CIANJ Commerce Magazine September 2020 Live | Page 30

■ Annual Best Practices Guide
Continued From Page 26
COMMUNITY
CONSTRUCTION
YWCA Northern NJ
By Helen Archontou,
CEO
Once COVID‐19 hit, we could
no longer rely on our traditional
methods to provide
support and had to quickly
pivot. Some programs had to be halted, but a
core of our work remained intact and we were
able to keep our staff and those we serve safe,
healthy and informed. Solutions have included
remote work tools and processes to continue
teamwork; secure platforms for sexual
violence survivors to get remote counseling,
art therapy and job readiness workshops; and
YWTV launched to showcase topics such as
skills for women and women-owned businesses,
support for parents, wellness activities and
voter education. In response to the wave of
civil rights violations, we have doubled-down
on our racial justice work including anti-racism
programming to give black women new
channels for sharing their voices, and a town
hall with community leaders on dismantling
systemic racism.
Concrete Washout
Systems
By Bill McGuire,
Marketing Consultant
Concrete Washout Systems
has been fortunate in that
the work we do is essential, so
we’ve been busy. We recognize the responsibility
we have to our employees, business partners
and clients. We provide all our employees
with face shields, masks, gloves, sanitizing
wipes, paper towels and mandate their use.
Our crews take extra precautions in cleaning
their equipment before a shift and after each
use, and also do a job site audit to determine
where employees are touching shared surfaces
and make sure those surfaces are disinfected
regularly throughout the day. The type of
work we do makes it difficult to wear a mask
all day, so we use different mask options to
best suit worker needs. Our workers may not
enjoy wearing gloves and masks in the summer
heat, but we can’t allow our crews to become
complacent and will continue to follow
proper guidelines to protect them and others.
Structure Tone
By John White, Jr.,
Regional Chief
Operating Officer
When construction was on
hold, we were able to move
parts of our projects forward
such as estimating and purchasing by working
with the project team remotely. And now,
we can use technology to virtually walk clients
through a site to help with decision-making.
Our field teams were already using tools like
these before the pandemic. Educating ourselves
and planning ahead were crucial. For
roughly a three-week period, New Jersey construction
was limited to “essential” projects
only, which affected roughly 50 percent of
our current volume. During that time, we focused
on enhancing COVID-related site safety
procedures, understanding possible supply
chain impacts and developing risk mitigation
strategies. We also hosted seminars and
identified resources for our subcontractors
and suppliers. As a result, we were ready to hit
the ground running when our market fully
reopened, while staying on top of the latest
safety guidance.
CONSULTING
Abel HR, Inc.
By James W. Bell, Sr.,
President
We did become much more
proactive in terms of employee
health and wellness, and we
increased the intensity of business
services to our clients, especially in regard
to grants, loans and other incentives to help
businesses cope with the emergency. Based
on the advice that we gave to our clients, our
reaction seemed to be exactly what was needed.
Other questions that arose regarding HR,
paid time off, what would be paid to employees,
when and under what exact circumstances,
was again, what we do, but focused on our
government’s response to COVID‐19 and how
it impacted those co-employed by us. Abel developed
the capabilities to service our co-employees
and our clients no matter what, but
our focus was mainly on hurricanes, snowstorms
and other less-than-national calamities.
It was relatively easy for us to expand our
work from home capabilities
Alan Zakin Associates
Community and
Government Relations
By Alan J. Zakin, Esq.,
Principal
As a community and government
relations marketing
consultancy, once it was clear that COVID‐19
would dramatically affect home and work life,
we proactively reached out to clients and associates
to listen to their concerns and then
tried to help resolve and mitigate their issues.
We focused on three elements: broadcast the
most-current information on what activity
government allowed and prohibited; research
and inform regarding what programs and resources
the government could provide; and
provide crucial assistance in communicating
between companies, governments, employees
and the public as to the required process for
protocols, documentation and outreach. The
key was to provide not just education, but
peace of mind. Government can certify that
you can shop or work in public, but the employee
or customer must be truly confident
of their and their family’s safety in order for
commerce to truly return and thrive.
Corporate Ladders
By Bill Taylor,
President
As business coaches and trainers,
much of our business involves
face-to-face meetings
with professionals. When the
pandemic arrived, we expected just a short
pause before activity would return to normal.
As time dragged on, we needed to adapt the
way we delivered our services. We were all familiar
with attending online webinars but had
not fully utilized these options for client delivery.
To overcome the challenges of face-to-face
training, we began providing our coaching
and training to clients via Zoom, Skype and
other apps. While it is still a work in process,
everyone seems to be more comfortable with
this process, and it’s working for our clients
and working for us.
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