Future of Work
Lasting impacts of COVID will be physical distancing in the office and a shift in future work which is already taking shape:
- different forms of greetings;
- more online meetings, webinars and online conferences due to less travel locally and little/no travel interstate or internationally;
- emerging business models, which question old assumptions around value;
- e-commerce is underwriting a revolution in retail and dining.
We have already seen a strong shift to working from home, working from anywhere, anytime enabled by cloud-based technologies and applications.
Working from Anywhere
Some employers have moved to reduce the number of employees in the office while first movers like Australia’s Atlassian have told their employees they don’t expect them back in the office anytime. The five-day work week in the office is a pre-COVID relic. That cat is well and truly out of the bag now and most employees are likely to spend some time working from home/working remotely.
Digital Nomads
Approaches like this will become the norm and will open doors to recruitment of talent from all over the world, enabling digital nomads to choose who they work for and where they work from, even beyond international borders. These digital nomads have become the target of a number of proactive countries who have adopted (Estonia) or are exploring (Croatia) the introduction of digital nomad visas – creating another category of tourist workers.
Embracing Remote Working
While some companies were ready to embrace remote working most have been scrambling to adapt to COVID normal by:
- investing in enabling technology;
- adopting new policies, processes, procedures and ways of doing business; and
- developing skills and implementing tools to enable remote management and collaboration.
Home Office
Distraction of family and home life has been acknowledged if not necessarily accepted by employers assisting employees with managing the work and home life balance. Children and other family members may be a significant distraction as well as the physical space of the home office, which may be nothing more than a laptop on the dining room table. This makes it difficult for online meetings and collaboration.
Some employers have literally sent their employees home with their desktop computer, network and internet connection with the hope it all works. Some internet connections have been found wanting most have managed to make it work.
Digital Institutions
As our businesses and government agencies take steps to adapt to a COVID normal, they must move towards becoming digital institutions. Every process, task and service being reviewed to ensure its COVID safe should be digital-by-default. Leveraging the power of digital technologies has driven innovation and accelerated change in how business and governments do business. The current global pandemic has transformed the way we see the future of work, workforce and workplace.
Remote Management
Managing a remote workforce to achieve real world outcomes that contribute to the bottom line is not easy, as most have found. It’s as much about culture and corporate values as it is about systems and technology. Can employees be trusted to work from home and what is going to be the system of checks and balances?
COVID has forced organisations to move from direct oversight and supervision of employees to remote working with little or no supervision. Remote employees have mostly been left to their own devices trying to figure out:
- what is expected of them;
- what is the right level of contact/collaboration with peers and management;
- what is the right level of workload and productivity; and
- what is the right balance of homelife and worklife.
Until managers and supervisors figure out what remote supervision looks like and how to do it, most organisations will experience loss of productivity. Those that adapt quickly have the potential to hit the road running as soon as consumer confidence and demand returns.
What Needs to be Managed?
It is anticipated that one of the consequences of COVID will be attitudes towards work. Increasingly work will become about outputs and value, rather than time dedicated and activities undertaken. Work will no longer be defined by a physical location (anytime, anywhere) and workplace engagement will be more than just physical presence (online collaboration).
Business Continuity Plans
All businesses and government agencies had to revisit their business continuity plans and adjust how they do business. These approaches have required ongoing tweaking as Government’s COVID measures continue to impact how services are delivered. This has not been easy, as we still do not know what life with COVID is going to look like.
Sovereign Capabilities
The COVID pandemic has exposed our nation, which has been found wanting on several levels. This means parts of our economy and workforce should/will transition to increase sovereign capabilities, removing our dependence on other nations for critical products and services – production of PPE being the most obvious.
Looking for Space
New home buying decisions are being:
- shaped by families spending more time at home; and
- funded by savings from less interstate/international travel and holidays.
Home buyers are looking for properties with more outdoor space including gardens and balconies, gymnasium, broadband and home offices. Office holdings are being reduced and requests for new office space have been put on hold. CBD office towers may be rezoned/refitted to meet inner-city demand for residential spaces.
Access to open space – parks and gardens will be critical for mental health following COVID lockdowns and working from home. Individuals will be looking for respite and time for oneself. They will be looking for opportunities to unplug, centre oneself and reconnect with nature.
Organisational Design for a Post COVID World
New organisations and corporate structures will emerge as a result of COVID. These will mostly evolve due to the pace of change and experimentation taking place, highlighting the importance of being agile to adapt to new circumstances. Reading and responding to cues from the market may result in businesses leapfrogging their competition and taking advantage of the opportunity similar to what happened with Zoom.
Ravim RBC works extensively with councils:
- adopting strategies to align their services against community needs, expectations and ability to pay; and
- who find it difficult to keep up with technology and customer expectations to leverage organisational development and change management strategies to position them for a new world.
Ravim RBC works extensively with commercial clients adopting thought leadership/innovation strategies to position products and services that capture local government markets.
John Ravlic 1st October 2020
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