Covid-19 has completely transformed how employers view the employee experience. On all fronts, organizations are now getting accustomed to playing an expanded role in their employees’ financial, physical and mental well-being. The employee experience will hold a coveted position for many years to come because it is the very heart and soul of an organization’s work culture. I recently had the opportunity to be on the panel for a webinar at The 2nd Strategy World – Digital Summit & Awards 2021 presented by Terragni Consulting (P) Ltd.
Nuggets of wisdom ranging from redefining critical roles, leveraging big data, up skilling and reskilling and mapping digital-first employee touch points were extensively discussed with HR leaders across functions and industries. Here are my thoughts on how organizations can take it in their stride and smartly redesign themselves to meet changing needs.
Speed Up & Delegate Decision Making
The pandemic has shown us that it is possible to make decisions faster without disrupting the flow of work. Practically speaking, this translates to fewer meetings and fewer decision makers in each meeting. This sounds easy enough, right? But while some organizations are taking to heart the ‘nine on a videoconference’ principle, others are hosting larger 30-40 person meetings! Companies are also increasing the cadence of decisions, taking on the mantra that “quarterly is the new annual.” And I believe that holding just-in-time, fit-for-purpose planning and resource allocation on a quarterly instead of on an annual basis is not only faster, but also makes the organization more flexible.
Redefining Critical Roles
Before COVID-19, critical roles boiled down to the capabilities that an organization needed to meet their strategic goals. But now, employers are realizing that the focus needs to shift to another category of roles that are critical to the success of essential workflows. And in order to build an efficient workforce, organizations need to encourage their people to develop critical skills that can potentially open up multiple opportunities for their career development, rather than simply preparing them for a specific next role. One of the leading ways to do this is by creating small, nimble teams who can collaboratively work towards a common set of objectives that are tracked and measured.
Will 2021 Be A Year That Companies Thrive Amidst Chaos?
The best way to prepare for the future is to take a good look at what’s on the horizon for the future of work.
Leveraging Big Data for Agility & Supercharging Up Skilling Opportunities
On a positive note, big data has enabled countries to carry out contact tracing effectively and utilize 3D printers to produce the much-needed PPE kits at local levels in the absence of the usual supply chains. The World Economic Forum (WEF) hit the nail right on the head when driving home the message that agility, scalability and automation will be the buzzwords for this new era of business, and those who have these capabilities will emerge as winners! Forward-thinking companies are now accelerating their capability-building efforts by developing leadership and critical thinking skills at different levels of the organization, increasing their employees’ capacity to engage with technology and use advanced analytics, and building functional skills for the future, such as next-generation procurement, industry 4.0 manufacturing, and digital marketing and sales. This brings us to the question:-
What Will Change & What Will Remain The Same In A Post-COVID World?
Research indicates that 48% of employees will likely work remotely at least part of the time after COVID-19 versus 30% before the pandemic. Godrej Housing Finance was launched during the lockdown and over 60% of our employees were recruited and onboarded virtually, we also opened our offices during this period, we are delighted with the response we have received from the customers and the market and we are excited about what the future. A combination of emerging job models, remote hiring, talent sharing and the autonomy that employees now have to decide which hours of the day they can log in is all part of the silent revolution in the global workforce.
Introducing a New Talent Pool of Gig Workers
With remote working becoming much more acceptable to many more companies across industries, they are increasingly looking for gig workers for roles in HR operations, customer support, transactions/operations processing, marketing & sales, software development, IT support, graphic design, business analytics, data science processing and data analysis. By lifting the traditional barriers of physically working under the same roof, companies have been able to open their doors and hire white collar gig professionals for roles in legal, finance, IT, strategy and marketing. Hiring and retaining the best of the best means that companies also have to look at the finer details including employee well-being policies, enhanced healthcare and flexible work opportunities.
Empathy As A Key Component In Creating & Maintaining A Strong Workplace Culture
In my opinion, empathy is best practiced through continuous listening. At Godrej Housing Finance for example, we have moved away from annual engagement surveys to quarterly pulse checks as a way of capturing employee sound bites on aspects of safety, security, managerial support and individual purpose. Our action plans are not just one year plans anymore, but are more immediate and actionable. So when we realized that employees were concerned about the affordability of site travel given that public transport is inaccessible or potentially unsafe, we introduced a corporate scheme wherein they could book an OLA for work-related travel which would be company paid. We also are concerned about the mental health of our employees and so offer counselling services. Employee support at Godrej includes enhanced sick leave, financial assistance, adjusted hours of operation and childcare provisions. For example, early during the lockdown, we launched tele-medicine services with a qualified vendor for employees, their families and our vendor partners so that they could speak to qualified doctors.
Setting the Course for New Age Leadership
Even though healthcare measures and well-being programs take care off an employee’s safety and physiological needs, it is equally important to address esteem needs, belonging needs and self-actualization needs. With teams now working remotely, their flow of communication is more or less compromised. They can no longer bond over impromptu in-person meetings or discuss work over a cup of coffee. Conducting regular virtual meetings and opening the lines of communication via tools like Zoom, MS Teams, Slack and Skype will help lessen the communication gap and nurture belonging needs. With regard to esteem needs, it is apparent that managers and peers can no longer keep the feedback loop going and recognize their remote employees in person. Which is why, at GHF, we have created an in-house recognition portal where employees can appreciate each other for demonstrating the GHF Values. The core idea is to make appreciation less top-down, instant and more democratic.
As leaders, we need to adopt flexible patterns of working, ensure that smart work becomes the norm, empower our teams to gain digital skills and most importantly, lead with compassion.
Ruhie Pande 