www.hrreporter.com 17
W
hen the COVID-19 threat first hit and
lockdowns quickly followed, there
were a lot of different elements involved,
says David Boone, CEO of Staples Canada.
"[We] certainly have lots of plans for
business interruption, business continuity,
but I think the scale and the scope of the
disruption was unprecedented. So, there was
a combination of working with our existing
plans and then modifying as we go."
First off, the health and safety
of employees and customers was
critical, he says.
"I cannot underestimate how
much effort and energy we put
into having the right protocols for
our associates to work in our store
environment. We actually ended
up branding the program 'Shop
Safe' and created a set of shopping
experiences, a set of materials, a
set of protocols, and also every
sort of scenario that could unfold
to ensure that we were keeping
the environment that people were
working in safe."
Secondly, with much of Staples' services considered essential, the
company was quickly providing technology to clinics and hospitals and
government, says Boone.
"I could list you 100 stories of different organizations that counted on
us to help them operate in the pandemic, so that was everything from
putting technology in the hallway of a hospital, iPads, laptops, because
they were expecting a surge of cases; to printing travel advisories for the
government overnight; to providing disinfectant to first responders in a
province," he says.
Thirdly, the retailer focused on getting its 500 or so office workers set
up at home, along with Staples customers, says Boone.
"It went relatively smooth because we did it so quickly. And we're a
little bit advantaged because most of the equipment and products that
we provide, and impact services that we're providing to other companies,
we can provide to ourselves."
Leadership and culture
Staples set up a working group to manage its response to the
pandemic, combined with executive oversight that met twice a day at
the height of the crisis. And human resources had a major role in all
that, he says.
"There's a tremendous amount of work in just managing commun-
ication and managing the employee experience around that and
making sure that we're treating our folks properly from a benefits point
of view, understanding what we're going to offer and what the various
government programs [are] as they rapidly came out."
David Boone
CEO of Staples
Canada
The 10,000-employee
office supply
company is based in
Richmond Hill, Ont.
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