Table of Contents

Table of Contents

COVID-19 Resource Center

Hanover is closely following the COVID-19 coronavirus as the disease spreads throughout the U.S. and around the world. Through this website, as the situation develops, we are providing our clients up-to-date industry and employer guidance.

The COVID-19 Resource Center provides you with clear, actionable information to help your company design its response to COVID-19. Hanover has chosen these public-domain resources and created a reference guide to track news updates, evolving corporate approaches, messaging, and tools to inform your company’s COVID-19 response.

How We Can Help

In addition to the information included in this resource center, Hanover is committed to providing you with up-to-date research to help you address COVID-19 related challenges as the situation continues to develop. The following products and services are designed specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Situation Report

To understand the economic, political, and public health trajectories of the COVID-19 crisis, Hanover updates its COVID-19 Situation Report on a weekly basis. After initially tracking the evolution of the pandemic by comparing the case of the United States, China, and Italy, Hanover is now focusing on the federal and state level responses to COVID-19 and the re-opening of the U.S. economy.

Download our COVID-19 Situation Report

COVID-19 Consumer Impact and Spending Tracker

Hanover Research is conducting ongoing tracking of U.S. general population sentiment towards COVID-19 using indicators that include financial, economic, and employment impact and spending behaviors within essential and non-essential product categories. This dashboard allows you to benchmark and track consumer spend, frequency, and channel across product categories as leading indicators of economic recovery. The data collection instrument, an online survey, launched on April 20, 2020 and data is refreshed every other week. Click here to see an overview of the dashboard.

COVID-19 Business Conditions Tracker

Track your peers’ perceptions of business conditions and their response during this crisis. Hanover has created a dashboard that allows you to compare how your business is affected and how it is responding compared to your peers within and across industries. This survey was launched on March 16th and is updated weekly. Click here to see an overview of the dashboard.

View a live sampler version of the COVID-19 Business Conditions Tracker dashboard or download our COVID-19 Business Response Snapshot report for a summary of findings from the tracker.

COVID-19 Industry-Level Media Monitors

To stay current on how COVID-19 is affecting your industry and its social and news media, Hanover has eight COVID-19 media monitors covering 11 key industries including:

  • Beverages
  • Food
  • Household Goods
  • Containers/Packaging
  • Automotive
  • Building Products
  • Education Technology & Publishing
  • Electrical Products
  • Industrial Machinery
  • Managed Health Care
  • Medical Devices

Each monitor reports information on:

  • Financial Impact – Track stock prices of market leaders in your industry.
  • Social Media Impact – Follow Twitter activity related to COVID-19 for these companies.
  • News Media Impact – Watch news stories develop around industry leaders’ responses to COVID-19.

Hanover houses these monitors on the COVID-19 Monitors tab in your Hanover Digital Portal. They are updated daily, and we invite you to visit them often and follow the evolution of COVID-19 crisis through the social and news media coverage of your industry.

Geotargeting Dashboard

Hanover’s new Geotargeting Dashboard (client login required) allows companies to target geographically – at the county level – potential markets where key COVID-19 public-health criteria have been met based on guidance for reopening provided by the White House and the WHO. The dashboard also reports associated economic and demographic data to allow for more precise targeting and characterization of customer populations.

Brand Sentiment and Messaging During COVID-19

Deploy Hanover’s Brand Sentiment and Messaging During COVID-19 Study to understand how to communicate and build a relationship with your customer base during COVID-19. Preliminary research suggests that even if consumers are not spending in specific product categories, brands have an opportunity to build trust and brand loyalty during this time of uncertainty. It is important to begin now to lay the foundation for consumer tracking as the U.S. economy starts to reopen and consumers enter a “new normal.”

  • This online survey will assess the type of content and frequency of communication customers want to receive during the COVID-19 pandemic and allows for a comparison of how current and prospective customers’ spending habits in a specific product category compare to the U.S. general population. These data will allow you to build a strong relationship with your customer base to ensure customer retention during the crisis and subsequent reopening.
  • To implement this survey, Hanover needs a contact list of your customer base. We can also survey prospective or potential customer via a third-party panel vendor.
  • Hanover will contribute $500 to incentive costs, for either customer list incentives to encourage participation or the CPI for panel participants, all free of charge.
  • If you are interested in deploying this survey, please let your Client Engagement Director know.
 

COVID-19 Perceptions and Impact Survey

Deploy Hanover’s Perceptions and Impact Survey to your customer base to understand their concerns and how COVID-19 is affecting their decision making and brand loyalty. Answer key questions such as:

  • How significantly will COVID-19 impact your customer’s purchase decisions?
  • How long do your customers anticipate COVID-19 will impact their purchase decisions?
  • How much revenue is at risk across your customer base given concerns surrounding COVID-19?
  • How will customer sentiment toward and purchase decisions impacted by COVID-19 fluctuate over time?

Comparative Competitive Response Analysis

To compare your response to the COVID-19 crisis to your competitors, Hanover will use publicly available information to examine your competitors’ responses to the market opportunities and threats presented by the COVID-19 crisis. This analysis can frame your strategic response, in the short- and long-term, to COVID-19.

  • Assess competitor communications in corporate websites and social media platforms
  • Spot competitive tactics such as changes to products or services, sales and marketing activities, and logistics and customer service activities
  • Surface emerging trends in response to the COVID-19 crisis

See how one company used Hanover’s Comparative Competitive Response Analysis to assess their competitors’ responses to COVID-19 and improve their positioning.

