MDIS Blog

Main Menu

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Topics
        • Business & Management
        • Career Management
        • College
        • Engineering
        • Event
        • Fashion & Design
        • Health & Nursing
        • Information Technology
        • Languages
        • Life Sciences
        • Lifestyle
        • MDC
        • Media & Communications
        • Psychology
        • Safety Management
        • Tourism & Hospitality
        • Uncategorized
  • Campus
  • Student Life
  • Preview Sessions
  • + Become A Contributor

logo

Header Banner

MDIS Blog

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Topics
        • Business & Management
        • Career Management
        • College
        • Engineering
        • Event
        • Fashion & Design
        • Health & Nursing
        • Information Technology
        • Languages
        • Life Sciences
        • Lifestyle
        • MDC
        • Media & Communications
        • Psychology
        • Safety Management
        • Tourism & Hospitality
        • Uncategorized
  • Campus
  • Student Life
  • Preview Sessions
Career ManagementFeatured Post
Home›Career Management›The New Normal: 5 Business Norms in the Post-COVID Era

The New Normal: 5 Business Norms in the Post-COVID Era

By Dr John Fong
1st June 2020
2985
0

As countries cautiously re-open their economies having gone through the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted everyone’s daily lives, businesses now find themselves operating in a completely different environment.  Many businesses have had to adapt over the course of the past few months to survive while others with well-thought business models thrived during the pandemic and emerged stronger. Either way, doing business in the post-COVID era will be different. Here are 5 business norms that will be prevalent and become “The New Normal”:

1) Working Hours

The fixed working hours of 9am to 6pm is dead. The pandemic has demonstrated that we are able to work from home and work wherever; whenever. In fact, some workers have indicated that their productivity increased and there was greater work-life harmony during the pandemic than before. “The New Normal” will consist of flexible working hours, staggered shifts and/or split team rotations. The increased flexibility in working hours will serve to provide greater agility that would be beneficial for businesses.   

2) Safe Distancing in the Workplace

Google and Facebook have indicated that employees should plan to work from home till the end of 2020, while Twitter has decided that a part of its workforce will work from home “forever”. With all these alternate working arrangements, one would wonder if the workplace is still necessary. And if it still is, the workplace will certainly look different from before. 

Safe distancing measures will have to be put in place. “The New Normal” will see workplaces having a capacity limit, personal space observed strictly, frequent health screenings and sanitisation, physical staff gatherings being reduced and team building activities becoming more creative – perhaps involving gamification and other online activities. The old workplace would require a serious re-think to adhere to new workplace, health and safety regulations.

3) Investment in Technology

For most businesses, the investment in Technology is often being represented as a “Liability” on the balance sheet. There would be yearly maintenance fees and constant upgrades to both hardware and software.  One could argue that the investment in Technology is an “Asset” as evidenced by the businesses that have thrived during the pandemic. Businesses that have a strong online presence coupled with a robust distribution channel have continued operating profitably during the pandemic. 

“The New Normal” will see greater investments in Technology for businesses and perhaps the further innovation of new products / services that can only be delivered online. At the minimum, businesses should invest in online meeting tools such as ZOOM, Google Hangouts, WebEx etc.  Furthermore, there is already Holographic Technology available and these technological advancements will certainly serve to enhance business connectivity.

4) Your Online Profile

digital presence

When was the last time you Googled your own name? Google has become our online personal reputation index and this will only increase in importance moving forward. Our online presence will become more important that our physical presence. 

Apart from social media like IG, TW, FB and WC (if you don’t know the abbreviations, it probably means you don’t have a social media presence), there are other professional networks like LI (LinkedIn) which is critical for businesses to be on. To take it a step further, it is not acceptable to just have a presence. The key word here is “Engagement”. “The New Normal” will comprise of businesses engaging with their audiences and stakeholders online. And a word about LI, it is not just your “Connections” but your “Followers” and the content that you share that really matters.

5) Sustainability of our Planet

The triple bottom line was a term coined in the 1990s that encouraged businesses to consider the 3Ps: “Profit”, “People” and “Planet”. It recommended that companies commit to focus on social and environmental concerns just as they do on profits. While it appears that “Profit” and “People” issues have been actioned quite readily by businesses, the broader element of “Planet” has been somewhat neglected. 

