Post-Crisis Workplace Renewal – It’s Time to Take the Lead! (Part 3 of 3)

What Does This Mean for Culture?

The LAK Group and other HR experts expect employers and employees to experience a new world of work…a new employment contract. We do not see this as a short-term fix but more of a long-term evolution. Organizations are going to be faced with new expectations and uncertainty coming from their talented people. Certainly, safety and physical distancing in the workplace will be important, but so will the demand for flexible hours, workplace testing, travel restrictions, virtual meetings, office and conference room layouts and remote-work arrangements. 

This has a direct impact on various elements of culture. How people “show up” will be different. More virtual meetings, less travel, measuring productivity and the ability to engage and include a mobile workplace all become critical skills for everyone.

Managers are going to need to be more agile as they adapt to new practices of “hoteling” offices, mobile workspaces, online interviewing, micro-learning and people questioning when they should or should not come into work. People leaders are going to have to learn how to build a cohesive, high-performing team with people spread out and working different times of the day. Those who work for global companies have had some exposure to this, but many could still rely on multiple members of their team being in the same location.

We recommend each company plan for the transition back as a workplace renewal. And be ready, as the transition could take 12-18 months. How companies manage the transition back to the new normal will define their ability to attract and retain talent in the future. You need to approach the return to work as a long-term transition. We believe this will be a journey fraught with ambiguity as most organizations will not come back exactly as they left. 

Take Action Now

Organizations can’t wait for this crisis to end before developing a plan for renewal. The workplace and workforce demands are going to change. Getting in front of this now, will help with your transition back to the new world of work. A myriad of conditions will need to be in place for reopening. Organizations must think about and plan for what processes and procedures they must (and/or can) develop and implement in order to accomplish the successful and efficient renewal of their workplace, the re-engagement of the workforce, and the future success of the company.

Post-Crisis Workplace Renewal – It’s Time to Take the Lead! (Part 2 of 3)

Complete a Talent Renewal Blueprint

Like any update to a strategic plan, preparing for workplace renewal requires core steps that will help identify readiness, gaps, opportunities and action plans. In addition to simply restarting the economy, it demands a future-state perspective, not a short-term, quick fix. It also requires that you look at organizational capabilities and behaviors that you will need to meet the demands of the future-state. Below are some things to consider as you seek to renew and engage your people.

Evaluate the Current State: It is important to document the state of your business before this change, along with what is needed in the early and later stages as you drive towards your new normal.

• Define the current size of your workforce and what it needs to be to meet planned future business demands.
  • Identify the percentage of your workforce that needs to be located on-site versus remote, both now and in the future.
  • Clarify which vital functions are required in order to support your current business and future operations.

Manage the Change: Assess and update a clear, outcome-focused vision of what is required to manage effectively in the future.

• Identify role duplication/redundancy you will need to eliminate—operating efficiently will be critical.
• Define what behaviors and capabilities will be essential for success in achieving your future state.
• Identify the minimum size of workforce required by function/role.
• Focus on critical performers that can perform more than one role.

Keep a Focus on the Future: Whether in business recovery or growth, set expectations regarding what actions will be taken to ensure productivity, team collaboration and achievement of business outcomes during this renewal transition.

• Clarify future-state expectations and how they will be measured.
• Define the culture you want to shape and what behaviors are expected.
• Determine the resource requirements to support business renewal including:
  • Vital functions needed to support the growth of the business
  • Priorities and critical roles for hiring
  • Minimum size workforce per role to support productivity and business outcomes
  • Capabilities required of leaders to help lead the renewal and shape culture
• Identify how you will assess talent to identify the right people for the right roles in the new workforce.
• Access tools required to hire the right employees quickly.

Create a Strategic Talent Renewal Plan: Achieving desired business outcomes defined in your future-state strategy will depend on an agile organization that identifies, develops, engages, and rewards your talented employees. This includes adapting common talent practices for the current organization to meet the needs of the future state.

