COVID-19: Switch shoes for a second
Life is more important than money. A widely used quote, now coming to life, applied to our daily routine. No one is invincible. Also a widely used quote, now coming to life, applied to our daily routine. Humans are by default social-beings. A famous assumption, which is proven today.
“Greed is good”, Gordon Geckos. Yes, greed for health and life is good. Greed for no losses or for avoiding lower profits for 2020 is bad. Employers, investors, shareholders — you know, people who also have families eventually — should sleep peacefully knowing that they will not die if losses occur in 2020. Accumulated wealth and reserves over the last years, especially over the bullish era, will put food on the table for their children, will buy them the new PlayStation and their favorite ice-cream. At the same time, the employees who work hard for these individuals, and help them build their wealth, also have children, grandfathers, mothers, individual needs. They breathe the same air, and have value. Maintaining (not to mention anything else), just maintaining their salaries, their jobs and their hope, will absolutely and undoubtedly lead to a much more productive, profitable and wealthy 2021!
In parallel, employees need to understand that they might not have their monthly “dreams” come true, they might need to live with slightly reduced salaries for a couple of months (but the same time with reduced expenses as well), they must work even harder, even smarter, be more efficient, to help their employers survive, and why not even thrive through this crisis if they manage to find the opportunities arising from it — different for each industry. It is a stressful, hair-losing experience to manage people, to manage a company, to be responsible to find the funds on a monthly basis to put food on the table and pay the Netflix subscription for your employees. Employees need to understand this.
The two paragraphs above represent a very lucky part (and thankfully the biggest part) of our population. This paragraph though represents those who are incapable of having even decent food during this period, or no time to sleep, rest or see their families. Doctors, nurses, policemen, ministers, social workers, supermarkets’ employees, pharmacists..need I go on?
Chances are that if you are reading this, you are a professional, working from the comfort of your living room, and complaining about how you miss your friends or posting on social media, or even spending “too much” time with your children. This is fine, “my problem, is the biggest problem of the world”. Remember to appreciate those who work for us so that we have health, groceries, internet connection. Remember to be a human, to understand each other and to be the best at your profession. This is how you will help to turn this around.
Remember to put yourself in your employer’s shoes, and remember to put yourself in your employees’ shoes. Be quick, make decisions and put your imagination to work; create new business lines, new ideas, new processes, and force each other to keep the economy flowing.
Stay safe, stay sharp.
