- 1000- 1200 (max) words
- Timeline 1st week of Sept the latest.
How organisations can effectively navigate the barriers in returning to work
Empathy! This will be the key driver that will bridge the divide in expectation between employers and employees to forge a successful and rewarding partnership.
COVID-19 has disoriented our lives impacting personal health and also economic activity leading to a complex crisis. Employees, managers and leaders are all put to the test and the way to survival and sustainable growth will come from empathic leadership.
The 'crisis' we are in is triggering a range of physiological and psychological fear responses across the four dimensions of Employee Experience (source: EX Guide)
- (Physical environment) Fear of Physical Safety: A common concern of employees would be to have a face-to-face communication. The risk of contacting the coronavirus at workplaces depends upon how closely employees come in contact with other colleagues and secondly through the touching of contaminated surfaces and objects. Employers need to implement different hygiene policies depending upon the level of risk that the organisation is exposed to that might vary from low risk to medium risk and eventually to high risk. Maintaining social distancing at workplaces would be a big challenge due to the frequent interactions that are required at workplaces. Prime areas of concern would include attending office meetings, boarding public transportation for work, interacting with colleagues, and greeting them
- (Work) Job insecurity: The rising job cuts by organisations has instilled a fear among those employees returning to work. Employees are confused about whether they should start looking for another job or return to their current one. Is the future of my company secure? Is my future dependent on my returning to office? Do I have the flexibility and / or preferences? Will I be penalised for speaking up? (Note: data on resilience) Confidence in the organisations' security decreased by 17% in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Source: State of Employee Experience Survey in Singapore in 2021
- (Culture) One size doesn't fit all anymore: Work-Life lines are blurred and everyone's personal contexts are now an integral part of work. Personal incidents, traumas, stresses are real and everyone has one question on their mind - will my individual context be understood and respected? (re: data on millennials and caregivers)
Source: State of Employee Experience Survey in Singapore in 2021
- (Technology) Are you ready for hybrid?: COVID pushed companies to the tipping point of technology adoption aiding productivity. Executives in a McK study report that their companies adopted technology faster than they thought possible. There was change management involved, zoom fatigue, fear of automation but we ploughed through and digital revolutions were accelerated. We moved to outcome driven measurements vs activity driven. Will we reverse all the progress made? Will it last?
