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Can innovation be learned? How a CEO and a conductor turned disaster into opportunity

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic transformed the way we work, play and communicate. However, it's at times like these that we see some of the most brilliant examples of innovation, particularly by entrepreneurs or small and medium-sized enterprises.

Published: 11 March 2021 08:00 CET
Updated: 19 April 2021 11:33 CEST
Can innovation be learned? How a CEO and a conductor turned disaster into opportunity
Pic: Rutger Verhoef
 
As we’ve all seen on social media, many people have used lockdowns and time working at home to create, innovate, and learn new skills. Some have performed concerts in their living room, while others have started businesses delivering groceries and other essential goods.
 
The Local has teamed up with GetSmarter, which provides online education courses in collaboration with leading universities such as the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), to take a closer look at how innovation thrives in adversity.
 
Need some inspiration yourself? We spoke to two readers of The Local – the CEO of a car-leasing company and an orchestra conductor – about the bold ideas that have allowed them to adapt. 
 
 
Driving a deal (no matter what)
 
Rutger Verhoef saw the writing on the wall as reports of the seriousness of coronavirus became more prevalent last year. As the CEO of car-leasing firm Gowago, based in Switzerland, he knew business could stall. Once it was clear that it would be difficult for customers to access car dealerships due to public health restrictions, he and his company quickly shifted into gear. 
 
Firstly, they established a cross-departmental taskforce to look for solutions. “Here, we highlighted all the problems we saw and could foresee, prioritized the biggest ones and started brainstorming,” says Verhoef. “We saw that doing the whole process online, including home delivery and automating the process were very important.”
 
Through clever use of commerce platforms, automation and networking, Verhoef and his team adapted to ensure “a customer can get a car without ever having to leave their house”. The CEO says this makes things much easier for customers by removing “complex processes and difficult face-to-face meetings with dealers”. “It also allows customers to get great deals at dealerships far away from their home,” he adds. 
 
Photo: John Axelrod
 
This pivot to digital has paid huge dividends. “Due to our transformation, we had a 60 percent month-over-month car sale growth on average last year since May. In terms of dealership growth, we had a 200 percent increase of dealer sign-ups over the course of the year, in comparison to what we had before the pandemic started.” 
 
It’s the skills required to make these sorts of snap decisions in the face of challenges – the ability to be flexible, resilient and think in a lateral manner – that LSE prioritizes in its Competitive Strategy and Innovation online certificate course, delivered in collaboration with GetSmarter. On the course, you’ll learn how to develop strategies to deal with sudden challenges on the macro and micro scale, an essential tool in the ever-changing 21st century. 
 
 
The music maestro who says the show must go on 
 
It’s not just small or medium enterprises that are innovating and turning adversity into an opportunity. American conductor John Axelrod, who divides his time between Switzerland, Italy and France, has devised ways to continue entertaining audiences and nurture the next generation of musicians. 
 
“I realized I’d be without music when cancellations started lining up from March 2020,” says Axelrod. “I realized I had to be more innovative when faced not only with lost revenue but also a loss of contact with others. As a conductor, we are dependent on an orchestra of musicians. In short, musicians play the instruments, and the conductors play the musicians. Without musicians, the rest is silence.
 
“However, study is a constant activity. Having a mentor to master the technique and repertoire not only helped my career, but I understood I could share my experience and help others during these turbulent times.”  
 
 
After starting Conductors Masterclass, in which he tutors upcoming orchestral conductors online, he quickly gained over 25 students from around the world. “Thanks to wifi, Skype and Zoom, I am again with musicians and reconnecting with more people than I did during my busy touring life,” he reflects. 
 
This is not Axelrod’s only innovation. Stuck at home during the pandemic, he knew he had more to give. 
 
“With the coronavirus closures, I was not only confined to my home in Chardonne, but I also immediately recognized the need to support my community and contribute to the local economy and tourism of my resident city,” he says. “Chardonne already has the benefit of an award-winning chef, Mathieu Bruno of Là Haut, and outstanding wines. What was missing was music at the highest level. 
 
“Drawing on my relationships, and with support from Chardonne and the Society of Development for Chardonne-Mt.Pélerin, I was able to establish the Concerts Culinaires de Chardonne. We successfully premiered our first event on September 26, 2020.”
 
These concerts, staged with a strict seating limit, and within pandemic guidelines, have allowed discerning customers to enjoy fantastic music and food, while providing much-needed work for musicians and chefs in the Chardonne region. 
 
