Kevin Tan discusses keeping operations running while protecting the company’s employees, implementing their digitization efforts, discovering opportunities despite the pandemic, and his hopes for a post-pandemic future.
For nearly two years, the country has been plagued by the pandemic, lockdowns, and regulations that have taken a toll on businesses. This can prove to be hopeless for business leaders as they struggle to keep operations running. Despite this, Kevin Tan, the CEO of Alliance Global Group Inc., remains optimistic that the pandemic will turn into an endemic sometime this February. He believes that all the businesses under Alliance Global, especially those affected by the restrictions, will greatly benefit from Covid case levels going down once again. According to Tan, “this will definitely speed up the reopening of the economy and will likely result in lesser or no restrictions at all, which our businesses are largely dependent on.”
Tan states that the greatest strength of Alliance Global is its diverse business portfolio which includes various industries such as retail, food, beverages, and hospitality. Under Alliance Global are Megaworld, Emperador, Travellers/ Resorts World Manila, Mcdonald’s Phil, and Infracorp. While businesses were closing during the pandemic, Tan took this as the time to learn valuable lessons to further grow his company and to prepare for a post-pandemic world. In the February digital issue of Lifestyle Asia, the business leader discussed how he keeps operations running despite the global pandemic along with his hopes for the future of businesses once this ends.
Protecting the Employees
During the global pandemic, Tan made the health and well-being of his employees his number one priority. According to him, “We know that our people are our greatest resource and our goal has always been to keep them and their families safe and secure.” First, Tan ensured job security for his employees wherein they were able to retain their jobs and still get their monthly salaries. Along with this, he provided care packages and financial support to those employees that got sick. Lastly, as soon as the vaccines became available, Alliance Global made sure that their employees would immediately get vaccinated.
Digitization Efforts
Kevin Tan realized that no company was spared from the economic toll of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to him, what kept Alliance Global afloat despite the restrictions brought by the pandemic was his company’s digitization efforts. He stated that, “by pursuing a contactless strategy and migrating to more digital processes, we were able to connect and fully address the immediate needs and remain relevant to our customers and clients, while ensuring business continuity.” Alliance Global’s digitization efforts included e-wallets, digital payment systems, contactless parking, virtual showrooms, and after-sales service.
New Opportunities
Instead of focusing on its negative aspects, Tan used the pandemic as a way to identify any gaps in Alliance Global’s management plans. Aside from ensuring the health and safety of his employees, Tan also needed to prioritize the company’s financial future. With this, Alliance Global was able to calibrate their strategies to adapt to the new normal. In doing so, “this allowed us to remain functional and fully operate within the limitations of the business environment,” Tan stated. One example of Alliance Global’s strategies to adapt to the pandemic was increasing its outdoor dining spaces. Alfresco dining became the trend during the pandemic since it was the safest way of dining in restaurants. Another achievement that Tan was most proud of was repurposing spaces that were not being used in malls and townships as vaccination centers which allowed LGUs to distribute the vaccines more efficiently.
Kevin Tan Hopes for the Future
Tan looks forward to welcoming everyone back to the malls, hotels, and tourism development once the pandemic comes to an end. According to the businessman, “Nothing satisfies me more than being able to bring added value and happiness to families and our customers and I am very optimistic that we will be able to open our doors to everyone once this pandemic is over.” Tan remains optimistic for the future and believes that the lessons he learned after going through a global health crisis will only help his company deal with future economic disturbances.
Head on over to https://lifestyleasia.onemega.com/a-better-tomorrow-kevin-tan-alliance-global-and-philippine-business-look-forward-to-a-bright-hopefully-near-post-pandemic-future/ for the full story.