COVID-19 Resources: Legislative Updates, Leadership Strategies and Fun Stuff

Welcome to this week's Retail Resources, a blog created to offer retailers the most relevant information and resources from the past week to help you lead during this challenging time. If there's anything you would like me to share in a future post, please let me know by dropping me a line at mcampanelli@napco.com.

Legislative Updates

NAPCO Media (parent company of Total Retail and Women in Retail Leadership Circle), together with its partners Specialty Graphics Industry Association (SGIA), Printing Industries of America (PIA), and PIA affiliates, has put together a COVID-19 Resource Channel containing the most up-to-date resources on the global pandemic. The areas of the site most useful to retailers include:

•  COVID-19 National Updates, which features updates from Washington, D.C. on the legislative and regulatory responses to mitigate the economic consequences of COVID-19. It presents information such as which bills have passed and offers access to compliance resources and federal agency guidance.
• COVID-19 State and Local Updates, which tracks actions taken by state governments and legislatures as they end shelter-in-place orders, and offers information on strategies to open up for business.
• COVID-19 Human Resource - Updates and Guidance offers information about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which encompasses the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act. The HR COVID-19 page also has links to other resources related to hours reductions, temporary layoffs, permanent layoffs, policies, forms, and other human resources topics.

Leadership Strategies

• On Tues., April 28, Total Retail and WIRLC produced the first Women in Retail and Total Retail Virtual Exchange, a virtual event that featured live interviews with leading retail CEOs on a variety of mission-critical industry topics. Interview guests included Mike Edwards, president and CEO, Hanna Andersson; Neela Montgomery, CEO, Crate and Barrel; Chris Rowland, president and CEO, Pet Supplies Plus; and Rebecca Minkoff, co-founder and creative director, Rebecca Minkoff. In this complimentary livestream event, our expert speakers addressed how they're pivoting their businesses as a result of the current COVID-19 crisis; offered best practices on how to lead and motivate staff during an unexpected crisis; revealed their plans for reopening retail stores, and how the experience might differ for consumers; and so much more. You can watch all the video interviews on-demand here.
• In this article, Euvin Naidoo, a senior lecturer of business administration at Harvard University, discusses how the Agile methodology, a methodology commonly used to speed up complex software development, can also be used when managing decision making in today's crisis environment. This well-written piece takes a look at a unique leadership strategy.
• This helpful article from the World Economic Forum lays out in plain terms how to plan for your company’s future during the pandemic.

Fun Stuff

• Who doesn't love playing card games with family and friends, especially as a way to pass time as we are all quarantined in our homes? I certainly do! The only problem? Sometimes I forget the rules. This article reviews classic card games you can play with a standard deck of cards and, perhaps most importantly, explains all of the rules for each game. Be sure to bookmark it!
• If you're anything like me, this is the time of year when your pantry starts getting filled up with boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Although the current pandemic caused the Girl Scouts to suspend its door-to-door sales and cookie booths on March 27, you can still get your Samoas fix through the Girl Scout Cookie Care website. Here, visitors can place cookie orders and also donate cookies for $5 a box to local heroes — first responders, healthcare workers, volunteers, and everyone else keeping our country afloat.
• Do you miss traveling? I certainly do. Here's a great site that allows you to virtually travel to exotic locales. Visitors can tap into their bucket list of destinations through high-quality, unedited video. Bon voyage!