The Covid 19 pandemic changed a lot for all of us. The impact has been across the globe. In the business context, organizations – small and big, and workers across the board have seen the impact. The way we work has changed. Our idea of office, workplace, and possibilities of remote as well as hybrid working have all evolved. All of these continue to trigger challenges and decision points for business leadership as well as the CHRO’s to ensure that their workplace practices enable and support the employees deliver as well as stay engaged.
The pandemic has dramatically changed how, when, and where work gets done. One’s dining table evolved as a conference table and the ironing board became the work desk for many. The new way of working led to productivity increase for some business with employees working remotely, for others it led to challenges of keeping the employees engaged and motivated.
Productivity increase for businesses came at the expense of the employee experience. Employee burnout, time spent in meetings, and the number of employees with mental health problems increased, while work-life balance, engagement and morale, and the number of employees reporting high levels of personal well-being decreased.
A new report from The Conference Board, Reshaping Employee Experience and Organizational Culture: Lessons From the Tumultuous Events of 2020 and 2021, identified six attributes that can help businesses rethink their talent strategies. The report is based on qualitative findings from interviews with seven thriving US-based organizations that reported gains in both productivity and employee engagement, along with quantitative data from an April 2021 survey of more than 200 HR leaders.
Successful organizations demonstrated most of these six attributes that can serve as lessons for those rethinking their talent strategies in a world of work forever changed by remote work:
No micromanaging: Trust your employees and offer flexibility.
- Thriving organizations trusted employees to make good decisions about when and how they performed their work. Employees
- 80 percent of survey respondents reported an increased focus on flexibility for employees—the single biggest change to organizational culture since the onset of the pandemic.
- Inherent in flexibility is trust that employees will deliver results without being closely monitored.
Silence isn’t golden: Communicate frequently and transparently.
- Frequent and transparent communication is required to build trust.
- 68 percent of surveyed companies increased focus on creating robust, consistent, and aligned communication strategies.
- More than half (56 percent) reported that leaders and managers engaged in regular two-way dialogue with employees.
- 34 percent said that ensuring the words and actions of leaders are consistent became more of a focus.
Indifference has never been more harmful: Make genuine caring a priority.
- More so than any other recent crisis, COVID-19 placed organizational focus on employees.
- Most organizations placed a priority on employee well-being and safety to support workers during the pandemic:
- 82 percent increased well-being initiatives.
- 81 percent implemented new safety guidelines in the workplace.
- Many businesses instructed leaders and managers to have regular check-in calls with staff, ensuring they were doing well, had the resources they needed, and felt connected with the company.
Beware of bias: Commit to inclusion.
- Creating an inclusive environment became a priority, with 59 percent of surveyed organizations increasing their focus on providing stronger support, guidance, and coaching for leaders and managers to do so.
- 43 percent increased their encouragement of employees to bring their full selves to work.
Keep your mission and purpose off the backburner: Amplify them widely and often.
- A common purpose can serve as a unifying force for remote and geographically dispersed employees.
- 45 percent of HR leaders surveyed indicated that since the onset of the pandemic, they had placed a greater focus on ensuring that mission, vision, and values are understood and widely championed.
Don’t let a crisis go to waste: See it as an opportunity to change and be agile.
- Those organizations that had already initiated HR transformations prior to 2020 used the recent crises as an opportunity to accelerate their transformation, rather than allowing the crises to impede it.
- Organizations need to be ready to seize opportunities and continue to evolve with everchanging obstacles to ensure their longevity.
Jasmine, an M.A (English) from Miranda House (Univ. of Delhi), is a freelance writer. She is Founder & Chief Word Crafter at word-craft.in, a content services venture offering content development and translation services. She has earlier worked with NIIT, Rupa publications, and PTI in areas of Instructional Design, Editing, and Journalism.