Hey everyone, interested to gather some insight! What are the new / emerging and ongoing challenges of continuing to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?

We find that companies who have kept staff informed and heard during isolation, and who have shown genuine concern for staff wellbeing, have enhanced engagement and culture during very difficult times. This will count positively in a number of ways, including a willingness to accept changed workplace conditions, and retention of key staff. Those companies who may not have provided adequate support or empathy may be exposed to higher than normal turnover once the job market rebounds and possible reputational hits from vocal, disgruntled employees. 

COVID-19 has become a live environment for testing organisations' response and recovery capabilities. This means learnings and successes from this (captured through a review process) can help improve organisational BC and CM processes and procedures. However, perhaps some emerging challenges amidst this long-winded incident include: how about the other areas of BC which may not have been triggered by the impact of the pandemic? Are organisations assessing the risk of the deferral of testing in these areas? Are organisations adequately prepared for compounding and concurrent incidents / events whilst in the 'new normal'?  

The most significant ongoing challenge of COVID-19 is that it is.... ongoing.  Fatigue is a genuine concern for businesses, especially as we now deal with a second surge in VIC - we all just want this to be over. There is a requirement to continue to assess impacts on businesses and not become complacent - the management requirements may not be the same as we move ahead. Because a strategy worked in March/April does not necessarily mean it will work in July/August.

There may also be a need to rotate managers out of positions of COVID-19 response management to give them a break and mentally recharge for the challenges ahead.  This obviously requires detailed notes and handovers to ensure continuity of response.