• Determine what systems and processes will be required to support renewal in the new workplace.
  • Update your talent acquisition strategy as the hiring processes of the past may not work going forward.
  • Leverage tools (assessment, etc.) that will assist in filtering through a growing pool of candidates.
  • Re-think behaviors, professional and personality traits that you valued in the past. Determine if those still will add value, then assess traits before you decide who can and cannot work remotely or in the new environment.
  • Re-engineer your talent supply chain. Set high standards as the talent pipeline will be robust.
  • Consider a shift away from the open workspace environment as employees may be skeptical and desire mobility.
  • Redefine how you measure productivity and success. Do not confuse activity with results.
  • Re-engage leaders in skill-building and leadership development activities to enable them to be effective in the renewal process and efficiently leading into the future. 
  • Update your talent review process as identifying and developing remote talent, creates different challenges.

It is important to start this planning for workplace renewal now. Don’t wait until the people start returning to the workplace, it will be too late. In Part 3 of our Post-Crisis Workplace Renewal series, we will highlight what the impact of talent planning in times of crisis has on the culture of your organization.

Post-Crisis Workplace Renewal – It’s Time to Take the Lead! (Part 1 of 3)

When the current stay-at-home orders cease to exist and social distancing begins to relax, reopening business likely will not be as simple as turning the lights on and welcoming employees and customers back into our work or public spaces. In addition to the obvious safety and security questions, business processes, workplace standards and talent practices may need to dramatically change. 

Key questions have to be asked, for example: will the open office concept still be appropriate? Should more people work remotely more often? Are people going to trust others in the workplace? How will you assess productivity with a more remote workforce? How will you identify potential when you do not see people as often as possible? These opportunities and more should be discussed sooner than later. Morgan Lewis highlights that employers should develop social distancing plans or refine and update currently existing plans. There is going to be a new talent contract and the key question will be…is your company and its leaders ready for this change? Are they agile enough to adapt?

Whether recovering from an economic downturn, reopening after a pandemic, or managing through any type of crisis, waiting too long to discuss the future and planning your talent needs will impact the sustainability of the business and retention of valuable contributors. The key question business leaders need to be asking is, do we plan for short-term recovery or for long-term, change resilient sustainability.

Organizations Must Act – Don’t Fall Behind

The workplace and the workforce are both changing. There is a new mix of employees, including Generation Z, rapidly rising millennials, Generation X taking over the C-Suite, career-swappers, gig-workers and people re-entering the workforce. Each is emotionally and intellectually ready for a new way of working and all have different needs or expectations. This new workforce operates under a new employment contract. They no longer want to just “come to work.” They want to be part of something – purpose-based work that is mutually beneficial with their company and that aligns with their personal values. 

Meanwhile, new technology is still actively changing the nature of how employees communicate and collaborate. How we manage work, when we work and where we work is also shifting. This shift was already advancing however the recent pandemic has opened our eyes to greater possibilities and alternative approaches in how we manage people. Just as operational processes and supply chains need to be re-evaluated, so do the people processes and the way we identify, select, develop, assess, reward, compensate and motivate talent. Is how organizations measure the productivity of people resources valid any longer?

The way companies have operated in the past will not drive sustained growth in the future. You will not be able to attract a diverse pipeline of talent if you do not change. This new talent paradigm requires changes to human strategies that need to be addressed immediately.

• How do you re-shape the organizational structure of your organization? 
• How will you adapt your workplace to accommodate more people wanting to work remotely? 
• How do you communicate a need to adapt more remote workers in an environment that may not be open to it?
• How will you redefine productivity and performance success measures? 
• How can you shift to an agile approach to identify, select, develop, and reward employees? 
• What is the new talent proposition that will help you become or remain the employer of choice in the communities that you serve? 
• How will you keep your succession management process relevant to the changing dynamics of the workplace?
• What expanded security and safety protocols need to be put in place for onsite and remote staff?
• How will you address the skill, capabilities, and effectiveness of leaders based on the changes that are leveraging non-traditional training and development practices? 

These are only a few of the human strategies every organization must start to address. In our second part of our Post-Crisis Workplace Renewal series, we will highlight a Talent Renewal Blueprint that can assist you in starting this ever-so-important work.