Forged in the COVID-19 fire

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/12/2021 (1749 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the calendar prepares to turn to a new year, attention (and hope) turns to the future: Will 2022 be better?

One certainty is that employees want to see a more human workplace, one that communicates a strong purpose that grabs the attention of employees and motivates them to move the organization forward. As the pandemic wreaked havoc with work environments, leaders resorted to trial and error and on-the-spot adaptation. The result was that “learning” organizations fared much better in managing through the serious issues raised during the public health crisis.

Thus, part of the challenge going forward is how to be successful in a world that is facing an unknown future where multiple disruptions can occur at the same time. Witness the recent pandemic that has created public health and food security issues, personal and public health supply issues, travel and general supply chain issues and increased living and business costs because of inflation. Witness the impact of the very recent tornadoes in the U.S. How does a community as well as its organizations survive these ordeals?

Yet, if leaders and individuals alike focus too long on any one issue of negativity, they will soon start to feel overwhelmed! So, this is the time when some good old-fashioned advice can come into play; namely, focus on what you can control.

This narrow focus was exactly what many organizations seized upon during the pandemic. Their goal was to keep employees working and to continue providing services as best they could. This resulted in many changes to human resources policies, work structures and leadership attitudes that supported the quick change of strategy. Here are some additional changes to consider:

Ongoing flexibility: The last 21 months confirm that working from home works. Not only that but many employees like this type of flexibility. It definitely has its advantages. For instance, some organizations are already downsizing their physical space and creating hybrid work schedules. As well, employees are finding significantly reduced costs for their vehicle, clothing and lunch expenditures, and appreciate the amount of personal time saved as well. Schedule flexibility will certainly continue.

Creative connections: The pandemic required very creative initiatives to help ensure ongoing teamwork, reduce any sense of isolation and focus on productivity. This helped management to realize the significant impact interpersonal connections can have on strengthening and ensuring the bond between employees and employers. HR professionals will have to continue to lead the charge in rebuilding and sustaining an organizational culture that confirms connections to organizational mission and purpose.

Employee engagement: In the past, employee feedback was only occasionally sought. However, the pandemic served to identify that employee opinion and perceptions are far more important to job satisfaction and employee engagement than was given credit in the past. Thus, 2022 will see more outreach to employees for real-time feedback, the implementation of new initiatives in the area of reward and recognition, as well as other strategies to improve employee experience.

Focus on health and well-being: The pandemic provided a powerful experience in terms of helping organizations recognize and accept the importance of employee health and well-being. Illness and absenteeism significantly impacted the ability of an organization to deliver services, which in turn impacted profitability and/or the ability to meet the needs of their clients. Leaders also got a first-hand lesson on how rapidly an illness can spread in the workplace and the importance of sanitizing in all areas of operation. There was certainly a strong lesson learned on the importance of employee accommodation that will carry over into 2022.

Leadership training: Leadership training will combine technical training such as project management, and managing in a crisis while at the same time focusing on the softer side of management such as the need for empathy. Programs will also focus on diversity, race relations, flexibility as an attitude, and how to develop raw talent as well as resurrecting programs such as continuous improvement.

Role of Human resources: In many cases, it was the HR professional that led the charge in moving employees to remote work, changing HR policies as required and managing crises as they arose. Going forward, organizations have finally recognized the importance of HR professionals being at the decision-making table.

Personalizing recognition: While reward and recognition programs have been around for a long time, the pandemic has changed the focus toward a more personal approach. This means focusing more on what motivates an individual. Some employees appreciate a public group recognition while others would like a quiet lunch with a senior leader. Still others would like to select their own award or recognition. Moving forward with, simply ask employees what they would like.

Role of technology: The pandemic certainly brought attention to the importance of technology especially as organizations shifted to remote work. Suddenly, the idea of video conferencing moved from an extra tool to a necessity. It created the need for new protocols for holding meetings and for overall security of corporate information. The key going forward is to make any new tools as simple as possible and to ensure effective employee training. Technology will continue to be used to engage in culture-building activities as well as data gathering and analysis.

Source: How HR Leaders are forging a path without a playbook, Mallory Hendry, HRD, Nov 8, 2021, 5 Culture Trends for 2022, O.C Tanner Institute Global Culture Report.

Barbara J. Bowes, FCPHR, B.Ed, M.Ed, CCP is an author, radio personality, speaker, executive coach and workshop leader. She can be reached at barb@legacybowes.com and/or barb@bowesleadership.com.