Global Survey

on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

on Business and HR Processes

Global Executive Search & Leadership Advisory Member of

Global survey COVID-19: Impact on business

EMA Partners has conducted a survey in 25 countries across the world, addressed to senior decision-makers in a wide range of
industries. The survey was designed to better understand the impact that COVID-19 has had in their organizations. An analysis
of the results reveals:

All companies report that COVID-19 has had a negative impact on their business and they are consequently reviewing their
KPIs for 2020. Employee wellbeing and safety is a priority for all companies, and they are investing significantly in this area.
Reduced mobility and the protection of employees’ physical safety is the primary goal. Executives are in the main satisfied with
the action taken by their organisations, saying that the response has been quick and efficient.

Remote work has been imposed in most countries, but is perceived positively by top management. Employees however report
that it is difficult to balance work responsibilities with family obligations, especially when one has children at home.

The top HR priorities are maintaining efficiency, ensuring the mental health and well-being of employees and improving
employee engagement. There is a global trend to implement a hiring freeze: approximately half of the respondents plan to lay
off employees. However, most organisations are not considering pay cuts, at least in the medium term.

Acquiring talent continues to be a big challenge, largely because executives are not very open to change. They tend to look
for stability and reject new projects, especially those that are not yet fully-developed.

The competence most required in these difficult times is the ability to engage and lead people by helping them to become
self-aware and to grow and develop, while maintaining a confident and positive attitude. Other important competencies
reported are: strategic thinking, managing ambiguity, resilience.

In addition, the survey shows that to be effective, leaders must have an optimistic vision of the future.

02
Survey design

Survey on the impact of the COVID-19 400+ companies CEOs, CHROs,

pandemic on business, HR priorities and participated Senior Executives
processes, leadership competencies.

25 Countries Quantitative Survey Online May 2020

03
Participant's profile

Majority of the companies that participated in the survey represent the following Industry Sectors
sectors of the economy: Industrial & Manufacturing (25%), Consumer Goods,
Luxury & Retail (20%) and Information Technology & Telecom (15%)
Industrial & Manufacturing 25%

Consumer Goods, Luxury & Retail 20%

Information Technology & Telecom 15%

Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences 14%

Professional & Business Services 13%

Hospitality 7%

Automotive 6%

04
Participant's profile

By ownership By geographical presence

64%
38% 32%

36%
30%

Privately Owned Publicly Listed EMEA Americas Asia Pacific

05
Key highlights

55 %
32 %

of companies that participated in the survey experienced decline in of the respondents say that there have been changes in busi-
business, but have not laid off employees so far. Decline in business is ness processes, but without a drop or increase in the overall
largely reported by companies in the Industrial & Manufacturing and business level. These largely represent the Pharmaceuticals and
the Consumer Goods sector. Information Technology & Telecom sectors.

Top 3 current business priorities:

01 Safety of employees (71%)

02 Ensuring financial stability (47%)

03 Optimizing costs (44%)

The next most important focus areas are

maintaining business operations (37%),
customer retention and satisfaction (37%).

06
Business priorities

Safety of employees 71%

Ensuring financial stability 47%

The number one priority for companies is
employee safety and well-being. Optimizing costs 44%

Maintaining business operations 37%

Ensuring financial stability and optimizing
costs are the other top priorities. Customer retention and satisfaction 37%

Creating detailed plans to return the businessback to scale after the crisis 18%

Searching for new business opportunities to generate income 17%

Stakeholder management 8%

Supporting local communities 6%

Redesigning supply chain 5%

Redefining product offering 4%

Ensuring adherence to regulatory policies and restrictions 3%

Collaborating with other industry players to find ways to overcome crisis 3%

07
Key highlights
Top 3 measures taken by companies to support Zero/Negligible business travel 75%

employees during the COVID-19 outbreak are Regular communication to employees on COVID- 19 and safety measures to be observed 72%

Ensuring adherence to all recommended safety measures in the office and on-site 69%
Zero/Negligible business Regular communication to employees on
travel (75%) COVID-19 and safety measures to be Created COVID-19 response group within the company to monitor situation and take actions within 66%
observed (72%) the company

Ensuring adherence to all recommended Some employees work from home (some employees are working on-site/ in the office) 64%
safety measures in the office and on-site (69%)
Organized transportation service for employees that have to work on-site/ in the office 60%

