An empty conference room

FCLTGlobal Members convene to identify actions to drive long-term sustainable economies

In April and May 2020, FCLTGlobal hosted virtual roundtable discussions for Members to discuss how to effectively manage their organizations in the face of the global coronavirus pandemic. The current situation has accelerated the arrival and impact of many long-term trends and tested the resilience of all organizations. In these discussions, leaders focused on decisions that they are making now that will have long-term consequences.

Paul Polman, a long-time FCLTGlobal board member and the Co-founder/Chair of IMAGINE, hosted both meetings and facilitated the discussions.

Guests provided insights from different industries, sectors, and geographies, providing a unique set of vantage points on how global business is approaching COVID-19 and how it will progress in the aftermath. Among the chief observations our Members discussed:

Responding to the crisis

As one participant put it, “Our 10-year planning has suddenly turned into 10-week planning.” For many leaders, the onset of COVID-19 has taken what were once thought to be longer-term objectives and turned them into immediate needs. Specific actions include:

Acclimating to the future of work

There was broad agreement that employees will not universally revert to the old model of work once the crisis is over. Rather, companies will acclimate to a new way of working and continue the innovations borne of necessity – one participant thought about this concept as “sustaining the gain” beyond the crisis. There were a number of other ideas on how to adapt to a newer idea of work:

Preparing for future crises

Members on the call recognized that the past few months have served as a lesson for similar situations in the future. Learning more about an organization’s resilience now will help leaders prepare for whatever may come next. Actions taken today that can have a ripple effect well beyond 2020 include:

What’s next?

FCLTGlobal’s mission is to rewire capital markets to support a sustainable global economy. Maintaining this focus, while at the same time incorporating the lessons of this crisis, is critical to this work. In light of our Members’ insights, several recommendations and agenda items have come to the forefront:

Thank you to all who joined our roundtables in April and May. We look forward to continuing these critical discussions for as long as they are helpful. To learn more about our upcoming events or future programming opportunities, contact us at [email protected].

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