WMC helps clients build resilience in uncertain times
WMC has always strived to be a guiding light for organizations in good times and bad.
But the professional management consulting firm’s skills have been in particularly high demand amid the current economic challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more than 45 years, WMC has been providing its clients, which include small businesses, multinational corporations, non-profits and government organizations, innovative management consulting services in the areas of strategy, leadership and transformation.
Its experienced management consultants are also helping clients set a course for a brighter future.
“The topic on everybody’s lips these days is COVID-19, and so we can’t ignore it, but we definitely help our clients to look beyond the immediate situation and plan for the future,” says Myka Osinchuk, director and management consultant at WMC.
“Things are going to change, and WMC’S goal is to help clients be resilient, adapt and respond no matter what the obstacles or opportunities.”
Resiliency is more than a buzzword — it’s crucial as firms and organizations attempt to weather the falling revenues and broadbased layoffs that have affected almost every corner of the economy.
“What we’ve seen is that there are a lot of companies responding effectively and doing really good things in a very difficult environment,” Osinchuk says. “So, part of what WMC does is help companies analyse what they have done right, and use those strategies to move forward for even more success.”
Among those right moves have been corporate leaders engaging in open communication with their workers and clients. But it’s not merely a top-down discussion. Employee input is vital to create strong engagement, as well.
Perhaps more than anything, WMC has noticed many of its clients have made quick and effective decisions during the pandemic — something they may have struggled to do in the past.
“Use of virtual and digital tools to provide health care is a good example. In the face of urgency, they were able to scale these services up in a few short weeks.”
No two businesses are the same, she notes, but many successful organizations share these same qualities of resilience and agility.
“Each client is unique. They know their business better than anybody else, so our job is to facilitate the process to help them find solutions that work for them.”
In recent weeks, this involved helping build emergency response teams to adjust to increasingly fluid conditions.
“As things change, the question will be what do you transition those teams to?” Osinchuk asks. “Maybe the answer, then, is building ‘resilience teams’ that look at what the organization needs to do to productively manage whatever change comes its way.”
Indeed, the uncertainties arising from an economy half-paralysed by COVID-19 will not persist forever, but new challenges and opportunities will always crop up. And WMC is ready to help.
“We are going to continue to face situations that involve things we’ve never seen before,” Osinchuk says.
“It’s not like companies need a plan for every scenario, but they need structures and systems that are better able to respond and adapt to these challenges and opportunities.”