Gavin Bonner, Genesis Property: “The current crisis is the perfect time to rethink policies, practices, and procedures within a company”

“The role of leaders is always crucial in an economy and in the business environment, but it has proven more relevant than ever this year, as people turned to their leaders for guidance and clarity in a highly uncertain context,” Gavin Bonner, vice-president Genesis Property told The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“Though we were forced to do it, the current Covid-19 crisis is the perfect time to rethink policies, practices, and procedures within a company, so we become better prepared for the new normality as well as for future crises. It is also the best time to accelerate the integration of digitalization and innovative technologies that might have been in plan but were progressing at a slower pace in lack of such a powerful trigger as the effects of the pandemic have been this year. Lastly, I believe it has proven to be a great opportunity to strengthen business relations and consolidate trust, as well as a driver for diversity and reappraisal of products and services.”

What leadership skills do you find most useful in the current changing work environment?

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, but even more so for leaders around the world. The role of leaders is always crucial in an economy and in the business environment, but it has proven more relevant than ever this year, as people turned to their leaders for guidance and clarity in a highly uncertain context.

This is why I believe empathy, honesty and clear, transparent, and calm communication have been crucial traits for a leader in this pandemic year. Understanding your team, being there for each member supporting them in overcoming professional and personal challenges, all make a major difference within an organization. And when people feel empowered and see that their safety and wellbeing are a priority for their leaders, they also feel motivated, engaged and driven to fulfil their potential within the team even at times when the goals may be a bit blurry because of unforeseen market circumstances.

Which are the empowering mindsets and building the sense of meaning & purpose, both for employers and employees, to keep each other engaged in reaching the business objectives in 2020 and in the next year?

In times of crisis and uncertainty, people must be able to rely on the support of their community or their teams, they need to belong and feel part of a more complex structure that continues to move forward despite challenges. A team-oriented and goal-oriented mindset keeps people glued together and motivates them to pull through for their common goals. A sense of optimism and security also has a major role in the collective mindset of a team, contributing to its meaning and purpose in challenging times. And I strongly believe that the role of leaders is precisely to nurture all these mindsets and be there for their teams, actively encouraging and coaching members to overcome challenges and come out stronger and more connected than before.

What should be a CEO’s and leader’s power message on business resilience conveyed to peers, partners, and employees for 2021, in order to enhance the trust and engagement?

I believe that in 2021, the most powerful message a leader can send to its peers, partners, and employees is that a business can withstand any crisis, be it epidemiological or financial, as long as it is based on a sound, solid foundation built on strong business relationships and it is open, flexible and agile to adapt to changing environments. And I strongly believe that redefining clear and achievable objectives, communicating clearly and transparently and supporting all stakeholders, from employees to business partners are all part of the process of making any business more resilient to the current Covid-19 crisis.

How can a CEO and leader of an organization capitalize on the current challenges to enhance and promote the company’s competition advantages currently?

Any challenge or crisis can stand as a valuable lesson for similar future contexts and, at the same time, can prove to be an opportunity to drive a change in mindset or in behaviours, with impact on the future of the company or even the overall industry it is part of. Though we were forced to do it, the current Covid-19 crisis is the perfect time to rethink policies, practices, and procedures within a company, so we become better prepared for the new normality as well as for future crises. It is also the best time to accelerate the integration of digitalization and innovative technologies that might have been in plan but were progressing at a slower pace in lack of such a powerful trigger as the effects of the pandemic have been this year. Lastly, I believe it has proven to be a great opportunity to strengthen business relations and consolidate trust, as well as a driver for diversity and reappraisal of products and services.

In our case, at Genesis Property, it has even been a catalyser for an innovative solution for the offices of the future. Specifically, Liviu Tudor – founder of Genesis Property – and a team of experts in health, technology, architecture, constructions, engineering, and facility management pioneered The IMMUNE Building Standard™ (IMMUNE™), a global open-source standard that redefines the future of office buildings by certifying their resilience to current and future health risks, identifying a coherent set of measures that any office landlord in the world can apply to ensure the owned buildings’ health quality. The standard was created in response to the Covid-19 pandemics and was developed in record time aiming to build trust among employers occupying an office space and their employees regarding the safety of their workplace in a pandemic or similar current or future health threats.

Which are the current concerns of a CEO / leader in 2020?  Which are the hopes for 2021?

Leaders are focusing all their attention on two major areas – their people and the evolution of their business. The health, safety and wellbeing of their team is now a priority more than ever and more and more leaders cannot stress enough how important it is to maintain the optimism and mental wellbeing within their teams. The business evolution is an equally important concern because leaders have the responsibility to maintain the business going in order to be able to keep their teams intact. 2020 has made leaders more wary of further economic or industry recline, more sensitive to uncertainties fuelled by the further evolution of the pandemic and more preoccupied about overcoming stress on business processes and supply chains. Of course, for 2021, everyone hopes for a quicker return to normal or, at least, for a rapid adaptation to the new normal.

What kind of innovative measures and inclusive leadership initiatives have been applied within your organization this year, to better cope with the current context and bring the business forward in 2021?

At Genesis Property, this year has been all about the health of everyone around us, from our employees and their families to the employees working in our office buildings, our business partners, and our communities at large. This is why, the most innovative measure we have taken this year was pioneering The IMMUNE Building Standard™, the standard designed to ease people’s fears regarding the health risks they are exposed to and to build trust among landlords and tenants, employers and employees.

This innovative solution for healthier office spaces by design, spaces that can withstand a pandemic or the effects of other bacteriological and toxicological health threats, is an inclusive global approach that addresses the most important concern for everyone this year and going forward – health and safety. And, at the same time, it is our response to the Covid-19 pandemic for office buildings from all over the world.