Don’t wait for the Government to determine your organisation’s ‘normal’ once lockdown is over.

Successful businesses understand the value of investing in their culture. Culture defines brand personality and customer engagement. Everything from your recruitment process onwards should be developed with your culture in mind.

So the impact of our current lockdown on your organisational culture should not be underestimated. Whether you have employees coming to a place of work or your employees are working from home, adapting to new ways of working has become paramount. Even those who have been furloughed will hopefully return to the business at some stage and need to be considered. Developing and maintaining organisational culture is central to easing this transition.

Furloughed, office-based or home-working; each category of employee has a role to play in the future of your business and each will be experiencing a range of different emotions which have the potential to impact the overall culture of your business. If your teams have been forced to work remotely, staying in touch by email, phone or video makes it even harder to gauge emotions.

The constant stream of information and meetings has intensified, with the risk of employees feeling increasing pressure to achieve the same or more work with fewer resources (i.e. laptop screen only; no printers; no proper desk). In addition, the pressures of working in what may well be a more distracted environment with partners and children occupying the same space will undoubtedly have an impact on productivity and employee wellbeing.

Throw in the effects of isolation, both from a mental health and people optimisation perspective, and it is a heady mix of influences for you to manage as a business leader. How do you do the right thing for your team, your customers and your business, whilst also looking after your own wellbeing?

If you have put a lot of work into building your team and allowing them to be the best they can be, how does the business change when your team no longer feel they - or their colleagues - are making the same contribution to business growth traits such as creativity, knowledge sharing and problem solving? These are issues you as a leader need to address. You need to re-evaluate your priorities, reconsider how the strengths of your team members can contribute to revised business goals and be prepared to adapt - fast. Don’t be afraid to ask people to do things differently. It’s often been said that the most dangerous words in the English language are “we’ve always done it this way!” Now is the time to do something different - your job is to ensure your team feel comfortable on this path.

Many will relish the opportunity to bring greater flexibility to their work / family life balance. Recognise those that do, but ensure those that struggle are given the support they need too.  

The best employers recognise empowering their staff to adapt their working hours to accommodate multi-workers and children being at home is the right thing to do.  You need to focus on the outcomes more than the journey. If employees are achieving their objectives, are there any real issues if their journey to that goal has taken a different path?

Your bigger challenge may be how to adapt once lockdown is over. Start thinking now about what the ‘new normal’ will look like for your business. Your customers could very well have different expectations of your business, so consider what can or should change amongst your team in response. Will your employees be trusted to manage workloads and juggle responsibilities or will they be required to revert back to full-time office working with little flexibility to work at home? If they have managed this transition whilst juggling the increased pressures of lockdown, how productive might they be with a different working environment that is not full of distractions? As a leader, this could be a golden opportunity for you to make real step-changes in your business success.

Of course, there will be challenges to address with the introduction of a new normal. What of those whose anxiety will be heightened by this experience, unwilling or unable to resume travelling on public transport for fear of infection?  The long-term impact of the virus is largely unknown; will HR teams continue to advocate pragmatism, or will we fall back on rigid policies?

Can we re-write the rule book now, begin to plan for a different work future?  One that relies on trust and understanding – one that puts the ‘Human’ at the heart of Human Resources.

In our view, now is the “time to listen” - to seek feedback from your workforce, to ask what they have learnt and what they have enjoyed about working from home.  Has it led to more quality time with family or housemates and how has that affected their approach to work? How do they feel about reverting to previous ways of working, or is there some compromise between the two?  Find out now what your staff want to continue with and what they don’t, so you can provide the support required to make that happen.

Are you a leader that thinks about your team as an asset to be nurtured and encouraged, or one that is to be controlled and overseen? Take the “time to listen” and start planning for the next phase of change that will impact your business.

My top 3 tips for business leaders as they approach this question are:

1. Talk to your staff and find out what they want. Ask them how they think it would work best.

2. Think about what your customers will want in the future and consider how you and your team can respond to those changes.

3. Be pragmatic about new ways of working - don’t be afraid to try something new.

If you would like to discuss strategies to help optimise your people, please get in touch for a confidential conversation.