Launching the CQ CARE FASTSTART Program

Bloomberg Economics created a model last year to help its readers determine the odds of America going into a recession. And, if it isn’t already obvious, the odds are now at 100 percent. Over 10 million people filed for employment benefits in the last two weeks of March 2020.

We could go on and on about the macroeconomic situation we’re facing today. But that’s not what we want to convey.

It is actually something else.

And that is: Some of America’s Best Companies were born during a major downturn.

Did you know that Salesforce and Google were launched right before the dot-com bubble? Google started operations in 1998 while Salesforce was launched in 1999.

In fact, the list of companies that were born during a slowdown will take your breath away. HP, Hyatt, FedEx, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts were all startups that survived their early days amidst a major economic crisis and came out strong.

A few more extremely well-known companies got their “recession management tactics and strategies” absolutely right. One company often quoted is none other than Amazon! In early 2000, just a month before the dot-com bubble burst, the company had raised US $672 million in convertible bonds. It not only helped them survive the recession but also thrive post it.

So, what did all these companies do right?

Harvard Business Review published an article titled “How to survive a recession and thrive afterward” in mid-2019.

The primary suggestions from the article were:

• Don’t crash the company:which simply means don’t run out of money. It could mean cutting debt, selling unwanted assets – basically, deft financial management – to keep cash in hand and increase runway.
• Thoughtful decision-making: This one is easier said than done, but the article’s primary suggestion was not to think only about survival but also thinking about the future in terms of post-recession opportunities. You could relook at your product mix, your geographical exposure, and your people strategy.
• Look beyond layoffs: This was a crucial point the article highlighted, focusing on the importance of people as companies get out of a downturn. It suggested pay-cuts, furloughs, and a variable pay strategy, instead of a layoff. The idea again was to balance survival and post-recession growth.
• Invest in Tech: One of the key suggestions in the article was the importance of embracing digital transformation, analytics and automation, not only to manage the slowdown but also to bring in enterprise-wide visibility and transparency within the organization.

We bring this up here for a few reasons. We think there are 3 Ps that a company needs to get right to tackle a major slowdown, like the one we’re facing today.

At ComplianceQuest, we’re pursuing a vision to help our customers adopt a next-generation EQMS process to ensure high-levels of quality & compliance. It calls for a holistic approach to quality where there is end-to-end connectivity of data across the organization – including on the supply and customer sides.

We believe it’s the right time to embrace technology and automation, and have a next-generation EQMS powering your quality and compliance process. It’ll ensure connectedness across the organization, and deliver a collaborative approach to quality and regulatory compliance.

But even before pursuing a full EQMS process, there’s one thing that needs immediate attention.

And that is your Document Management Training Management solution.

Investing in an efficient, robust EDMS system that is scalable, quick to implement and one that does not break the bank, will certainly make your workflow more efficient. Add in the training solution, and you have a simple platform to up-skill your workforce in these difficult times.

Remember, the time is absolutely right to up-skill or possibly even reskill your people. People need the impetus to get through this difficult phase and what better way to do that than learning, upskilling, and increasing one’s knowledge base.

As part of our CQ CARE FASTSTART program, we’re offering our Document and Training/Learning management solutions, absolutely free for the rest of 2020.

CQ helps deploy gold-standard CQ-EDMS, based on industry best practices, so a company that takes this offer can start using it immediately and get up and running in five days.

Please contact our sales team at sales@compliancequest.com for more details on how to sign up and on-board rapidly.