Mitigating the Effects of COVID

Tourism NI can provide much insight into the local, National and International trends in visitor behaviours, and therefore can provide much needed stats and numbers for you to base your future plan and shape and RE shape your business according to the likely source of your future revenues.

You will already have an in-depth knowledge of where your visitors are coming from, and you will already have considered the short- and medium-term impact on revenues of the loss of international travel.  Planning your business short term without such revenues will mean that your main source of income will be without the International visitor, and will already have looked into what can be done to capture more local and UK visitors for the short and medium term recovery period.   

Every element of your product and service within your attraction will need to be examined with this in mind – see ‘planning’ section below.

The Wall Street Journal says the following trends will "change your life in 2021":

• Products that solve pandemic-induced problems such as better webcams, masks, and tools that de-virus the surfaces of your devices
• Quieter, cooler, and more energy efficient laptops
• Watching more new movies at home, rather than in a cinema
• "Assisted reality" glasses that project text, images, and video feeds into a user's field of view
• More remote workouts and doctor visits
• Rise of e-commerce from Amazon competitors
• More monthly subscription-based services
• Replacing office-based work with work from home and in-person company events
• Bigger electric vehicles -- such as SUVs and trucks

Leaders in the Experience Economy need to examine such trends and see how these are likely to affect their business – short/medium and long term.  See section 2.5 – the questions to ask when responding to trends.

The Pandemic has forced us all to rethink workforce and employee planning, Leadership, and Employee Experience strategies.  Large scale trends are changing how people work and how business in general gets done.  This will of course impact the way Attractions and Experience Operators treat their own employees.  Leaders who respond to these trends will ensure their organisations stand out.

According to a Gartner survey of 800+ HR leaders there are 9 HR trends which are emerging – some represent an acceleration of existing trends, others are new.  In some cases the Covid-19 pandemic has forced a pattern to one extreme:

1. Increase in remote working

The poll shows that 48% of employees will likely work remotely at least part of the time after COVID-19 versus 30% before the pandemic.   Clearly for Attractions and Experience and Service/hospitality businesses this will not be as pronounced as for office-based organisations, however it is still relevant to consider this trend not only for employees but also as an opportunity to appeal to those persons who are – as a result of working from home – more likely to want to interact physically in their leisure time.            

For employers with remote working teams, digital collaboration and employee experience strategies need to be adjusted – performance, and goal setting and employee evaluations into the virtual space.

2. Expanded data collection

Gartner analysis shows that 16% of employers are using technologies more frequently to monitor their employees through methods such as virtual clocking in and out, tracking work computer usage, and monitoring employee emails or internal communications/chat. While some companies track productivity, others monitor employee engagement and well-being to better understand employee experience.

Even before the pandemic, organizations were increasingly using nontraditional employee monitoring tools, but that HR trend will be accelerated by new monitoring of remote workers and the collection of employee health and safety data. Make sure to follow best practices to ensure responsible use of employee information and analytics.

3. Contingent worker expansion

Many organisations have responded to the pandemic and have been forced to cut payroll and employee budgets to stay in business, particularly the Hospitality and Leisure sectors, although he furlough scheme has cushioned the impact somewhat.  Tough decisions will be made throughout 2021 and reshaping the workforce of attractions to suit the newly reduced capacities and therefore economic viability of attractions and Experience companies.  The economic uncertainty of the pandemic has caused many workers to lose their jobs and exposed others for the first time to nonstandard work models. The ‘gig economy’/ ‘side hustles’ etc have become more commonplace in parlance. 

The analysis shows that organisations will continue to expand the use of such staffing models in order to maintain more flexibility in resource management, and Senior leadership needs to consider which workforce model is the most efficient and effective, however balance that with the ‘Human’ side of things like staff engagement and ultimately the Service which highly engaged and motivated employees contribute to the profitability and long term viability of a business.