The Latest Information About COVID-19

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tracker

Understand the prevalence of COVID-19 when considering decisions about your reopening with our dashboard, presenting county- and state-level statistics on COVID-19 cases and testing.

Key Elements in Designing a Corporate Response

In building your plan, refer to Hanover’s recommendations in its most recent COVID-19 Situation Report. Hanover currently recommends:

  • Expecting prolonged economic impact, a federal focus on economic policy, and a state focus on public health policy
  • Acting as corporate stewards of public health and preparing for extended effects on business
  • Monitoring regional coalitions and state policies for timing and pauses of reopening phases and maintaining a public health focus in reopening business
  • Developing a tailored reopening plan that is flexible, health-focused, and rooted in data

Download our COVID-19 Situation Report to learn more.

Overall Guidance

Legal & Regulatory

Legislative

Administrative

  • According to the EEOC, employers may encourage telework as a reasonable accommodation during a pandemic influenza.
  • OPM’s guidance to federal agencies offering telework policies include suggestions to allow the maximum possible number of employees to transition to telework during the crisis.
  • According to the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, benefits will change frequently like telehealth benefits and coding updates.
  • The USDA and Department of Labor have announced a partnership to assist H-2A employers in identifying foreign and domestic workers who make be available to transfer to U.S. agricultural sector employers with workforce needs.
  • Snyk has provided its managers with a work-from-home policy specific to a quarantine context.

Operational

PTO & Sick Leave

  • According to EEOC, Short-Term Disability may be covered by ADA as an extended unpaid leave period or a modified schedule until the employee recovers.
  • Under the Family First Coronavirus Response Act, employers with fewer than 500 employees must provide 12 weeks of protected leave to eligible employees unable to work because their child’s school or place of care has been closed.
  • The CARES Act provided workers more paid sick leave and made some minor amendments to the FFCRA.
  • The Amazon Relief Fund is administered by the Emergency Assistance Foundation and  provides relief funding for delivery drivers and seasonal workers through the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Several major retail and restaurant chains, including Apple, Walmart, Starbucks, and Trader Joe’s, have changed their benefits and leave policies in response to COVID-19.
  • Read Olive Garden’s announcement of permanent paid sick leave for all hourly employees.

Travel Guidelines

Webinar Recording – Customer Journey Mapping During Uncertainty

Shifting customer and consumer needs and buying patterns could have lasting effects as the timeline for getting “back to normal” remains elusive—making it crucial to understand the path to purchase. Find out how to support your customers and consumers in their new normal was we walk you through creating a customer journey map.

Reopening for Business

Hanover has collected these resources to provide companies the best frameworks for re-opening through the development of a tailored, flexible plan that prioritizes the health and safety of both employees and customers. Flexibility will be critical as reopening pauses and policy shifts.

Government Reopening Policy and Recommendations

Employee and Employer Rights

Employee Benefits Changes

  • Read up on temporary or permanent employee benefits and policy changes to consider related to service provider contracts, and health & welfare and compensation plans.
  • Explore how other employers have made potentially permanent improvements to employee benefits spurred by COVID-19.
  • Beyond federal and state guidance on health benefit-related compliance, read Bloomberg Law’s article on additional considerations related to health information privacy and security and vendor management.
  • Read how Target is supporting employees during the pandemic through the extension of enhanced wages and benefits.

Corporate Reopening Examples

  • Nextdoor offers an extensive list of important steps to safely reopen retail stores.
  • Reference the Society for Human Resource Management guide titled “Reopening Your Workplace” which provides guidelines, checklists, and tips.
  • Use this framework from Morgan Lewis to develop plans for reopening while updating business continuity plans for a potential recurrence.
  • Refer to Lear Corporation’s Safe Work Playbook to learn how to protect your workforce while kick-starting your manufacturing facilities.
  • Read the Wall Street Journal’s compendium of responses by Corporate America to the problem of reopening.
  • Read FoodNavigator’s blog for updated information on food and beverage company responses, impacts, and consumer sentiments during the pandemic.
  • Follow the responses of retailers in store closures, changes in hours, and steps taken to protect employees and customers in Retail Dive’s tracker.
  • Use this guide from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to help businesses reopen.
  • Use the National Restaurant Association’s Reopening Guidance for reopening businesses in the restaurant industry.
  • Consider the Event Safety Alliance Reopening Guide for venue and event professionals as municipalities begin to allow small group gatherings.

Future Workspaces

COVID-19 Impact on Consumer Spending

To keep up with shifting consumer behaviors and preferences, Hanover Research has collected bi-weekly data on consumer spending related to COVID-19 since April 20, 2020. Get key findings from the first wave of data to benchmark and track consumer spend, frequency, and channels across product categories.

Developing Your COVID-19 Communications Strategy

Hanover has collected a number of resources to help companies design crisis communication plans to communicate their responses to COVID-19. Below are some sources companies are using to implement a communications strategy.

Designing a Communications Strategy for COVID-19

Do’s and Don’ts in COVID-19 Communications

Marketing and Communications for a Global Crisis

Resources from the Top PR Agencies

Communicating Your Reopening Strategy

Communicating Your COVID-19 Response to Your Customers

These outreach communications provide examples of different communications U.S. companies are using in implementing a communications strategy.

Operational Policy Change

New Product Offering or Product Promotion

Service Rescheduling or Cancellation

Preventative Measures

COVID-19 Business Response Snapshot

Stay up-to-date on how U.S. businesses are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with our Business Response Snapshot.

Responses of Major U.S. Business Organizations to COVID-19

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