So, has his inventive approach to the crisis led to increased attention and revenue? “I actually have received more views, likes and comments leading to increased inquiries and purchases,” he says. “The visibility and sales have generated new business revenue that I otherwise would not have experienced, including more economic activity in Switzerland.
 
“Following the Mozartian principle to turn a necessity into a virtue, I found new ways to express my entrepreneurial interests, allowing my motto to remain meaningful:  Eat, Drink and Be Musical!”
 
 

WORKING IN FRANCE

The rules on working from home in France

Working from home is increasingly common in France and Paris residents are being urged to consider it during the Olympics - so what rules and protections are in place for employees and employers?

Published: 26 April 2024 13:03 CEST
The rules on working from home in France

The pros and cons of homeworking were thrown into sharp relief during the Covid-19 pandemic – and it seems there are more pros than cons for many employees, who avoid having to commute to work one or more times per week.

For employers, the advantages are sometimes less clear, if articles about the benefits of going into the office are accurate. However, the fashion in France seems to be for a form of hybrid working, with those workers able to do so spending part of the week in the office and the rest working remotely.

Meanwhile some people just do it as needed – for example to avoid transport disruption during a strike or during the Paris Olympics for people who work in areas close to Games venues.

If you do want to work remotely in France – or if your employer has asked you to – are as follows:

Negotiate

Private sector employees can negotiate an agreement to work remotely full- or part-time. If you ask to work from home for any number of days per week on a long-term basis, your boss has the right to refuse, but must give a reason. 

Your boss can also ask you to work from home. In normal circumstances, you can refuse and don’t have to provide a reason. However, in the event of exceptional circumstances (such as, for example, a pandemic), remote working may be imposed on employees without their agreement.

Either way, it’s considered sensible to have the agreement down in writing so that everyone knows where they stand. It also means that no one will get shouted at during any health and safety inspection.

It’s a good idea to check any conventions collectifs – collective agreements – that exist in your profession or workplace. They may well have covered remote working already, so it is well worth checking out what this covers before beginning negotiations – as well as working time, the agreements may also cover things like whether your company will buy you a special chair and whether you can put in an expenses claim for extra electricity used on your work-from-home days.

The remote-working rules for public sector workers are different and slightly more complex.

Contract conditions

Assuming you are not a self-employed contractor, you remain an employee of the company with the same rights and responsibilities you have when working in the office. But if you switch to home-working permanently, your employers must provide written conditions of your working practices.

Among these must be a protocol for working hours and workflow regulation.

Employer and employee must also agree – before you start remote working – times when your boss can contact you at home, in order to preserve your right to a private life. This will usually be during office hours, obviously. But it also means your boss can’t assume you’ll be tied to your desk permanently just because you don’t have a commute.

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In all other aspects, the employee is under the same obligations as if they worked in the office full-time. You must respect your employer’s instructions, working hours and rules on using office equipment or systems.

Work equipment

Speaking of which… when an employee is working from home, the employer must provide, install and maintain any necessary equipment.

If the employed remote worker uses their own equipment, the employer has to ensure it is appropriate for the job and is maintained. Be aware, self-employed contractors, such as remote-working freelances, will often be expected to have and use their own equipment.

For employees who work from home, however, setting up home-working should not entail any personal additional costs. Employers must supply and maintain equipment that you reasonably need. How that equipment is supplied – whether it’s direct from the employer, or by reimbursement of the cost of setting up a work-station at home, can be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Rules on the use of company equipment at home – including, for example, limits on personal use – will likely remain the same as those in the office, but you should get this in writing before you start any shifts at home.

READ ALSO Micro-entrepreneur: How to set up as a small business in France

Allowances and expenses

Working from home will mean that personal electricity bills rise as workers use their own electricity for lights, coffee machines/kettles and computers.

Any fixed expenses – such as stationary, phone calls, printer cartridges, for example – can be claimed back from your employer on the production of receipts.

You are also entitled to ask your employer to share some of the cost of utilities like electricity, internet and heating.

If you work in a job where you receive restaurant vouchers, these cannot be withdrawn if you switch to home-working.

Data protection

The employer has an obligation to protect any customer and company data used and processed by its employees, including remote workers, whether the worker uses the employer’s equipment or their own.

Health and safety

If you are working at home, your residence becomes your workplace for that day, with all that implies legally. For example, if you fall down your own stairs on a day you are working from home, that could count as a workplace accident and your employer could be liable.

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