4. Expanded employer role as social safety net

The pandemic has increased the trend of employers playing an expanded role in their employees’ financial, physical and mental well-being.   A heightened awareness of employee wellbeing, and a more relaxed approach to ‘the rules’ due to the empathy required to keep people motivated, is likely to ‘stick’.  Enhanced sick leave, financial assistance, adjusted hours of operation and child care provision will definitely be more the norm in the ‘new normal’.  The crisis has also pushed the boundaries of how employers view the employee experience.  Personal engagement, promoting physical health and mental wellbeing are now very much in the forefront of HR teams.

5. Separation of critical skills and roles

Employers are realising that ‘business critical’ elements of job roles have been redefined - there is another category of critical role in their business -  roles that are critical to the success of essential workflows.  An organisation now needs to develop critical skills that open up employee development in order to give the organisation a competitive advantage, and offer real career development for the employee.

 6. (De-) Humanisation of employees

On the whole, employers have recognised the humanitarian crisis of the pandemic and prioritised the well-being of employees as people over employees as workers.  Others, however, have pushed employees to work in conditions that are high risk with little support — treating them as workers first and people second.

In the Service Sector, and so in any Experience organisation such as an Attraction, employee engagement it key to how your employees treat your customers/visitors.  The lesson here is to be mindful of the effects on employee experience, which will be long-lasting.  Although tough, be transparent and address inequalities if remote and on-site employees have been treated differently. There is always benefit in engaging task driven employees into a team culture and create a culture of inclusiveness.

7. Emergence of new top-tier employers. 

We have all heard the horror stories.  Employees and prospective candidates will judge organisations by the way in which they treated employees during the pandemic.  Balance the decisions made today to resolve immediate concerns during the pandemic with the long-term impact on the employment (and your Customer-Facing) attraction brand.

Communication/Communication/Communication - Progressive organisations communicate openly and frequently to show how they are supporting employees despite the implementation of cost-saving measures. This could be a real positive ‘feel good’ story which can tangibly affect the way your potential visitors see your brand, and their likelihood of becoming a ‘fan’ of your attraction or experience. 

8. Transition from designing for efficiency to designing for resilience

Understandably, Attractions and Experiences and those in the service sector are all about maintaining the businesses and being resilient to the future revenues/profit fluctuations.  If all you have been about has been focused on streamlining roles, supply chains and workflows to increase efficiency, this approach can also expose fragilities if your systems, processes and Operating Processes cannot flex and respond to disruptions.   Thinking about how you can redesign roles, operating processes and systems to be as flexible as possible, will ensure your operation is more resilient long term.

9. Increase in organisation complexity

After the global financial crisis, global Mergers and Acquisitions activity accelerated, and many companies were nationalised to avoid failure.  Larger companies and organisations will focus on mitigating risk, and it is likely large companies will become larger.  Attractions and Experiences need to be aware of this trend and look to minimise complexity within their organisation and the operating model of the Attraction or Experience business.

Leaders in the Attraction or Experience or Service sector need to evaluate the impact each HR trend will have on their organisation’s operation and strategic goals, identify which need immediate action and assess what degree these HR trends change pre-covid-19 goals and plans.

Speaking at the ‘Blooloop’ virtual conference in Summer 2020, Bernard Donaghue from ALVA, advised how visitor attractions could look at the learnings from the pandemic and to ‘Recover Better’ He detailed these learnings thus:

• Greater political appreciation of the size, value and importance of the tourism and cultural sector – affecting public health, people’s lives and economies.
  
  
• Inspiring explosion of sharing and collaboration within the sector and beyond. (We must never operate in silos again)
  
  
• Importance of our Front of House staff – ‘Welcoming’ and not ‘Policing’ behaviours
  
  
• The importance of DIGITAL – online/social/outreach work, NOT replacing the visitor experience.
  
  
• The acceptance that the Past wasn’t Perfect! We need to be open to innovation & try new things. We need to be very honest with ourselves – who visits? Who doesn’t visit & why?
• We need to be open to our doors to people who are different from those we closed them to when we closed in March 2020.
  
  
• Confluence of Black Lives Matter & Covid – Societal upheaval. This has potentially opened up opportunity to tell PEOPLE stories/places/collections
  
  
• People yearn to return to their favourite attractions – it is part of their lives. We need to reciprocate the love and loyalty. Significant growth in memberships of museums/galleries/zoos etc. Growth in volunteering.

