Supporting service operations amid the COVID 19 outbreak

Support services are in a unique position in the pandemic: the sector accounts for a huge portion of the workforce—in the United States, 79 percent of its workforce is employed in services. In this webinar, McKinsey experts discuss what organizations have done since the start of the coronavirus outbreak to safeguard their frontline employees while also quickly adapting to serve customers in this time of need. The discussion highlighted three critical themes for companies to focus on in response to the crisis:

• Employee safety and support—Ensuring workplace safety and productivity of your employees. Organizations have moved quickly to implement new digital tools and processes to maintain capacity and productivity, safeguard workers, and maintain a sense of connection.
• Customer engagement—Serving your customers to meet their needs. With increased customer requests, companies are embracing proactive outreach, digital and self-serve tools, and personalization and empathy to maintain customer connections.
• Demand and supply management—Ensuring business continuity and adjusting to changes in demand. Companies are developing innovative ways to manage offshoring demand constraints, identify and prioritize critical demand and services, and prepare for changing demand preferences.