by Stéfanie Rochford, CRHA
The worldwide pandemic that we are currently experiencing will cause lasting repercussions and changes in our work environment, our methodologies and our values.
- HYBRID WORK ENVIRONMENT
Many senior managers mention that the work environment that we once knew before the pandemic is a thing of the past. A hybrid formula integrating both teleworking and the corporate office will now be the new reality.
Teleworking offers many advantages as indicated by Jean-Pierre Chabot, MBA, Professional Coach and former Vice-President of Shared Operations at Sun Life Financial:
“ Once you have offered teleworking, it also becomes an important retention tool and represents savings in both time and money for the employee and the employer ”.
- AGILE MANAGEMENT
Isabelle Lord, CRHA and President at Lord Communication Managériale mentions that it is important for a manager to adapt his or her style of leadership to every member of the team in order to respect the objectives and to efficiently manage productive virtual team conferences and meetings.
To this effect, Euvin Naidoo, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School indicates that to battle and deal with this formidable threat, the Agile methodology is very relevant in times of rapid change and uncertainty:
- People over processes and tools;
- Working prototypes over excessive documentation;
- Respond to change rather than follow a plan;
- Customer collaboration over rigid contract.
- SOCIAL CAPITAL
Teleworking has many benefits but the corporate office will always be an important part of the reality in order to maintain and build the social capital and to avoid it’s depreciation.
Many companies have innovated and organized informal conversations, virtual happy hours and created platforms for spontaneous conferences.
In a recent article in the Financial Times, Paco Ybarra, CEO at CITI Bank mentions that:
«… the return to the office will eventually be required to preserve the social capital that is built up when teams work face-to-face. At some point, you would see depreciation of that capital and then you would start seeing problems. «
- REORGANIZING WORK
Make work portable across the organization. According to a Harvard Business Review article, Bank of America is temporarily converting more than 3000 employees from across the bank into positions to deal with the onslaught of calls from clients.
As an additional example, Twitter has decided to allow teleworking on a permanent basis and that the employees will each decide when or if they wish to return to the office thus creating the hashtag #LoveWhereverYouWork.
- DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
The impact of the pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation. We are experiencing a technological shift and to redesign the business model is now critical.
McKinsey and Company indicate that the Covid-19 recovery will be digital and that we have vaulted five years forward in consumer and business digital adoption in a matter of eight weeks.
- CORPORATE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBLITY
Millennials and Gen Z currently represent 50% of the active work force and will increase to a staggering 75% in 2025 according to Inc.com. These generations value ethical consumption, flexible work environment with teleworking, social responsibility and an inclusive culture.
Perceptive employers in tune with these generations and of their social and environmental responsibilities who will adapt their strategies will have an important competitive edge to attract and retain talent, a challenge in these preeminent times.
Stefanie Rochford, CRHA