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BCC BLOG

    About the blog

    The BCC blog is a space of exchange among BCC stakeholders about topics of interest in the realm of central banking. It offers a space where latest trends can be discussed, practical experiences be shared, and a BCC community be developed. 

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    1. Monetary Policy And Implementation

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    The BCC programme, funded by SECO and implemented by The Graduate Institute, Geneva aims to support partner central banks in emerging countries in building the analytical and technical expertise to conduct effective monetary policy, promote stable and efficient financial sector, and be more operationally sustainable.
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How is Your Organization Doing with the Coronavirus Pandemic ? by Regina Phelps

7/1/2021

 
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The coronavirus pandemic is like nothing that has been seen globally for over 100 years. Organizations, their employees and the general public have completely revised how they live and work. We know that this pandemic will be with us until there are widespread and easily available vaccines, therapeutics and herd immunity. Normally any activation of the crisis management team leads to an after-action report. Given the lengthy duration of the coronavirus pandemic, it is important to stop and do periodic assessments. If you haven’t done an interim after-action report yet, this is a great time to do one!

The technical online workshop organized by the BCC programme on December 2-4 provided an opportunity for the participating central banks to share experiences and conduct such an assessment. Here is a short list of some of the things which experience has shown to improve organizations performance:

  • Make sure your home office is very functional – you will likely be there a lot longer than first expected – good ergonomics is key. This is the time to make sure your work area works - good office chair, a place to call your own (even a closet).
  • Schools in many parts of the world remain closed. What can you do to manage children at home? Can you allow employees to shift their hours of work, work part time or on the weekend or find other creative solutions to help parents with this challenging issue?
  • At the beginning of the pandemic and for months there is a shift to on-camera meetings using one of the widely available platforms. Companies need to learn to communicate less but more effectively. Not everything needs to be an online meeting – find new ways to collaborate, to get the work done and build community with your team.
  • Focus on deliverables, empower your team to work the way that is the best for them. I found many companies don’t have clearly defined deliverables but they have clearly stated hours that employees are to work. What needs to be done? Does it matter what time of day or day of the week that it is done? If there are clear deliverables with dates, let employees work when it is best for them.
  • Take digital breaks – disconnect from everything several times a day and let your brain unwind. The digital environment is training us out of concentration and into distraction in ways that are bad for our minds, bad for our work, and ultimately bad for the world. “Deep Work” by Cal Newport offers a powerful read. The premise is that deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task – something that many of us have lost in this nonstop world.
  • Do periodic surveys with employees to see what is working and what is not and adjust accordingly.
  • Expand managers’ training on managing a remote workforce – there are many important differences and not all of them are obvious.
  • Engage with empathy, gratitude and openness. Practice active listening and two-way communication. 
Lastly, take care of yourself – take time for good nutrition, hydration, stress reduction, emotional well-being and personal care. And make sure your team are focused on their health – both physical and mental as well.

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Business continuity planning in the COVID-19 era, reflections by Paulo Cacella

7/1/2021

 
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In a challenging time for the world, the BCC programme sponsored a web-workshop on business continuity planning in the light of the COVID-19 outbreak where representatives from associated central banks met to explore solutions and share experiences in light of the pandemic.

The workshop gave participants the opportunity to share their experiences on strategies and practices related to the impacts of the pandemic on daily operations and to discuss resulting transitory and permanent changes.

During the webinar from December 2 to 4 2020 group members discussed the theme with the help of two moderators, one specialist with experience with central banks and another one from the private sector.

The conference started with an overall view of the pandemics and the importance of a well designed crisis management framework. Participants then were separated in groups for discussions on several themes. After the debate a member of the group shared their thoughts and experiences with all participants.

On the first day of the conference two topics were explored. The first was the aspect of teleworking and its related subjects of home-office experiences, cybersecurity threats, legal and administrative implications of this new environment and staff motivation and efficiency in a situation with less strict internal controls.  The focus was on sharing which procedures and practices worked and what needed more studies or even an overhaul.

The second topic covered how to handle a simultaneous crisis event. Usually business continuity planning is designed to handle a single source of disruption and all strategies to handle the situation are planned within this framework. However, due to the long timespan of the pandemic, it is possible, or even likely, that another adverse event, such a natural event (fire, earthquake etc) can happen simultaneously. In light of this problem participants discussed their thoughts on challenges and opportunities related with their plans and resources likely available.

On the second day of the conference participants first discussed occupational safety and health at the workplace where participants discussed about office preparation procedures, control and prevention of the disease, standards followed by the institutions involved and how alerts were sent to employees. Participants then discussed governance and strategy. This topic generated a lot of experience sharing on roles and responsibilities, situational awareness, impact on operational risk assessment and use of risk information, business continuity planning and culture and finally lessons learnt in this new pandemic experience.

The last day was dedicated to a broader view of the problem. Participants were presented with detailed information on the pandemics, vaccines and technology involved, expected evolutions of the situation and how to handle impacts on mental health and other aspects of human behavior.

The conference was successful and saw intense participation of members who actively shared their experiences. Each central bank came back with some new thoughts and a review or reassuring of their practices on the demanding situation we live today.
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