The Future of Work is Here

While we frantically work towards containing the covid-19 pandemic, we can also begin to focus on how this might change the way we work forever.

Winston Churchill said “Never let a good crisis go waste”. We need to start thinking about what are the big opportunities that are being uncovered through this crisis.

Nature has forced us all to press that pause button and reflect and take stock of how we live, act and do business. In my coaching sessions, I often use the analogy of pressing the pause button and creating space to get on the balcony from the dance floor. The dance floor is our everyday madness of emails, meetings, data overload. The balcony is a place of reflection. This is where we can view the whole system around us, reflect, consolidate, challenge ourselves and think ahead. This crisis is asking leaders to be able to do both.

Be in the dance AND the balcony.

We need to address the practical challenges that this pandemic presents simply to keep our businesses running as well as be able to step away from the noise and begin to think ahead about what our businesses and workplaces will look like when we tide over this wave.

Governments are still grappling with the economic cost of this crisis and a long term global recession looks like a certainty along with a severely stressed medical infrastructure, a large displaced workforce, complete industries that will need more than just a bailout.

The way we work may never be the same again. 

In some ways, we have been catapulted 5-8 years ahead and the future of work is here to stay.

Remote working: This crisis feels like a large-scale global trial of managing a remote workforce. Each person is being asked to stretch themselves to find innovative ways to make remote working possible. Organisations are being forced to mass test their IT infrastructure to support a remote workforce. There has been a transformational capability uplift as complete professions go online- schools (I am hoping though this home schooling thing is short-lived for my sanity!), personal fitness, universities, allied health services, medical consultations.. and many more. This has opened up a whole new realm of working possibilities for the future that will engage a remote workforce which will be valued for the skills they offer rather than their geographical location or ability to be present on a desk!

Resilience and emotional well-being: Businesses are having to think about how to keep people resilient, motivated and engaged during these testing times. Well-being both physical and emotional have never before been this paramount in our thinking and business decision making. Leaders are having to prioritise employee and community safety and do this with kindness and compassion. How businesses and leaders respond and support their employees during this time will determine their long-term levels of trust  and employee engagement. Businesses will now moving forward need to shoulder a greater community responsibility and focus on employee well-being.

Connect to your organisation’s core purpose: Our purpose is our reason for being. 

Covid-19 has forced businesses to go back to their core purpose and be clear about why they exist for their customers, communities, shareholders and employees.

Organisations have had to question what is non-essential, unimportant and not aligned to their core purpose- their reason for being. In my work with teams, most leaders and teams are energised by the new shiny strategic and innovative projects however struggle to to answer the simple question "what can we stop doing". We as a corporate breed love to indulge in the business of busyness. Teams find it hard to let go and unknowingly carry the burden of legacy work systems while adding on new innovative and strategic projects. No surprises that when they look back only half of what they set out to achieve ever makes the finish line. 

As teams work through this crisis, a lot of the unimportant, non-essential stuff is simply not going to get done. Leaders and teams have to test their risk appetites and commit to focusing on what is absolutely core and critical to their business.

My crystal ball suggests that in the future businesses will think long and hard about what they do and if it aligns with their true purpose.

Living our Values: Values become forefront in crisis times and not just a poster on the wall. How organisations choose to act and treat their staff now will determine their future worthiness as a place to work. Businesses have had to make difficult decisions. Qantas has stepped down 2/3rd of their staff; airlines and cruise lines have grounded their fleet; Telstra has asked more than 20,000 customers to work from home; Nike and Apple shut down global stores a few weeks before lockdown became a way of life. Each of these decisions is demonstrating the true values of a business. While the bottom line and economic feasibility is critical, the choices businesses and leaders are having to make our unprecedented and are testing their values.

Businesses with a true growth mindset will reflect on how they acted in this crisis, their alignment with their espoused values and perhaps call out a new set of values that have emerged in this time as their top values.

Innovation: When toilet paper pellets in supermarkets have to be wheeled in with security personnel (akin to gold bullions being moved to a bank’s vault) what holds premium value is changing. This is forcing businesses to seek new opportunities and evaluate what they can do with their spare capacities…Shane Warne’s gin distillery and Louis Vuitton have both taken to manufacturing hand sanitiser; automobile manufacturers like Ford, GM and Tesla are looking to use their infrastructure to produce ventilators.

As is said, necessity is the mother of invention. Businesses big and small are looking out for innovative ways in which to continue to service to their customers … home delivery options for morning lattes, cafes and restaurants using their kitchen capacity to offer ready to go home cooked meals, special WFH shoes, online pilates, yoga and personal fitness sessions and the list is endless!  Employees are navigating uncharted territory and having to make up processes as they go. Teams are learning to fail fast and implement new ideas in short time frame- true agile working.

While I sincerely pray that this crisis ends soon and we are on the other side, I also hope that we retain the goodness that has come in these times.