• Sanitise your SITE, NOT the Visitor Experience. Needs to be CLEAN and SAFE, still be joyful and fun! And finally (and perhaps most importantly):

• You create the backdrop for people’s happiest memories. People want the EXPERIENCE economy, the tangible stuff is less important. Speaking at the same conference, the one of the authors of ‘The Experience Economy – B. Joseph Pine II, gave some interesting insights into how to respond to the pandemic, and move into the ‘Next Normal’.

He advised the following:

• Refresh your Places
• Redesign your Offerings
• Renew your Capabilities (digitalisation/customisations)

Operators need to be aware of the trends in relation to the Customer Experience, in order to tailor Attractions and Experiences to maximise opportunity.  Some of the changes were happening prior to the pandemic, however trends and changes have been accelerated by the current circumstances, for all kinds of reasons.  Demographics and Customer Expectations are changing rapidly.

Demographics:

• According to Forbes: Generation Z will be the largest consumer group by 2026.

• According to an Eventbrite Study:78% of millennials would rather spend money on experiences rather than physical goods.

• According to Accenture: 95% of millennial consumers say they want brands to court their loyalty.

Experiences:

• According to an Allianz Digital Generations Study: ‘For Digital natives, online and offline is completely interconnected and the barriers between digital and physical cease to exist’

• According to eMarketer: 90% of mobile time is spent on Apps. 70% of e-commerce sales worldwide will be transacted on a mobile device in 2020

We have a changing world of the interaction with Digital Millienials/Generation Z have grown up with brands like Netflix, Uber and Amazon.  Venues, Attractions and Experiences need to take note of the information above and tailor every Guest Touchpoint to respond to these trends, and so capture every available opportunity in this changing world.

In responding to trends, here are 5 questions to consider as you decide whether to change any aspect of your business in response to the trends:

Is the trend an opportunity or a threat?

Leaders should identify and categorise each trend as either irrelevant, a potential growth opportunity or a threat to the organisation’s survival.  Clearly if your attraction business involves Cinema, the Trend towards more films being watched at home could be potentially catastrophic – at least until the pandemic ends.  This is where the ‘Pivot’ of existing business to alternative revenue streams or opportunity is most relevant.

If an opportunity, will it benefit customers or employees?

You need to understand your business.  What binds your visitors and employees to you?  Why do people visit you rather than your competitors?  Why do your employees work for you?  Understanding if the trends will make visitors more or less likely to visit your attraction or experience, or your employees will respond to them wanting to continue working for you, or you need to respond in some way to keep them working for you.

What new products or changes to operations should you launch to capture the opportunity?

Opportunity for a new product or service could also emerge from changing trends and resultant shift in customer demand. ‘Pivoting’ business such as distilleries making hand sanitise, or farmers selling direct to customers through delivey service is a good example of this.  Museums and Attractions producing online content to maintain engagement in the product or service, is another, although the opportunity to monetise the offering still remains a challenge in the present circumstances.

If it is a threat, does it weaken your links to customers or employees?

Having conversations with your Employees and your potential visitors/customers and understanding what their feelings are is vital to understanding this link between trend and potential outcome.  If many of your employees are able to work from home, for instance, or have been furloughed for long lengths of time - has this led to people feeling disconnected and they could be potentially seeking alternative employment to fulfil their sense of teamwork with colleagues or have more human interaction.

Can you change your strategy to turn the headwind into a tailwind?

Consider ways to turn a trend that could threaten your business into an opportunity that accelerates its revenue growth.  An example in the retail sector from  the book, Goliath Strikes Back, is showrooming: Consumers visit a retail store to decide which product - say a flat-screen TV - to purchase.  They then go online and buy the product at the lowest price.  Best Buy's then-CEO, Hubert Joly, turned that revenue-sapping trend into an opportunity by matching the lowest online price and selling the consumer, say, a TV stand as well.

How we in the Attractions sector can convert trends in to opportunities may not be so cut and dried, however – knowing your Customers and your own employees by asking them questions based on the trends listed above, is certainly the first step.