In addition, over a half of the companies created response teams to monitor the situation
Provide regular communication to employees on the impact the COVID-19 crisis has had on our 54%
and take measures within the company (66%), transferred some employees to remote organization and its business results

work (64%), organized transportation of on-site / office employees (60%), ensure regular Conduct trainings for employees on organizing remote work 47%
communication on COVID-19 crisis impact on the company and its business results (54%).
Provided necessary safety items for staff working on-site/ in the office (e.g. facial masks, gloves, 47%
disinfectant)

Implemented flexible working hours for employees 44%

49 % of companies keep business

Implemented social distancing for those who are working in the office or on-site 44%
objectives for 2020 unchanged
Conduct trainings for managers on managing remote/ distributed teams 37%

All employees work from home 36%

24 % of participants significantly decreased

Providing psychological support and well-being programs for employees 35%
their business objectives for 2020

08
Key highlights

71% of the respondents rate their company's actions as

quick and efficient during the crisis.

56% of participants believe that remote work is efficient.

31% of companies continue to hire during the COVID-19

crisis. These are largely from the Agriculture &
Chemicals, Information Technology & Telecom
and Pharmaceuticals sectors.

22% of respondents believe that remote work is less effective.

09
Talent acquisition during the
COVID-19 crisis

40% of companies froze hiring for all positions during the COVID-19 crisis.
31%
31% of companies continue to hire during the COVID-19 crisis.

16% of companies to hire only to replace outgoing employees. of companies continue to hire
during the COVID-19 crisis
11% of companies continue to hire at all levels. Among them are
representatives of Agriculture & Chemicals, Information Technology &
Telecom and Pharmaceuticals sectors.

10% of organizations plan to use this time for strategic hiring.

40%
The level of talent acquisition complexity remained
of companies froze hiring for
unchanged for about 50% of companies compared to the
positions at all levels, among them
are companies from Consumer situation before the COVID-19 crisis. At the same time,
Goods, Luxury & Retail, significantly more participants - 34% - claim that talent
Automotive, Industrial &
acquisition for C- suite roles has become more difficult.
Manufacturing sectors.

10
Key highlights

Top 3 competencies for CEOs

69 %
64 %
60 %

Managing Strategic Engaging and

ambiguity thinking leading people

11
Critical Competencies for Business Leaders

Critically Important Important Less important

Managing Ambiguity 69% 28% 3%

Strategic Thinking 64% 34% 2%

Engaging and Leading People 60% 38% 2%

Confidence and Positive Attitude 39% 55% 6%

Resilience 37% 56% 7%

Managing Own Emotions 33% 62% 5%

Achieving Results 31% 66% 3%

Empathy 24% 68% 8%

Financial Acumen 21% 78% 1%

Courage 21% 66% 13%

Self-Awareness & Development 11% 72% 17%

12
Top HR priorities at the moment are:
Maintaining high performance of employees while they work remotely 48%

Mental health and wellbeing of employees 47%

Maintaining high performance of employees People Engagement 47%

while they work remotely (48%) Retention of Key Employees 24%

Mental health and wellbeing of employees (47%) People development 22%

Internal rotations of employees to utilize resources 17%

People engagement (47%)
Redesigning and digitalizing HR processes 16%

The other top priorities are retention of key employees (24%) Remuneration, total compensation 12%
and people development (22%)
Talent acquisition 9%

Corporate social responsibility 9%

HR Administration & Payroll 8%

Labour relations 7%

Employer Branding 7%

HR systems 6%

Succession planning 5%

Downsizing, laying off people 5%

Identification of key talents 5%

On-boarding 2%

Other 4%

13
 Top challenges that employees

Employee challenges
face at the moment:

Necessity to balance family obligations and workload (72%)

Necessity to balance family obligations and workload 72%

Psychological stress caused by uncertainty 49% Psychological stress caused by uncertainty (49%)

Isolation, lack of communication with colleagues 36%

Isolation and lack of communication with colleagues (36%)
Overload 33%

Technical difficulties in working remotely 21%

Declining level of motivation 18%

Lack of normally- assigned workload/ work tasks 18%

Lack of understanding what is expected from them in current circumstances 11%

Perceiving quarantine as 'vacation', lack of dedication 10%

Unable to organize efficient team-work when team members working 8%

remotely, as individuals

Burnout 5%

14
Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on business
Only 2% of the companies that participated in the survey have opened 42% of companies keep salaries unchanged.
new business lines.
14% provide an extended termination package based
14% of companies are forced to shutdown/ partially shutdown part of on company policies/standards.
the business and lay off some employees.

