The Future of Work after Covid-19

The beginning of 2020 brought new aspirations for all. The start of a new decade kept us imagining how the future of work will turn up. With new technologies and trends coming every other day, our work-life has been evolving with time. But the sudden Covid-19 outbreak has shifted our work culture in ways that we never imagined.

The whole dynamics and notion of work have taken a shift. The Covid-19 has taught many lessons that will help the business leaders see work culture in a different light. Organizational leaders across the globe are redesigning the future of work. They are taking up the new challenges and adapting to the new shift, prioritizing the employees' well-being and organizational performance in mind.

Here in this blog, we discuss the future of work after Covid-19 and how organizations are going to redefine it.

Investing in Employee Well-being

When we say well-being, we understand it as the overall health and happiness. It includes good mental health, life satisfaction, a sense of purpose, and the ability to manage stress.

The Covid-19 has shown us the reality check, employees are vulnerable, and the fear of uncertainty is going to stay even after the pandemic ends. Organizational leaders are mindful of the situation and ready to implement programs and policies that take care of their employees’ well-being. One of the significant steps would be integrating corporate wellness solutions into the organization to keep track of employee well-being and encouraging employees to stay healthy.

Also, the future of work will witness an open dialogue and open practices around well-being from the organizations. This will open up the possibilities for employees to live and perform at their best.

Remote Work is Here to Stay

Covid-19 has contributed to a rapid transition for businesses to work from home and depend more than ever on remote work tools to sustain business continuity. Globalization and technological advances have given us the freedom to work remotely. Even before the pandemic, the culture of remotely working was blooming. But after the covid crisis everyone understand the dynamics of remote working deeply.

Remote work is here to stay for all the right reasons. A survey conducted by research company Gartner with 317 CFOs and business finance leaders found that 74% plan to move their previously on-site workforce to permanently remote positions post-Covid-19.

One of the primary reasons behind this is the cost-saving benefits of working from home. And it is a win-win situation for both the employees and the employers. A recent Flexjobs study reveals that remote employees save around $4000 a year from commuting, office, and miscellaneous expenses. But every organization has its own culture, so remote working may not be feasible for all. Also, the other factors that disrupt remote working could be the low productivity and well-being of the employees. Business leaders are mindful of this situation and are ready to implement strategies and design their work from home policies effectively to tackle such issues.

Related- Work From Home Policy: A Definitive Guide For Managers

Super Teams

You might be wondering what I meant by Super Teams. It means to integrate teams of humans and technology. Covid-19 has shown us how technology and human power complement each other. We have studied data from various sources stating how technology can replace humans. But the Covid-19 crisis has given us a whole new perspective.

We have witness resilience from our workers and also the power of integrated human-machine teams during the crisis. We have seen how telemedicine, manufacturing, education, and even grocery delivery processes drew strength from integrated human-machine teams.

Organizations would take advantage of this experience and push envelopes to bring integrated teams of humans and technology together. This would create more value and ultimately help the organizations as a whole.

HR Influence

What HR does and can do is commendable. In the past few months, we have seen HR professionals wearing superhero capes and overcoming the challenges that Covid-19 has dawned upon. From being the advocates to sharing updates and information regarding the crisis or redesigning the work from home policies for the workforce, you name it, and they are doing it all. They are establishing connections between business leaders, employees, and teams, integrating well-being into work and reimagining how, where, and what work gets done.

This reinforces what HR professionals are capable of doing. HR professional’s crisis response shows how organizations are going to benefit from their influences and resilient and proactive attitude in the future of work. It’s on the organization and how it utilizes HR’s skills to adapt to changing organizational and business requirements.

The Sense of Purpose

Covid-19 has reinstated the belief that people are motivated at their highest level when they understand that they are contributing to a higher purpose or mission. For example, after the outbreak, the way some consumer product companies have found motivation and meaning is unimaginable. These companies have increased the production of sanitizers and disinfectants massively, and the workers are working vigorously to meet the needs. This proves that people are motivated when they understand their goals and purpose. And employees want to contribute when shown the bigger picture and how their skills and strengths can impact the larger goals.

This gives the organizations a clear picture and what they should be doing to create a sense of purpose in their employees. Therefore the future of work would see more definite goals and creating clear connections between the individual and teams. Making organizational goals and objectives clear to all is the key to performance and growth.

This article is written by Braja Deepon Roy. He works as a Content Creator and Digital Marketer at Vantage Circle. He actively participates in the growth of corporate culture and keeps himself updated in this space. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com