The global Covid-19 pandemic is exacting a terrible human toll and menacing the world economy. Across industries, companies are now focusing on protecting their employees and customers and prepare for the world beyond coronavirus. For employees, trust starts both with being safe and feeling safe. A lot has been said about employee engagement, mental wellness, and safety in the past but this is a time to prove the all saids. Companies should focus on mitigating risks, overcommunicate, and listen to their frontline workers. As the pandemic surely forced many of us to stay at home and do less in terms of social interactions and exercise. This can have a negative effect on physical and mental health for many, however, we all understand that this is the best and the right thing to protect ourselves from getting infected by this deadly virus.
Sharing insights and learnings on how organisations can build a shock-proof and resilient workforce to overcome the crisis so that they can fight this time of anxiety and transition smoothly to a completely unfamiliar future.
Here are some highlights & learnings for everyone to consider:
Expand Your Frontiers:
While looking at the effect of the pandemic many parts looks like outside of our control, but not all of it is. Many of us have already used the crisis as an opportunity to learn classes in humanity, prediction, strategy, action, perspectives, and rebalanced our scales. Hence, we must continue pushing and testing ourselves to uncover new ways to lead, connect across geographies and ecosystems, create more impact across societies, and most importantly safeguard the interest of our people by helping them to be resilient through these anxious times.
Get Uncomfortable:
While we have seen several examples of great warriors in the history of mankind sharing stories of career-threatening injuries, patience & determination, strength & willpower, we should also realise the fact that resilience is an overmatch for adversity. To that end, we should make ourselves a fighter with a never defeated attitude and push harder, try and absorb a little more pain, run that one extra mile, and voluntarily put ourselves in uncomfortable situations. It will not only help us survive but also come out stronger and more muscular on the other side of the pandemic.
Broaden Your Outlook:
At times when things aren’t going as per plan, when we aren’t in a position of strength, we tend to change our perspective and try to look at the situation from a completely different lens. We all think differently as we play different roles, be it a player or coach, an individual contributor, or a people leader. Similarly, one must transform and change accordingly to think very differently when one finds oneself in an ‘abnormal situation’ in comparison to the old, familiar normal.
Treat The Process As The Goal:
It is extremely vital and hence necessary not to consider everything a transaction, a deal, a profit & loss statement. We should be able to train your brain to slow down, accept a change and be the best we can possibly be today. We have never hold regrets about the past & anxiety about the future. Staying in the moment, and treating the process as the goal is an art, especially when so many things are outside of your control. The goal always may not be about achieving it, it is not about lavishly writing down short, middle-term & long-term goals. It is sometimes rather just the process of being, of surviving & of staying in the game for a long run.
Nothing Lasts Forever:
Know that nothing lasts forever. This time too shall pass. So focus on “adaptability with enjoyment” and celebrating what you have. Why can’t we take this lockdown as an advantage to bring out the best in us? If working out is something which gives us please, we should do it twice a day to keep ourselves fit both in body and mind. If somebody likes to cook and bake and make blueberry cheesecakes from scratch, this is the right time to have all the pleasures in the world. If somebody wants to put up your singing/exercise videos online and get popular, again this is the time. If you want to play video games or sleep for 20 hours a day on the weekends, grab the opportunity and do it right away. We should treat ourselves as lucky souls to be able to turn a pandemic into a hobby, a vacation, or a time to do something fun and productive and something which gives a lot of joy to oneself. So we should be grateful to be healthy and safe, should be kind and humble to one another, and look forward to a brighter future.
Adoption of Innovation & Technology:
For the businesses of course if there was ever a moment that has shined a spotlight on the importance of accelerating digitisation and making deeper investments in innovation & technology, COVID-19 is it. Technology has played a pivotal role in helping with business continuity and employee wellbeing.- from enabling remote working to updating HR policies, dissemination of COVID communications to tighter workforce collaboration. We must be thankful for technology for being the center of it all. Surely this pandemic is going to accelerate the birth of a new set of ideas, innovations, and technologies and the world of work is certainly going to change for good.
Various new-age platforms like HRMS software, Project management software, Video conferencing tools, Learning management systems are going to take space in the new world of work.