Conrad Onyango       

The global confusion and panic occasioned by the novel coronavirus outbreak  is palpable.

Since the initial cases were reported, originally in China, the virus—medically known as Covid-19—has morphed into a global health crisis.

With more than 15,000 people now infected and close to 5,000 deaths reported across 114 countries, the pandemic has started ravaging economies.

Sadly, bigger economies are resorting to lockdowns by banning, cancellation and suspension of major public events and gatherings to limit movement of people as precautionary measures to tame the spread of the virus.

This has sparked huge stock market tumble and triggered  fears that it could push the world into a financial crisis in the short term. 

Countries are going into lockdown, shutting borders and limiting travel and as it has been aptly noted, coronavirus will bankrupt more people than it kills across the world.

Kenya, a regional economic hub has also been began its lockdown after registering three. This places the local economy at risk.

In controlled movement, businesses are the hardest hit because most still believe in office-operation model.

This global health crisis now shines a spotlight on the level of their preparedness especially on risk mitigation and dynamism in work place culture.

All eyes are now on corporate and organisation leaders in leading the way to wading through this pandemic while maintain optimal output in work places.

The biggest question is whether local businesses are flexible enough to maintain productivity amidst the pandemic.

Most companies are still lax on adoption of flexible working models and are tied to the eight-to-five work schedule that requires employees to stay in offices for eight hours daily.

While most employees would prefer a shift to flexible working systems, many business owners are not yet comfortable with this noble idea that can transform businesses from a “command and control” culture to an “empower and enhance” value system.

When you consult widely, you will conclude that the issue of trust is the main barrier to adoption of this new culture.

You will hear employers saying productivity will be affected negatively when you put employees under a flexible culture or better still, allow them work from home.

Lack of job-tracking technologies also emerge in the conversation; the main reasons being it is difficult to manage employees work output remotely.

This again shows how most businesses are yet to adopt technologies to cope with changing dynamics in the job market.

But hell has broken loose. The coronavirus is here with us and we must deal with it the best way possible to minimise impacts as currently being experienced in Asia, Europe and United States.

With government effecting movement restriction as mitigation measures, working from home will be inevitable for many businesses and leaders will be forced to try out this often overlooked transformative flexi-culture.

We have seen multinational companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter moving to enforce remote working policies for employees around the globe probably to tame total stall in operations and manage the risks that come with the virus. It has become a new normal.

Will this pandemic offer different perspective on flexible work models and take local business owners back to the drawing board for a work culture review?

Are business owners ready to invest in relevant tools that promote seamless connectivity outside the office space? 

Already there is evidence that has proven creation of flexible workspaces and adoption of appropriate technologies will help many businesses reap benefits risk free.

A 2019 International Workspace Group global workspace survey of more than 15,000 business people across 80 nations on flexible working showed that 85 per cent of business that shifted to flexible models recorded higher productivity. 

Business leaders must now re-think their perception on flexible working culture to strategically contribute in effective mitigation against Covid-19 and other emerging risks to work output. —The writer is a data journalist