Published on Feb 03, 2021
In a rush to keep business afloat during this crisis, many organisations have had no choice other than to resort to the classic default position of cutting costs and jobs. However, given the sheer disruptive scale and longevity of COVID, a “hunkering down” leadership mentality and strategy will not ensure medium- or longer-term success for many businesses.
The virus is making us recognise that many business models need to be urgently re-invented or re-imagined. Lots of industries were already facing such a challenge, with the onset of digitisation, big data, AI and robotics looming, the crisis has just accelerated their arrival by several years.
The difficulty is that most leaders are currently working 24/7 to just put out the fires, with little time to think and reflect about what comes next. And whilst HR professionals are already working full on at the moment, it’s essential to allocate time towards rethinking the future of their business and people / organisation model in light of the pandemic.
To aid in this transition, we advise that HR professionals start promoting a culture of “powerful conversations” throughout their organisations. A culture where all employees speak their truths about what they see happening now and in the future with regard to their customers, markets, colleagues and wider stakeholders. Many employees, especially those that have worked for larger organisations, will have experienced just how difficult it can be to speak the truth to management. Thoughts such as “the boss won’t like it, now is not the time, you’re going against the conventional wisdom” have always muted many a great idea or disruptive thought.
But now is not the time for people to be muted. All employees need to be refocused on the fundamentals of running their business and on those behaviours that will determine future customer and financial success. The scale of the challenge is too great for anything less. For organisations to prosper they also have to consider all the challenging, disruptive and creative ideas of their people.
There is also the whole new world of working from home (WFH) to consider. How will organisations and HR adapt to the new and permanent world of home working and all the attendant challenges it poses? It amounts to a total re-invention of HR’s traditional one size fits all approach. We have entered a new era of highly flexible and personalised HR policies and strategies, where the individual rather than the group is King!
Our new interactive programme will provide HR professionals with a great opportunity to reflect on the scale of these changes as well as the impact on their organisation’s future and their role in creating it. Find out more...
Published on Feb 03, 2021 by Mark Thomas