EY's Wai Keat Cheang joins the panel of judges in SBR Management Excellence Awards

As restrictions ease and businesses return to their routines, Wai Keat said life will be anything but "usual".

Wai Keat Cheang is head of consulting at Ernst & Young Advisory Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. He has vast experience in providing business and technology consulting services to numerous local and multinational corporations from the private and public sectors across the Asia-Pacific region.

Wai Keat covers agile business transformation, post-merger integration, and end-to-end managed services consultation for IT and business processes for life sciences, health care, consumer goods, agribusiness, transportation and real estate clients.

In an interview, Singapore Business Review talked to Wai Keat Cheang as he shared insights on how the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the way we work and live, and what companies can learn from the crisis.

Which particular markets or sectors are your main focus? Can you share with us your work experience or any backstory that has contributed to your professional career?

As the Singapore Consulting Leader, I lead a multidisciplinary consulting team providing business, technology and people consulting services to clients across various sectors. I have worked with both local and multinational corporations from the private and public sectors across the Asia-Pacific region. Through these projects, I have gained in-depth industry knowledge in life sciences, health care, consumer goods, agribusiness, transportation and real estate.
In my 25 years of consulting experience, I have helped clients to strategise, develop and implement their business transformation agenda. Technology is a key enabler in business transformation initiatives. To keep up with the fast pace of tech evolution, I actively keep abreast of rapidly technological innovations and advancements, and embrace an agile mindset toward innovation, so that I can effectively advise organisations on how to leverage technology and add value to their businesses.

How are leaders responding to the pandemic affecting their operations? For those whose companies and industries that have been badly hit, what do owners need to consider on the road to recovery?

Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently reshaped the way we work and live. For example, companies are relooking at how they manage processes remotely; we are also seeing more companies recognising the need to relook and reconsider their supply chains to be nearer to final demand markets to strengthen resilience against future supply disruptions.

Thus, it is important for businesses to note that as they look beyond the pandemic and work toward recovery, yesterday’s rules for developing long-term strategy no longer apply. Executives are being forced to adjust strategies more often, and the global pandemic has amplified this need.

According to the new EY Realizing Strategy survey, which covers 1,000 C-suite executives to understand how they are formulating and executing their corporate strategy, more than three-quarters (76%) of the global respondents indicate that COVID-19 will impact, or even cause them to pivot, their organisations’ medium- to long-term strategy, and 12% say it will cause them to look to new sectors to succeed.

Additionally, 82% of the surveyed indicate that customers are as important as, if not more important than, shareholders when formulating strategy, and 69% say the same for employees relative to shareholders. In terms of competition, 67% believe that the biggest competitive threat in the next three years will come from a company outside their current sector. As well, more than 80% who added the roles of Chief Growth Officer, Chief Transformation Officer or Chief Sustainability Officer in the last five years say that those positions substantially influence strategy.

Going forward, to maintain a competitive advantage, companies will need to redefine their objectives with a focus on a broader group of stakeholders; understand where competitive threats will come from, and collaborate, even with competitors, to develop a value-enhancing ecosystem. They may also need to adjust core internal processes and bring together a larger set of executives (and the Board) to develop strategy and oversee its implementation.

How can the management support their employees and stakeholders during these tough times?

As COVID-19 restrictions ease and businesses return to their “normal” routines, it is clear that life will be anything but "usual".

For employees, there may be several considerations. E.g., employees that work remotely may face challenges such as balancing work and family commitments, or lacking the right physical and digital infrastructure for a conducive work environment. Employees’ mental health is key as well. The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the importance of mental health. During this period, people struggle with grief, isolation, general anxiety about the future, and overload caused by long working hours or juggling work with other commitments. In fact, the EY Future Consumer Index found that 83% of respondents globally cited a decline in productivity due to remote working.

To retain talent and build trust with their workers, employers need to embed mental wellness support in their return-to-work programs and clearly communicate the steps they will take to keep workers safe. Two key steps are required: expansion of mental wellness benefits to ensure support for individuals who require them; and reorganise the physical workspace and introduce behavioral changes to make employees feel safer.

Technological solutions can play a key role. E.g., collaboration platforms can be used as an alternative to face-to-face meetings, contactless technology can be adopted in workplace canteens, and staff can be developed using virtual training tools rather than in classroom settings. Potentially, sensors can be used to monitor social distancing. Aside from creating a safe physical work environment, employers and managers also need to engage in meaningful transformative conversations with their teams, and develop new support programs that can help employees build resilience, embrace mindfulness and strengthen career well-being for an evolving future. Team leaders should exercise empathy and make efforts to connect and engage more frequently.

Another key audience group that companies need to manage is customers. Consumer behavior has changed significantly since the outbreak started. For example, the EY Future Consumer Index found that the majority of consumers globally will change the way they shop – notably, 60% will consolidate their shopping trips into less frequent, but larger purchases; 44% will do more of their grocery shopping online.

This signals a decline in footfall but increasing basket sizes as consumers consolidate shopping trips. Interaction amongst customers, companies, products and services will likely change forever. Companies need to ask themselves how they can increase “stickiness” with consumers or examine their services to align with changed consumer habits. Again, how can companies leverage additional services such as digital shopping lists, carry-to-car services, click and collect or curbside pickups, all with the intent to minimise consumer pain points?