For many, the beginning of August 2020 was the time to return to the office, to inaugurate the new normal, or return to normality. Talking with clients, however, a hot topic emerges with increasing power and frequency. I’m thinking of the low willingness people have to go back to what they were doing before the pandemic.
A moment for leaders and employees to take stock
Some management figures report that productivity has stayed the same. Other clients say they could cut costs a lot, both in regards to community and real estate, by rethinking workspaces. Others say that the office will be kept only for creative activities and some relational meetings.
Many workers have had time to reflect on their work and the contribution it makes to their ecosystem. For many, work has lost its meaning, they’d like to do different things, they’re starting to view more critically the inconsistencies of the business models carried out by employers.
Wise working: an integral perspective
We know that there are teams (very often led by HR functions) tasked with facilitating the return after the summer that are looking at this hot topic with a technical eye, thinking primarily about how to comply with government imposed safety regulations.
While these are clearly essential parameters to consider, focusing solely on security risks neglecting important aspects of motivation and retention. The suggestion is to pay attention to the fact that, in these cases, the risks of demotivation and abandonment are high. Yesterday’s workers are not today’s workers and, as Churchill once said, crises must not be wasted.
For this reason, Peoplerise is in dialogue with its clients and strategic partners and is setting up Wise Working re-entry programs, which look at the issue from a 360-degree perspective, taking into account all the elements in a systemic way.
What Wise Working suggests
These are some insights into the key actions for promoting a wise approach to work and organizations:
- Give employees the opportunity to talk with colleagues about everything that happened during the lockdown
- Give the company a chance to take a retrospective look at how the time of remote work was managed in terms of transparency, safety, communication, closeness.
- Bring back the focus on the meaning of what the company does, the value generation, the sustainability of the business and how it contributes to social development and environmental regeneration.
- Enable work teams to find wise ways to carry out their work in a blended mode (online and offline).
- Enable individuals to balance work and private life, also taking into account the views and perspectives of family members
