Liverpool FC’s appointment of Thomas Gronnemark as the club’s ‘Throw-In’ Coach in August 2018 was derided by football fans, players, and pundits as they struggled to understand why something as basic as throw-in required a paid Coach. The club’s record-breaking, title-winning 2019-20 premier league campaign silenced sceptics as the club scored 14 of its 85 league goals from throw-in situations. Impressively, the club’s throw-in retention under pressure improved from 45.4% to 68.4% in the referenced season thereby improving the club’s ranking from 18th the previous season to 1st in the English premier league and 2nd in Europe. Liverpool’s head coach, Jurgen Kloop’s open-mindedness and courage to think outside the box gave his team an edge at winning the prestigious English premier league title that has eluded the club for 3 decades. This is not only innovative and applaudable, but it also provides an insight into what HR professional’s mindset should possess. The extensive disruptions caused by the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has prompted organizations to find their ‘Thomas Gronnemark’ to drive the discovery of uncharted ‘throw-in’ territories to enhance high performance and improve employee productivity.
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Prior to the pandemic, personal technology and digital connectivity had advanced remarkably, prompting people to ask why it was necessary to be assembled in an office, to discharge their duties. The lockdowns and movement restrictions that followed the widespread outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic answered this question for the most part as the adoption of Remote Work model, otherwise referred to as Work From Home (WFH), revealed that employees did not have to co-locate with colleagues onsite to successfully discharge assigned duties. Video conferencing and other communications technologies have become a lifeline for most organizations. The pandemic also triggered an accelerated adoption of several organizational trends in addition to remote work: digitalization and automation.
Whilst the widespread shift to remote work hasn’t been without its challenges, it certainly offers a major silver lining: rush hour commuting is gradually being eased out of employee’s daily routines. Available data estimates in the United States of America suggest that eliminating the daily commute has saved workers around 89 million hours each week. Despite the potential for time savings so noted, many have struggled to achieve most of the things they hoped the remote work policy would help make out time for. A major positive of the WFH model is the flexibility in work schedules it offers thus enabling many employees to devote additional time to their jobs. Interestingly, the downside is the spike in the number of meeting during the pandemic. Although the average length of meetings declined, the total time consumed by meetings increased significantly leading to inefficient work practices that reduced productive time by about 2-3% for such organizations.
There are concerns as to how productive companies have been under the remote work model relative to pre-COVID-19 times. As expected, some have remained remarkably productive during the pandemic as they have assimilated the latest technologies effectively thereby maximizing efficiency, while others have been less productive than they were 12 months ago. The variance in productivity has been attributed to the capacity of organizations to successfully manage three (3) main factors; Time, Talent and Energy of their workforces pre-Covid-19. Though the pandemic has affected all three drivers of workforce productivity, energy was hit the hardest. The pandemic has had both positive and negative impacts on talent as a source of productivity. Nonetheless, remote work has seen organizations access talent that may have been out of their reach before Covid-19. Conversely, some of its best talents are faced with few challenges as they juggle work and family hence, reducing overall productivity. The best companies have stood out by taking the lead in minimizing wasted time and keeping employees engaged and focused. Presently, as countries reopen with COVID-19 still a major concern despite the ongoing vaccination against the pandemic, business leaders are struggling with when and how to have workers return to their offices and are looking at medical research and HR professionals to take the lead on this.
Covid-19 presented us with unprecedented challenges, it however was a source of remarkable creativity. Reimagining jobs around the constraints of today’s challenging business environment may accelerate the future of work and introduce new and innovative ways on how, where, and by whom work gets done. Notably, this can help us build greater resilience and efficiency in our organizations, and help people live healthier, more sustainable lives.
Companies that were already collaborating effectively and working productively before the pandemic have remained productive during lockdowns and other disruptions. Stay-at-home orders created flexibility in work schedules, enabling many employees to devote time to their jobs whilst spending more time with their loved ones. Recent surveys suggest that up to 16% of employees will switch to working from home at least, two days per week, post COVID-19 . Hence, organizations will be required to update their remote work policies to reflect today’s realities. Whilst the WFH system provided the much-needed stopgap to get through the immediate crisis induced by the pandemic, HR professionals must now focus on what exactly they want from it in the long run. In updating the WFH policy to drive higher productivity, boost employee morale and achieve some level of cost efficiency, there is a need to identify the different interfaces and interdependencies, most of which are either human or technological. Specifically, the key metrics needed to preserve and enhance organizational values and culture should drive the policy update. Similarly, productivity tools and technological requirements needed to aid collaboration and creativity should feature in the process of policy upgrade. More importantly, the emotional and psychological well-being of the employees as they transition into the new work system.
