College of Business at UOB Holds A Virtual Seminar On “The New Normal for Business After the Pandemic.”

The Department of Management and Marketing at the College of Business at the University of Bahrain (UOB) is holding a public virtual seminar for students, academics and the public under the title: “The New Normal – Business Continuity After Covid -19 “, on Wednesday (15 July 2020), at eleven in the morning, and through Microsoft Teams.

The Seminar had the participation of the Superintendent at Business Resilience Management Department at Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), Samah Yusef Al-Hamad, who addressed seven main topics related to the working life approach after the Corona pandemic (Covid-19), which were: evaluating the extent of the institution’s readiness to adapt to change, and determining the required support during returning to work, applying the required protocols to establish a safe return to work, assessing the strength of business continuity plans, determining the operational points of business continuity plans, evaluating the effectiveness of communication channels, and developing governance measures for the return system.

While the Assistant Professor at the College of Business at UOB, Haifa Mohammed Khalaf, – who will manage the seminar – explained that the aim of this virtual seminar is to enable business institutions to develop an organized approach to the process of employees returning to their work places after the Corona pandemic (Covid 19), pointing to the provision of a platform to assess the readiness of enterprises for the return of their employees, and determine the support required to ensure a smooth return to the work system.

Moreover, Dr. Khalaf pointed out that the seminar will be held in English and it will shed light on the new work standards that are recommended to be applied in enterprises after the Corona pandemic in order to ensure the continuity of their work and operations, the protocols that must be applied at all levels to ensure a safe management during the pandemic, and how to resume work while the pandemic continues, in accordance with practices developed by international organizations such as: International Standards Organization, MARSH, and the National Safety Council. Stating that “The importance of Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS) will be discussed and used to maintain the flexibility of institutions’ work in the face of any emerging and potential new risks.

Furthermore, she added that “The return-to-work approach is designed according to the full cycle of the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) approach of management systems,” noting that a specific part in this Seminar will cover each of these elements to ensure its effective implementation and maintenance throughout the institution, referring to the discussion of the importance of awareness and communication, as two essential elements in institutions, and focusing on them to build a basic level of awareness that is capable of responding and interacting with the desired speed.

Also, Dr. Khalaf emphasized the importance of measuring the success of implementation, as it is an essential tool for assessing the ability of institutions in achieving their goals, along with the importance of the governance process associated with the new system to return to work to ensure its effectiveness.