COVID -19 Update
We live on a fragile planet and share it with many other species, we don’t always look after them well, having lost two thirds of them in the last 50 years. We need to look after what we have left.
We are often regarded as a bit of a virus ourselves, especially as the population continues to rise. The current world population is 7.8 billion as of September 2020, growing at a rate of around 1.05% per year. Things won’t get better unless we listen to those in the know (David Attenborough).
World Population Milestones
10 Billion (2057)
The United Nations projects world population to reach 10 billion in the year 2057.
9 Billion (2037)
World population is expected to reach 9 billion in the year 2037.
8 Billion (2023)
World population is expected to reach 8 billion people in 2023 according to the United Nations (in 2026 according to the U.S. Census Bureau).
7.8 Billion (2020)
The current world population is 7.8 billion as of September 2020
COVID-19
But we are susceptible to all sorts of other virus’s ourselves as with the recent COVID-19 pandemic which has already killed 965,071 thousand people after contracting the virus (Sept 2020).
Seasonal Flu
It is estimated that flu normally kills somewhere between 290,000 to 650,000 people per year, globally. This fluctuates country by country each year. In the UK, the 2019 -2020 flu season accounted for approximately 18,500 deaths, the highest recently has been the 2014/2015 season with 28,330 deaths & the lowest in 2015-2016 with 11,875.
Put the current 2020 COVID-19 death rate alongside this of 41,777 deaths so far this year (Sept 20) it could be an all-time high this year for Influenza related deaths. As COVID -19 is an influenza virus as well and the influenza season has only just started this year, what is the likely final figure going to be?
With the general seasonal flu, the most common cause of death is pneumonia (infection in the lungs). With COVID-19 it is carbon dioxide poisoning (carbon dioxide toxicity), the lungs can no longer function swapping oxygen for carbon dioxide eventually filling with liquid, resulting in death, not a nice death. COVID-19 is a particularly nasty influenza.
In recent years, the overall death rate for the UK has been around 600k – 616k (2018) that includes, deaths from road accidents, heart attack and even flu. It fell to 553k in 2011 but climbed again. It is anyone’s guess what the death rate figure will be for 2020 and how many of these will be as a direct result of COVID-19 by the end of the year?
With an increase in the restrictions and an impending second lockdown ideally to better control the spread of COVID-19, we need to do everything we can to limit the spread and protect the vulnerable. No one wants it with the evenings drawing in and when its dark in the mornings, but ‘Winter is Coming’.
What is needed of course is a vaccine as soon as possible. It won’t stop it but will hopefully make it manageable and allow us all to gain a ‘new acceptable normal’ whatever that will be no one really knows at this time but it will be different to what it was, at the start of the year.
What does seem to be working is ‘working from home’ (WFM) for many companies and individuals. Many have pivoted, and six months in, it still seems to be working, nearly two-thirds of larger firms, and a little over half of smaller ones, report that productivity has increased with the use of remote collaboration tools and software.
But what are the short, medium, and long-term effects of WFH? Keeping people connected is the big challenge. With 46 percent of large companies having trouble supporting remote network access, compared to 36 percent of smaller firms. Larger companies are also more concerned about improving data security controls and getting faster internet.
Attitudes to remote working have changed greatly over the last 6 months, with a majority of organizations taking a more positive view of working from home than before the pandemic, which will likely influence how they plan for office space and staffing. More than half of organizations will not see employees back in the office this year and many not until June 2021.
Attitudes are changing towards outcome-based assessment of staff working from home, many people are working longer due to no travel, less interruptions and producing better outcomes than working in the office. The biggest issue many organisations have is mental health, keeping staff happy, keeping them engaged. Maintain the people you want to keep and achieving good retention outcomes.
Silver lining
Improved collaboration, better communication or more efficient workflows were each reported as positive benefits of IT’s work over the past few months. Many had to provision quickly into a WFH environment and have since gone back and continually improved this. Gaining better collaboration between departments and IT leading the charge to improve process and gaining better workflows.
About the Author
Howard Longstaff has over 25 years of experience delivering people within the talent acquisition arena.
He has worked extensively across the UK, Europe, USA, Canada as well as in South America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Over the last 20 years he has specialised in two fundamental areas, although he often covers a wider remit due to his thirst and understanding of technology. The first area which he has a real passion for, building ‘Sales Teams’, pulling together the very best ‘A Players’ and creating something very special for his clients.
To do that, he needs to have a clear understanding of what his client wants, so establishing clear communication with the client is paramount, understanding the nuances of what they are looking for and documenting this. Understanding the technology, the opportunity, and the growth potential all help to find the ‘right fit, first time’. He is one of the few head-hunters that is willing to guarantee his work, offering 12 months free replacement.
The second area he loves getting involved in, is the leadership team, the C-Suite, helping to get the balance right, cover the gaps in knowledge, skills and experience, working on the assumption that ‘No one is perfect but a team can be’?
Howard is someone who thinks outside the box, has an eye for detail, but is perceptive, looking beyond the surface of just skills and experience. He wants to know and understand the candidate behaviour as well as the emotional intelligence, the motives that drive the candidates he interviews. He is looking for the best fit for his client but also looking to ensure it is a fit for the candidate as well.
In the last 25 years he has also built his own companies and opened offices in New Zealand, Los Angeles, New York and most recently several companies in London. Specialising in technology companies, he has delivered permanent resources across practically every department. This has predominantly been for technology start-ups (Enterprise Software Co’s) but also for many leading management consulting and enterprise clients.
Howard is someone that uses technology to enhance the hiring process, to save time, money and effort and take the pain out of the process, but to find those ‘Exceptional People, who are so hard to find’. He operates a ‘Private Client Video Portal’ keeping everything together, the video, as well as psychrometric behavioural assessments on candidates and interviewing on an emotional intelligence level. He has repeatedly built teams across three continents, so has a good breadth of knowledge across the talent acquisition arena.