Standing Tall in Times of Crisis

We are experiencing a global event the likes of which we have never seen.

The global spread of COVID-19 has caused immeasurable disruption for families everywhere and to individuals, to businesses, and to our global economy. Although the individual cost to those directly affected by the coronavirus is tragic and cannot be ignored, as leaders, we too must focus on guiding our teams through uncertainty and troubled times.

As of this morning, there were more than 4,600 cases of the novel coronavirus confirmed in the United States. That number is expected to climb significantly over the next few weeks if transmission rates continue as expected.

Although daunting predictions and worrying headlines are cause to drive pessimism, I believe that we as business leaders have a responsibility to set the tone — and to guide our teams to make real impact despite the tough challenges that lie ahead.

Pluralsight’s Response

At Pluralsight, we have taken a number of steps to protect our team members, partners, and customers. We have been monitoring the situation around the globe and have continued to evolve our response and policies on a day-by-day basis. I have met frequently with senior leaders at Pluralsight to evaluate events as they unfold and ensure we make decisions that keep the health and safety of team members, partners, customers, community and shareholders in mind.

Here are a few examples of policies that we have put in place:

• Team Members — Most importantly, we are taking care of all of our team members to ensure they receive pay for their scheduled work hours. We want to provide this stability so our team members don’t have to worry about whether or not they’re able to make ends meet.
• Social Distancing — One of the first steps we took was to restrict business travel around the globe. We have also implemented a mandatory global work from home policy through March 27, and will continue to revisit and re-evaluate the policy as the situation evolves. That policy includes restricting office badge access to our offices.
• Modified Events — We have also canceled all Pluralsight marketing and sales events indefinitely. This includes changing Pluralsight LIVE Europe, our annual European user conference, from an in-person to a virtual event.
• Communication — Throughout it all, we have worked to proactively communicate new policies and updates to those impacted. We have leveraged our company intranet to create a site that features live real-time updates to keep all team members on the same page. We have also hosted events such as virtual company town halls and “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) sessions where questions can be answered in a timely and authentic way by me and my executive team.

Supporting our Partners and Learners

In addition to the steps we’re taking to ensure the health and safety of our team members, I believe strongly that in times of crisis it is equally important to contribute and uplift the community. In these unpredictable times, we are seeing many companies moving to a WFH and remote event strategy. We are reaching out to our customer and partner communities and offering assistance with a free guide and courses on remote work and leading remote teams.

Additionally, I am excited to announce that we are offering free access to conference content on the Pluralsight platform. This will enable learners to use these times to stay on top of the latest trends and developments in technology. We have also offered conference organizers the opportunity to host their conference content on the Pluralsight platform free of charge to enable them to reach wider audiences.

We see our platform as a solution that can provide valuable aid during this challenging time — companies are focused on keeping their team members safe first, and then thinking about how to keep their business running as best they can which means also keeping team members engaged. Some leaders and teams need remote and online learning tools now more than ever before.

Pluralsight One, our social enterprise, is also exploring every way it can support the community of nonprofits and educational institutions that are most impacted by COVID-19. As such, Pluralsight One is expanding access to our nonprofit and K-12 education solutions to partners and customers so they can leverage our technology to educate more students, improve resources for teachers as they respond to school closures and the need for digital curriculum, and equip nonprofit with the tech skills that enable them to scale their services to those most in need. We are also helping Pluralsight team members to have opportunities to give and embrace volunteerism in a way that balances safety with providing valuable community service.

Leading Boldly

Finally, it is imperative that we all come together and that our leaders provide direction in a time of uncertainty. Our teams are looking to us for guidance and now is the time to provide a steady example and demonstrate how living our core values produces the best outcomes. The essence of leadership is the ability to forge a new future.

As such, I have joined hundreds of other CEOs in the pledge to #StopTheSpread of coronavirus. I invite you to join us in that pledge to protect our communities and the people that matter most in our lives by practicing social distancing and following the guidance of the WHO, CDC and local, state, and national leaders. Let’s learn from our fellow citizens in Italy. Working together, we can save lives and forge a path to a speedy and strong recovery.

Although the world faces tremendous challenges in navigating an unpredictable scenario, we all have the ability to create that new future together with a vision that shows our values and what we stand for. It is up to us to make it so.