The real corporate entrepreneurs are the people that have gone to work everyday during this crisis. It is necessary to do more than just talk about these real life heroes, it is time corporate entrepreneurial leaders to step up, and make real lasting change that will help the company and these employees.

Will it go right back to the old way?

Once we go back to normal, will the management and leaders in these companies go back to normal? If they do, they will quickly realize that the employees will not respond the same way during the next crisis.

Did you and your company learn this critical lesson?

The most critical lesson that corporate entrepreneurs will take away from this is the value of the front line staff and management.
Corporate entrepreneurial leaders will:

• take note of how many senior managers went into the field to work with the line operations
• realize what value senior management brought to the table
• consider, what is the senior managers ROI for their salary, benefits, office, etc.

We are not bashing senior management

We are not bashing senior managers (12,000 of our readers are senior management). We are asking each of us to take a look at ourselves, our value, our culture and ask the question; what can we do that is best for the company, our employees and our customers?

Re-imagine a new normal

We know on-line shopping and technology will eliminate many customer facing positions in the near future. Many of these will make the customer experience better and reduce costs for the retailer. We know there will be even fewer jobs in retail.

The re-imagine we are discussing, is the change in attitude, pay, benefits, expectations of all the levels of employees. It is time to think of the line employee as the ultimate customer facing part of your business. Many companies “talk the talk,” but do not “walk the walk.”

Even companies that have changed will have to do more

We’re all aware of companies that pay their employees better than average, offer financial assistance for education, and full benefits for part-timers. In order to re-imagine the new normal, companies will have to think of executive pay to lowest paid employee ratios. Yes, the future will look at the value of each employee and create an ROI for their worth. They will look at:

• how much could a nasty line employee cost?
• how much would a bad manager cost?
• how much value do the managers create?
• where are the corporate entrepreneurial leaders?
• with AI analytics, how many management jobs can be reduced?
• look at the compensation plan based on “real value”

Greatest impact will be on senior management

The new normal will have the greatest impact on senior management. Retailers can only close so many stores and reduce the floor personnel so much before customers stop looking at the live experience. Instacart, online shopping, and store pickup after shopping online. is allowing customers to still shop, just not in stores.

How does this affect senior management? Companies are going to have to put more resources into line personnel so that the customer has an experience they cannot get online. AI analytics will incorporate machine learning and will utilize real time store data, geographic data (i.e. weather, unemployment rate, street traffic patterns, etc.) and psycho-graphic data (political attitudes, stock market data, social media, etc.) and demographic data, inventory in store, warehouse, on trucks, etc., to decide staffing, real time promotions, pricing and strategy for product mix.

Corporate Entrepreneurial Principle

With increased pay, benefits, flexibility, training and potential bonuses, employees at all levels will embrace the corporate entrepreneurial principles of a mutual benefit culture and:

• behave in a responsible way
• exercise self discipline
• strive to maintain a high level of ethics
• comply with company policy
• treat others as you like to be treated
• self motivate and stimulate mutual benefit awareness
• self manage
• create mightiness
• create self awareness
• create wakefulness to the collective responsibility

You can see how these principles will lead the need for less levels of management. It will also help management become more aware of their “real value” to the company.