strategy between managers and teams and many other points need to be captured and communicated to employees.

Effective workforce management with a suitable regulatory approach is the need of the hour.

IV. Risk Management:

While implementing new working policies the existing risk management framework needs to be revisited to identify any gaps. Implementing necessary controls in place will help business activities to function in a glitch free environment.

V. Payroll / Leave Policy:

SOP will help in educating employees on the revised salary and leave policies. Other aspects like income tax declaration, leave balance and carry forward keeping in mind the payments done for the month of March, April and May also need to be a part of the SOP design.

Transparency in mentioning of these points helps increase assurance in the workforce and builds trust in employee – employer relationship.

VI. Identification of Skill training:

Post COVID situation may have fluctuations in your resource numbers and have direct impact on the business activity. Timely identification of skill training needs within the workforce will help in reduction of unfavorable business situations and ensure flawless business operations.

An SOP must mention assessment measures for skill training and these must be the KRA of managers.

4. Financials

The business financials have been disrupted across globe due to the pandemic. In these crucial times organizations need to optimally manage their cash flows to stay afloat and keep the machine churning.

Depending on cash flow status organization needs to reassess and reclassify their debt numbers. Post COVID and lockdown various financial policies are introduced by RBI, Ministry of Finance and other relevant government bodies.

Proper process to avail relevant policy benefits must be incorporated in SOP document. A well designed finance SOP ensures reassessment and optimal utilization of available financial resources without causing any fiscal dent.

Financial goal resetting also needs to be added to SOP document. The finance team can use SOP as a reference tool to assess impact of lockdown on the financials of the company and basis this create a revised plan.

5. IT Infrastructure

Post lockdown as organizations majorly move their daily operations to remote working conditions and digital platforms IT teams need to revisit and recreate a new SOP which is relevant in current scenario. Enhancement of IT framework, tools and infrastructure to align with the remote working environment is the key factor to be considered.

The revised SOP must look at efficient IT measures to make remote working hassle free and accessible for all. If company is resuming operations with limited percentage of workforce the IT infrastructure usage must be assessed to reduce any unwanted costs.

These points in SOP guide the IT personnel to take accurate decisions. Data privacy and information security guidelines id mentioned clearly in SOP help make post COVID working conditions more favorable.

IT helpline must be desk numbers must be shared in SOP for resolution of any WFH query.

Organizational success depends on many factors and a well-defined Standard Operating Procedure for COVID-19 is a successful amalgamation of them.

To know more about SOPs related to COVID-19, get in touch with SOP experts at BPX (Business Process Xperts)

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