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March 2020

By Eric Johnson As the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the economy grows more and more severe, an increasing number of industries have become well aware of the sharp impact the virus will have on their operations and end customers. In particular, the construction industry is poised to experience a downturn that we believe will occur immediately and be recognized in earnings between Q2 - Q4. Of course, this all depends on the severity of the virus. Any mutations or reemergence at successive points in the future will create additional uncertainty. Construction industry drivers are largely related to the growth of

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By Martin Royal I wrote about what sets apart effective change leaders in a previous blog post, namely their ability to frame the change effort and build the capacity of the team to implement and sustain the change. For the most part, this assumes that leaders are engaged in a planned, thoughtful and deliberate change effort. Sometimes, the change effort is not so deliberate and comes knocking at our door unexpectedly. COVID-19 has driven many leaders into a crisis mode and into an involuntary change effort, that many are unprepared for. Whether it is a planned or unplanned crisis, the fundamentals to

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By Kelly Cave With cities, stores, public spaces, and offices around the world shutting down amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are all finding ourselves more isolated than usual. A major negative side effect of the CDC’s recommended practice of social distancing includes feelings of isolation and a lack of connection to our family, friends, and coworkers. Isolation is the exact opposite of what evolution has hard-wired us to do because humans are naturally social beings. Years of research has shown time and time again that social isolation has detrimental effects on our mental health and overall well being. In times of

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By Josh Williams, Ph.D. Leaders face a new world of challenges influencing employees during COVID-19. Everyone is under tremendous pressure with the uncertainty of tomorrow. Many people have loved ones they may not be able to see or speak with directly because of social distancing. Others know friends and family that have lost jobs as the economy reels. 401K’s are tanking. Critical home supplies are increasingly scarce. How do we manage these stressors at home and still lead others effectively at work? It’s more important now than ever to effectively and compassionately manage work and workload along with people’s emotions and well-being. An

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By Vicki Scott As the world comes to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic, our reality as consumers has shifted to one of empty store shelves, long wait times, changes in store hours and even store closures. However inconvenient this may be, it is important to note that retail workers are among the highest risk frontline workers next to healthcare providers and essential service providers. For some consumer-based businesses, they may even fall under the essential service guidelines announced by government; this may include grocery stores, drug stores, pharmacies, financial institutions and postal outlets. As such; workers in these industries do not

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By Eric Michrowski The COVID-19 pandemic is driving a rapid shift to remote work across North America. Most leaders have woken up to the criticality of shifting workers that are non-essential to locations where there is a lesser risk to spread the virus. Those that haven’t yet, might wake up one morning with the entire office quarantined which is a significantly worse outcome. If you haven’t yet moved to remote work, my suggestion is to get in front of it as soon as you can and before it gets mandated in your community. Having worked with virtual teams for the better part

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