Ryan Schreiber, director of engagement at CarrierDirect, noticed a pattern among client conversations over the last few weeks: customers of the transportation and logistics company are suddenly looking for strategies to help their employees adjust to a remote work environment.
Remote work has been a growing trend in the U.S., but with 42 percent of the country’s workers newly telecommuting, according to a CNBC All America survey, smoothly transitioning employees to a work-from-home situation has never been more prescient.
In order to address the challenges associated with remote work, CarrierDirect has organized a COVID-19 best practice group and webcast series. The company’s strategy consultants and technologists are supplementing their normal process-improvement and change-management guidance with tips that emphasize the importance of frequent check-ins and framework adjustments.
“Sharing that perspective will help everyone weather the storm and come out stronger on the other side,” Schreiber said.
Mike LaVitola, CEO of local food and e-commerce shop Foxtrot, is also giving back to the community in a manner that’s in-line with the company’s business model.
Since shelter in place, Foxtrot has shifted to contactless food delivery. LaVitola has pledged to donate 10 percent of sales up to $50,000 from orders received this month to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
“Giving back to the community that has supported us for the last seven years was probably one of the easiest business decisions we’ve ever had to make,” LaVitola said.
What action have you taken in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, either in or out of the office?
Our clients are struggling with the move to remote work. They face severe technical limitations. CarrierDirect has organized a COVID-19 best practice group. A few of our clients are doing bi-weekly calls to share their struggles and best practices in dealing with the virus.
In addition, we have started a webcast series called “CarrierDirect Office Hours” where we share some of our expertise to help clients in our space free of charge. The first episode focused on the shift to remote work and staying connected.
What has been the result of this action?
There has been tremendous engagement. Freightwaves, a news outlet in our space, picked up on a post we shared related to our best practice group to share with the rest of the industry. We have received feedback on our webcast that it has helped small businesses we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to assist.
CarrierDirect is uniquely positioned to share perspectives from multiple companies all tackling the same problems.’’
What inspired you to take this action?
We wanted to give back to our industry. We work exclusively within transportation. In an unprecedented time, CarrierDirect is uniquely positioned to share perspectives from multiple companies all tackling the same problems. Sharing that perspective will help everyone weather the storm and come out stronger on the other side.
What action have you taken in response to the COVID-19 outbreak?
As soon as Illinois issued its shelter-in-place directive, Foxtrot pledged to donate 10 percent of sales up to $50,000 from delivery orders received from March 19 to April 19 to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
We chose the Greater Chicago Food Depository for the program, which we call “Delivering Good,” because feeding people is what we do. Helping the most vulnerable people in our community put food on the table — including families who depend on meal programs provided by schools — was an ideal way for us to contribute during this crisis.
Additionally, to help our customers feel more comfortable about delivery in general, we introduced contactless delivery. Customers can have items they order dropped off or left a specific delivery location without having to make physical contact with the courier.
The need was clear and we wanted to do our part to help.’’
What has been the result of this action?
Our delivery business, which serves neighborhoods across the city of Chicago including Wicker Park, West Loop and Lincoln Park, has always been strong. It’s been even busier since the shelter-in-place directive. We’ve heard from customers how much they appreciate being able to get their local favorites, like Bang Bang pies, Hopewell beer and Lou Malnati's pizzas, delivered. We’ve also seen our “Meals by Foxtrot” prepared foods business take off. Our charitable efforts have really resonated.
What inspired you to take this action?
The need was clear and we wanted to do our part to help. In addition, community has been at the heart of everything we do since our founding in 2013, from our neighborhood shops to supporting local food companies. Giving back to the community that has supported us for the last seven years was probably one of the easiest business decisions we’ve ever had to make.