During the pandemic, countries were in lockdown and people had to stay at home. Within a few months, we began to witness how quickly the Earth started to heal itself. Dramatic viral pictures of cities once enveloped in smog and now having blue skies have only served to remind us that we are the main cause of the pollution problems. 

Lest we forget, “The New Normal” will see us being more conscious of the environment that we live in and thinking twice about our carbon footprint. We would henceforth be (hopefully) equipped with a moral compass to make environmentally friendly business decisions.

This article is contributed by Dr John Fong.

Previous Article

An International Student’s Transformation at MDIS, Singapore

Next Article

The Digital Classroom

Dr John Fong

Dr John Fong

Being the CEO of MDIS, Dr Fong's experience is diverse having lived and worked in Asia, Australia, Middle East & USA where he has specialised in a variety of fields such as Education, Business Development, Corporate Communications, Hospitality and Tourism, International Relations and Law Enforcement. He holds a PhD from Macquarie University in Australia and was acknowledged by URS International and AsiaOne Magazine as one of Asia’s best CEO.

Related articles More from author

  • Autonomous Vehicle
    Featured PostInformation Technology

    Are Autonomous Vehicles the Unseen Future?

    4th December 2020
    By Fazrul Nizam
  • travel asia
    Featured Full Width SliderFeatured PostTourism & Hospitality

    Travel: An Adventurous Experience

    7th October 2017
    By Jireh Tay
  • Fresh Graduates
    Career ManagementFeatured Full Width SliderFeatured Post

    Fresh Graduates, Get Yourselves Ready to Face These Challenges in the Workplace!

    5th April 2018
    By Talentvis
  • Valentine Makeup
    Featured PostMedia & Communications

    Get The Look – Velvet Valentine’s Makeup

    16th March 2018
    By MDIS
  • studying tips
    CollegeFeatured Post

    Study Schedules: Strategies to Stay on Track

    17th May 2018
    By Gayathrii Nathan
  • Career ManagementFeatured Post

    6 Tips on finding a job through a Virtual Career Fair

    27th August 2021
    By MDIS

You may also like

  • MDIS Tourism and Hospitality lecturer receiving a certificate of presentation at the ApacChrie conference.
    Tourism & Hospitality

    Unfolding Opportunities in Tourism and Hospitality

  • Fashion & Design

    Get The Look for the Year of the Dog

  • Event

    Basketball Alumni Reunion

Categories

  • Business & Management (36)
  • Campus (9)
  • Career Management (39)
  • College (17)
  • Engineering (13)
  • Event (35)
  • Fashion & Design (37)
  • Featured BK Row (64)
  • Featured BK Video (10)
  • Featured Full Width Slider (57)
  • Featured Post (88)
  • Health & Nursing (7)
  • Information Technology (33)
  • Languages (16)
  • Life Sciences (25)
  • Lifestyle (11)
  • MDC (14)
  • Media & Communications (29)
  • Pre-degree / Preparatory Courses (1)
  • Psychology (10)
  • Safety Management (9)
  • Student Life (22)
  • Think by MDIS (1)
  • Tourism & Hospitality (29)
  • Uncategorized (11)

Follow us on Instagram

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No connected account.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to connect an account.

TAGS

  • MDIS
  • career planning
  • Fashion Design
  • cookery
  • Business Administration
  • cybersecurity
  • Lifestyle
  • MBA
  • engineering
  • MDIS School of Fashion and Design
  • Tourism and Hospitality
  • career management
  • MDIS Business School
  • Career Guides
  • fashion
  • Artificial intelligence
  • technology
  • Career Assistance Unit
  • Travel Guides
  • Digitalisation
  • MDIS School of Tourism and Hospitality
  • fashion industry
  • MDIS College
  • MDIS Events
  • MDIS Students
  • lecturer's life
  • biomedical sciences
  • MDIS Graduation Ceremony
  • life sciences
  • MDIS Business Club
THINK SUCCESS. THINK MDIS.
Copyright© 2022. MDIS Blog. All Rights Reserved.
     
Where lifelong learning begins