As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, companies need to develop a strategy and execution plan for hosting in-person events. Data shows that getting people together safely and in-person is imperative to building and maintaining culture, employee retention and satisfaction, and business growth.
According to the American Express Meetings & Events Global Forecast, 81% of meeting and event professionals expect their events in 2022 to have an in-person element. A Harvard Business Review survey shows that, while hybrid work may be here to stay, there is an emerging consensus among business owners and employees that they are looking to be back in the office three days per week, on average.
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To ensure the safety of stakeholders, Salesforce created the Event Health and Safety Playbook.
The playbook includes sections on:
The Event Health and Safety Playbook enabled Salesforce to host Dreamforce San Francisco with 1,000+ in-person attendees.
"When the pandemic changed everything overnight, many of our customers came to us and said, "We need digital transformation. We have to start seeing patients from the living room! How can you help us?" That's part of the inspiration behind publishing the playbook and making it a free resource for other organizations. We want to share what we learned so more, and more people can start getting together again more safely," said Dr. Nayyar, chief medical officer at Salesforce.
According to Dr. Nayyar, every company is in the business of health now -- there is not one business that is not asking questions about health and safety.
Every business is in the business of health now.
Testing at home can provide peace of mind, and it doesn't have to take a long time or be terribly expensive.
Read nowThe biggest lesson that Dr. Nayyar learned in terms of bringing people back together more safely at live events was the importance of the partnership with the chief marketing officer.
"We learned a lot from Dreamforce and wrote about some key takeaways in the playbook, but number one is the importance of teamwork. We brought together a team of experts from across and beyond the company. From 'CMO squared' -- the partnership of the Chief Marketing Officer and the Chief Medical Officer, to a team of epidemiologists and statisticians -- each of us had the expertise, a 'lane,' that was very important to creating a successful Dreamforce," said Dr. Nayyar.
The 'CMO squared' teamwork -- chief marketing officer and chief medical officer -- has led to a strong partnership between Sarah Franklin, Salesforce's chief marketing officer and Dr. Nayyar, Salesforce's chief medical officer. Franklin and Nayyar have hosted roundtables with other CMOs in order to develop a health and safety playbook further and support technology solutions and services.
Forward-thinking companies realize that the front lines of#healthcare should be informing the backend of business strategy. Especially when it comes to gathering in today's pandemic world.
- Geeta Nayyar, MD MBA (@gnayyar) January 31, 2022
Discover key event#safety insights in @salesforce's playbook: https://t.co/qR4FfbkSyb pic.twitter.com/WL2y3ugfbG
Here are some of the lessons learned based on CMO-squared collaborations (Franklin and Dr. Nayyar) with customer-partner discussions:
Sarah Franklin, chief marketing officer at Salesforce, is collaborating with other CMOs and chief medical officers in order to further develop Event Health and Safety Playbook, Safety Cloud and future innovative solutions to protect all stakeholder.
5. Chief Marketing officers can help define the want and goals while working with the medical officer to ensure that it can happen safely.
6. Companies are leaning into hybrid and metaverse:The COVID-19 pandemic forever changed the way we operate. Many Chief Marketing Officers expressed that leaning into a hybrid and safe workplace is the way of the future. CMOs adopted a mindset of only bringing employees together when a business needs to do so. Agility being key to the ability to flex at different moments during the pandemic and also allowing employees/customers to self-select based on their own medical risk profile allows an inclusive environment.
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7. Mental Health:There isn't enough conversation around the mental health impacts that people are feeling from being isolated and working alone for almost two years. There is churn and burn, especially across marketing organizations that have had to reinvent every event experience for over two years. This is a major downstream effect on adults and families during the pandemic must be acknowledged and supported by employers. There must be a balance between both mental and physical health, some areas that have worked for companies: Examples shared during roundtables hosted by Franklin and Dr. Nayyar were: Coffee chats, B-Well Mental health series, hours of fun, doubling down on recognition programs (all areas of possible CMO squared partnership to help drive and inform the content that is employee-facing but acknowledges struggles with the current pandemic environment).
8. Budget and ROI:In the new pandemic world, bringing people together safely comes at a cost. From extra tests, technology and safety protocols, CMOs need to budget more than ever before. How does a CMO articulate the "COVID tax" and ensure ROI when bringing everyone together? These are important outstanding issues that all chief marketing officers are challenged within the new pandemic era.
What's changed in#HealthTech because of this pandemic?
- Geeta Nayyar, MD MBA (@gnayyar) October 12, 2021
Everything.
#Healthcare needed this rude awakening.
Thank you, @ValaAfshar and @rwang0, for having me back on @DisrupTVShow to talk this through.
#DisrupTV @constellationr https://t.co/zQES8idtQt
The result of 'CMO-squared' collaborations like this has led to the creation of a new platform, called Safety Cloud, to help companies safely host in-person events by monitoring and managing COVID-19 safety measures based on the events health and safety playbook. Safety Cloud supports integrations with at-home, pharmacy and on-site testing options, including CVS Health?, eMed, Cue Health, ixlayer, and Senneca DX. These supported testing options can be connected directly to Safety Cloud, making the testing experience easier than ever. In addition, Safety Cloud will support SMART Health Cards and EU Digital COVID Certificates, which are paper or digital versions of clinical information, such as vaccination history or test results.
Every company is in the health business. The health and safety of stakeholders -- employees, customers, business partners and communities -- is now a brand pillar. In order for companies to safely return to in-person events, business leaders must develop a strong and trustworthy playbook supported by information technology and solutions to ensure the health and safety of all. The importance of marketing, and chief marketing officers, to lead with science with the objective to earn trusted and healthy engagements mean stronger collaboration with medical experts and resident chief medical officers to ensure business continuity and the health and safety of all stakeholders.