How’s the transition going and what have you learned?
Thanks to all of you in my network for your time and help over recent weeks. I’d like to share Volume 2 of my learnings from you.
Markets and Trends
Remote work. So many angles on this one. I was ruminating today with a colleague in my network about whether education will be permanently altered by the current events now. When you have millions of learners going full time into remote mode so abruptly, there will be changes that persist once we are back out ‘on campus’ again. Some of you know that my 2 children have been homeschooling this year in a virtual online charter school. I personally was going to deliver 3 guest lectures in person this month at Virginia Tech and now I am recording 2 of them and delivering the other synchronously via Zoom.
Automotive market. It’s really a tale of 2 extremes right now. On one extreme we have the current COVID 19 market fears likely to have a significant impact on global output and production. On the other hand, we have all the exciting breakthrough technologies in connected, autonomous, and electric vehicles at companies like Tesla, Rivian, Lordstown Motors, other startups, and the legacy automotives. Did you realize that in EVs, the traditional powertrain goes away and you have a more fully configurable interior space to work with? What about new seating arrangements when you do not have to have a driver facing forward anymore?
Privately held, vs. publicly held… I looked at the Forbes 100 list of largest privately held companies last week. Did you know that grocers Albertsons, HEB, Publix and C&S Wholesale Grocers collectively booked over $150 B (that’s billion with a B) in revenue last year? Everyone has to eat, right?
Technology. We had a great discussion about cloud computing at a recent networking event. SaaS is here to stay and it lives in the cloud. Even if you are not in IT, you should educate yourself on the basics and know who the big players are in this market. I am also struck even more about the plug-in interoperability possible today. For example: TinyPulse, which specializes in collecting frequent short bursts of feedback from employees integrates with WorkDay, Microsoft teams, GMail, and Slack to name a few.
How do your employees feel right now about COVID-19? Pulse them and find out!
For another example, I met with the folks from GenSuite last week and learned more about their Tableau analytics integration. The lesson to me is : know what you are good at and build that, then partner and/or integrate with others to offer more functionality for your customers.
It seems now that Augmented Reality (AR) and Internet of Things (IoT) are well past the hype part of the curve and very much mainstream. You all probably already knew that. I also learned last week what a ‘beacon’ does and how this tech is making the transition from retail into industry.
For the EHS Professionals
The job market looks OK but is of course very fragile. There are many, many postings / positions out there. In some cases, companies are raising the bar and upgrading talent looking to take things to the next level.
That said, I am getting mixed messages from recruiters about timing: companies as of this week were pushing out offers, but we all have to recognize that in-person parts of the process (final interviews, onboarding) can face delays given COVID19. Job seekers also need to strike the right balance of keeping up networking, but recognizing that many, many people are heads down managing a very dynamic situation.
Many, many EHS pros are right in the heart of the current crisis and have a seat at the table, advising on risk reduction measures and contingencies. I can say with confidence that 2 acronyms are now universally known : PPE and N95 !
riskinsights.ai 