The new normal is driving a monumental shift in the employment landscape that requires retooling, reskilling and upskilling of employees. A recent McKinsey global survey suggests that 87% of executives revealed that they were experiencing some skill gaps in their workforce which seem to have been amplified by the pandemic as these gaps were initially expected within a few years. HR professionals will be expected to develop a talent-focused strategy to develop digital and cognitive capabilities as well as their social and emotional skills to double down on their adaptability and resilience post-pandemic.
Line managers are also faced with a new challenge of leading their team virtually and challenged with the task of figuring out how to maintain cohesion without the option of the corridor and informal lunch chats. The need for new skill sets cannot be over-emphasized for the transition to continue to drive high performance and productivity amongst employees.
The mandatory shift of balance from offline to online has thrown-up widely varied employee experiences, perspectives, and outcomes – some thriving and most others struggling. Employees working remotely seem to be witnessing more positives in their daily work and are relatively more engaged than their non-remote working counterparts with little or no flexibility. Whilst parents working remotely appear to be faring better than single employees, Fathers seem more positive about it than mothers. In a related development, the pandemic exacerbated inequalities and racial discrimination. For context, racism was believed to be a secondary contagion of the anti-Asian sentiments. These sentiments were believed to have been shared by Europeans and Americans against people of Asian descent, and the virus was dubbed the China Virus or the Asian Virus. The pandemic which for many was rumored to be the greater equalizer turned out to be a source of increased racial and ethnic segregation. Experts opined that the likelihood of contracting the virus, getting tested and being treated was influenced by race and economic status. A spinoff of this concern is the likelihood of heightened racial awareness amongst employees which could negatively impact productivity. HR must focus on implementing policies and running campaigns to emphasize racial equality and reassure victims of justice whilst highlighting stiff sanctions for culprits.
Managers must be able to segment employees according to their varied needs and consider providing tailored support for identified employee needs. This should also be complemented by tailored actions that engender widely shared feelings of well-being and cohesion across the workforce. Fortunately, advances in listening techniques, behavioral sciences, advanced data analytics, etc. can come in handy in addressing employee experience with a dynamic and more targeted approach. Organizations must focus on addressing the most critical and widespread needs of employees without losing sight of the unique needs of various segments and individual needs, in the same way, customer solutions are segmented and tailored. Research has shown a positive relationship between employees’ stated needs and underlying drivers of their engagement and work effectiveness. For organizations to significantly address employees’ needs, management and HR professionals must focus on four main areas: purpose, culture, relationships, and safety & security.
– Purpose: Purpose has always been a driving factor that connects employees to a vision bigger than them and helping them see the bigger picture clearer.
– Culture: Business leaders must focus on creating a culture that values inclusion whilst recognizing individual strengths and weaknesses.
– Relationships: Invest in relationships by building trust and acknowledging employee efforts and getting involved in their physical and mental wellbeing.
– Safety concerns: Riding on the safety measures put in place because of the pandemic, organization must continue to meet employees’ safety and security concerns through regular engagement.
In summary, the role of ensuring that the purpose, culture, and values of the organization fully connect all stakeholders is the core of HR professionals in any organization. There is no doubt that today’s realities require organizations to immediately prepare for a future of work they envisaged would have taken decades to become reality. HR as a multiple stakeholder influencer will need to be brave and challenging to create an improved system and implement professional standards to enhance performance and productivity.
HR is strategically responsible for driving the much-needed changes at the workplace to aid high performance especially at a time that most organizations are reeling under the pandemic-induced disruptions to productivity and earnings. HR professionals must reconsider how best to foster talent, deliver services, and strengthen their organizations through a forward-thinking strategy.
HR is best placed to see overall processes, drive proactive communications and coordination across all units and roles. HR can indeed facilitate conversations that help ensure the appropriate reinvention and re-prioritizing of organizational goals to adapt to shifting customer demands and evolving employee challenges. HR must step out of the shadows and take the reins in re-imagining the organization, developing talent strategies, addressing wellbeing and work-life as well as administering HR systems. As a strategic partner, HR must seek the required management approval to develop new processes, run difficult and complex yet value-adding communications campaigns to attract the best talents, implement attractive packages to retain them and develop them through talent programs.
Going forward, HR should prioritize building a new employer-employee paradigm that focuses on viable commercial relationships to maximize employees’ strength whilst encouraging partnership amongst employees to drive organizational success. The need to build new leadership and team working model was further highlighted by the pandemic. The pandemic polarized managers into those that provided the needed leadership whilst displaying genuine care for their teammates and those who simply nagged their way through the pandemic-induced crisis. An effective team-building model should be based on strong connections and the appreciation of employee diversity and differences in personal needs.
Tunde Oyadiran – SAP Consultant, (FNIM)
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