Nestlé's Policies Prepared Company For A Mass Work-From-Home Situation

Nestlé's Policies Prepared Company For A Mass Work-From-Home Situation

April 2, 2020

Nestlé, which is among the top three food and beverage companies in the world, according to Forbes Magazine, is perhaps among the best prepared local companies to respond to emergencies. The company has had a presence in Jamaica for about 80 years.

Some of the local measures that have been activated to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic were raised during the April 1 edition of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) IG Live broadcast “The Productive Sector Speaks”. Nestlé Health and Wellness Foundation General Manager, Mr Garfene Grandison, hosted the broadcast and Safety, Health and Environment Manager, Antoinette Johnson Peart, and also HR Business Partner David Heath highlighted the company's actions.

The officials said that up to this point, the operations and sales of Nestlé Jamaica have not been impacted adversely. Many of Nestlé's products are mature brands in the Jamaican marketplace including the Milo beverage, Cheerios cereal, Maggi seasoning, Gerber baby food as well as their milk chocolate and coffees. As an international food company, Nestlé, they said, had a lot of experience on being prepared for emergencies that needed a global response.

Speaking on the company's response to social distancing while remaining productive, Heath said that its flexi-time work policy, which had been in place since 2016, made it fairly easy to increase the number of employees who work remotely. The policy sets out how supervisors and team members arrive at agreed performance levels that are to be achieved while working from anywhere. Heath said that the company had rolled out additional training resources to support supervisors and team members. Supervisors had been exposed to training on effectively scheduling and managing online meetings and keeping team members motivated.

The company has also been sharing work-from-home tips in the form of short notes that are posted online. The notes have included how to stay on schedule, the benefits of getting dressed for the day, and the importance of keeping the work space separate from living spaces.

Health and wellness is an area where Nestlé staff also getting support. The fitness coach has moved classes online and attendance at classes have even gone up. The company has also launched its online health services where staff members can schedule appointments with a medical doctor while at home.

Staff members can have access to the company’s financial assistance plan, which anticipates the impact of the pandemic on family income.

It is expected that the COVID-19 virus will depress production across all sectors and it remains to be seen what the effect of working remotely will have on labour productivity.

The 2018 edition of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (ESSJ) noted that there was an increase in labour productivity of real total value added (1.9 %), which was was largely driven by the positive performance of the Goods Producing Industry (4.4 %). This was the first increase in labour productivity since 2011.

The Presentation of the Report of the Jamaica Survey of Establishments 2018 which was conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) and published by the PIOJ Foundations for Competitiveness Growth Project (FCGP) shows that the greatest amount of economic activity in Jamaica happens in the Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles sector. There were 6,288 establishments out of a total of 17,671 that surveyed.

Another measure that will be investigated after the pandemic will be which sectors were the most resilient for employment and labour, and why. The survey of establishments show that only 5% of employees worked for establishments that employed more than 51 persons; most worked for establishments that employed less than five persons. The economic size and nature of services offered by businesses will have an impact on establishments, in addition to other factors.

Nestlé's sheer size globally will help them to weather the economic shocks locally. Protecting and supporting their employees is an important part of business continuity and will support the recovery of their stakeholders in the shortest time.

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