Experience a decline in business, but not laying off employees 55%

Business is at the same level, with some changes that were made in the way we are 25%
doing business

Shutting down part of the business / some business lines, and laying off some employees 14%

Business is working in the same way, without changes 8%

Opening new business lines / units 2%

15
Government support to mitigate
the impact of COVID-19

Yes
23 %

No
77
%

16
Key learnings from
COVID-19 crisis
The importance of quick response, quick decision making 18%

Working remotely/digitization 15%

Businesses have to respond fast
Crisis requires flexibility and willingness to adapt 11%

Digitization is here to stay Perception of the crisis as an opportunity 9%

The importance of preparing "crisis" and plan "B 9%

Employees can work remotely without significant problem
The importance of communication 8%

The importance of general readiness for change, for instability 6%

The key to success in crisis is readiness/ ability to adjust
business quickly to a changing environment The importance of well-established business processes, 6%
as well as "the rig ht people in the right places"

The importance of maintaining employee motivation, 5%

It stimulates out-of-the-box thinking
involvement, corporate culture

The importance of teamwork 4%

Experience of difficult decisions 2%

17
”New normal'' after
overcoming the crisis Less office space required 24%

Digitization, the transition to online 22%

The survey participants believe that the "new normal" after
overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic may be: an increase in Flexibility and adaptability of all processes 10%
the share of employees working remotely accordingly,
reduction of the need for office space (24%), digitization of Health and hygiene values 8%
business and the transition to online (22%).
New ways of communication (online) 6%
In addition, 10% of participants say that flexibility and
adaptability of companies at all levels will be crucial to Social distancing 6%
remain effective.
There will be no significant changes 5%

More attention to the psychological state of employees/ policy of honesty and transparency 4%
''Remote work will become a common practice"
Business optimization / efficiency improvement 4%
"More online, more digital"
Short-term planning 4%
"High business ‘mobility.’ The ability to re-group,
re-shape in a short time"
Involvement of freelancers 4%

"More safety measures on an ongoing basis"

Focus on financial stability, "margin of safety" 3%

"More empathy, tolerance and flexibility"

18
EMA Partners at a glance

Established in 1988, EMA Partners is Since 1988, EMA Partners has been serving local and
one of the largest Executive Search and international businesses across all industry sectors. The firm has
Leadership Advisory firms in the world been instrumental in helping its clients recruit thousands of
with 44 offices across 34 countries. leaders who have made a deep impact in their organizations and
society at large.

With access to intellectual property through our association with

Decision Dynamics AB, EMA Partners is a provider of leadership
assessments and other advisory services to our clients

Our Expertise
Our expertise lies in assessing, hiring and developing
leaders at the Board, C-Suite and Senior Executive level across
all industries.

Our clients include global corporations, Local companies and not

for profit organisations.

19
25
Authors

Uliana Morokhovska Chris Hardy

Managing Partner Managing Director
EMA Partners Ukraine EMA Partners South Africa

20
 Since 1988, EMA Partners has been serving local and international businesses across all
industry sectors. The firm has been instrumental in helping its clients recruit thousands of
leaders who have made a deep impact in their organizations and society at large.

With access to intellectual property through our association with Decision Dynamics AB, EMA
Partners is a provider of leadership assessments and other advisory services to our clients.

Our expertise lies in assessing, hiring and developing leaders at the Board, C-Suite and Senior
Executive level across industries. Our clients include global corporations, local companies and
not for profit organisations.

GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

Amsterdam | Bangalore | Bangkok | Barcelona | Bogotá | Boston | Brussels | Buenos Aires | Chennai | Chicago | Copenhagen | Delhi NCR
Dubai | Düsseldorf | Helsinki | Hong Kong | Istanbul | Johannesburg | Kiev | Lima | Lisbon | London | Mexico City | Miami | Milan | Montreal
Mumbai | New York | Oslo | Paris | Prague | Riyadh | Santiago | São Paulo | Shanghai | Singapore | Stockholm | Tokyo | Toronto | Warsaw | Zurich

Global Executive Search & Leadership Advisory Member of