At the Founder Institute, our intention is to be prepared for challenging times. We are currently preparing for a global second wave of the pandemic. We have advised our portfolio companies to have a ‘Second Wave Plan’ and to implement a ‘Pandemic HR Plan.’ Here is our current thinking on the situation in November of 2020.
BACKGROUND
COVID-19 infections spreading quickly, indicating a global second wave. In some regions, daily infection rates are doubling in as little time as a single day.
The rapid increase appears to have started at the end of October, 2020. We project that medical systems may be strained by December, 2020.
SECOND WAVE PLAN
The Founder Institute saw the pandemic forming and executed many changes starting in February of 2020. This foresight allowed the business to grow during these challenging times.
Now, in November, we have new concerns about lockdowns, illness and related market volatility. We project these risks will exist through the first quarter of 2021. So, we started a second wave planning process, which required two full management meetings.
First, we looked at every area of the business that might be vulnerable to the global second wave. Next, we tried to measure the worst case scenario in each affected business area. Then, we devised a set of solutions for each business area. Lastly, we delegated each solution in the plan to the most appropriate and least burdened manager.
Our intention is to help humanity enjoy a soft landing and refocus on things that matter. Right now, it is a good time to make worst case scenario plans, as we believe that this may be the calm before the storm. Our motto is the classic, ‘plan for the worst, and hope for the best.’ We hope for the best.
PANDEMIC HR PLAN
Our intention is to keep each team member, their loved ones and their family safe and healthy. Nearly 20% of the Founder Institute team has had their productivity recently affected by the virus.
In response, we developed some offerings and recommendations to help keep everyone safe:
- We are closing all of our offices worldwide, and we recommend that all employees work from home until situations stabilize with infection growth rates flat for at least two weeks.
- We are offering any team member one month of paid time off to recover from COVID-19 or to help care for a friend or family member that needs assistance recovering.
- We will reimburse team members and their loved ones for their COVID-19 testing with pre-approval.
- We encourage all team members to avoid indoor gatherings, and we ask that everyone follow best practices for sanitization and social distancing, including the use of masks.
- We have stopped all corporate travel locally and globally, and we encourage all team members to avoid flying.
- We recommend that team members follow social distancing and other best practices with people that recently traveled by plane.
These are offerings and recommendations to help. They are not meant to be rules. We hope that they may inspire you to find your own offerings and recommendations for your own team.
CLOSING
Our experience with the first wave of the pandemic allowed us to grow through a challenging time. The key to our success was being prepared. We are preparing again, and we hope to inspire others. We hope for the best.
Thank you, and stay well.
Adeo Ressi
CEO, the Founder Institute
