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Our business community is now going through what will be ultimately seen as a demarcation point in the way work gets done in Canada, and around the world.     Over the past decade, there has been a gradual increase in the number of workers who work remotely. There have been a variety of economic and social reasons for this, all of which have no bearing on our current situation.   As business leaders, as we move through this crisis, we have the opportunity to evaluate the impact and make longer-term, strategic decisions on how work gets done in our companies. Over the past decade the benefits of remote working have been well documented:

Financial Savings for Employees and Employers

Employees are More Creative

20% Productivity Boost

Lower Attrition Rates

As a business you are focused on impacting the current situation, long-term planning and strategy are not today’s thoughts.   The time will come soon when we need to once again focus on the longer vision. Be prepared to evaluate the impact of remote work, we suspect this forced experiment will expose tremendous long-term positive impact.   Support your employees who are working from home right now and put an analytical lens on the outcomes. What can you measure that will help guide your strategic decisions in the future. Hours worked is no longer a key measure of productivity, creative output is a much more valuable commodity and smart businesses will measure employee output from home differently.  

Say goodbye to office hours, they are not coming back anytime soon

We are seeing two different approaches to consumer economic stimulus across North America.    The Unities States is leaning towards a simplistic approach of putting money into the pockets of their citizens quickly and with little determination of need.   The thought is to get liquidity into the consumer markets as soon as possible.

This approach differs from the Canadian stimulus package that mixes a variety of tax credits, adaptations of existing programs and loan relief.     This is designed to stimulate the economy first through optimism, help those who need it most and then through impacting the broader economy. On the surface, it appears that the Canadian government is looking to mitigate the losses to the average Canadian and will worry about the broader economy through other means.    

There is also a large difference in the message.  The Canadian message is tangled in departments, applications and waiting period, the American message is that they are trying to mail a cheque.

The economic stimulus comes in many forms, impacting long-term and short-term market liquidity.  It does appear that the Canadian package has significant benefits through providing liquidity to the broader economy through business, while the US hopes to inject immediate market impact through consumer liquidity and subsequent consumption.

Only time will tell what is the more effective measure and students will be studying this for years in Econ classes.

At the SLCEDC we are here to help, contact us today if you are looking for resources to fit your needs.