Don’t get me wrong, this author is in no way trying to trivialise the devastating impact that this Covid pandemic has had on families, employment and the world economy. The disruption this virus has caused to ‘normal’ is staggering. All many of us can do is offer our condolences, support those in need and carry on as best we can.
Living through this pandemic though has forced changes in the way society not only lives but also perhaps the perception of what is important and potentially taught us some lessons for the better.
A case in point was this very morning. Sitting here writing this blog, the partially melted snow is now solid following the overnight freeze but a Monday ‘snow day’ (as an employee) is very different in 2021 than 2019. In 2019 working from home was a ‘perk’ in many companies not a necessity (I know from personal experience that a few years back, an employee working from home was also regarded as ‘less effective’ by many managers…). Many employees would have been phoning into their managers on such a snowy morning to seek permission to either work from home or take a personal day (as travel is impossible) but with the promise that time would be made up. In 2021, well, I just sat at my desk and got on with my day as did I suspect the vast number of people this morning.
It is fair to say many employees will be seeking a greater work / home balance in the future, having proved a point on productivity, in order to retain some of the positives experienced with the changes. For example, in a previous role I used to spend 120 minutes, 5 days a week in a car. Leaving early / returning late to avoid traffic therefore missing breakfast round the table with the kids, dropping the youngest to school, having dinner as a family before reading bedtime stories etc. There are many more employees with children still in that position when returning to ‘normal’ who will be thinking – why?
In the last 12 months a large majority of businesses have fast tracked infrastructure projects designed to support a large volume of remote employees and mobile working, some even resurrecting IT projects that 2 months earlier had been totally rejected as unnecessary expenditure in their annual spending review. What is important now is that businesses continue to build on this new found mobile and agile infrastructure, not just sitting back thinking ‘job done’, improving the base platform to continue to give all employees as positive a work experience as possible therefore safeguarding productivity and potentially profitability whilst allowing employees to be flexible in where / how they work!
We know from experience here at PacSol that following the implementation of a new application platform, regardless of how successful that system is in providing a solution for the particular requirement, companies don’t continue to adapt and benefit further from that same platform. Looking at further ways to utilise such a platform not only increases / expedites the ROI but also drives further improvements in the initial implementation, improves productivity and can improve employee satisfaction across the business as a whole. All companies would benefit from looking at what tools they already have at their disposal whether to support remote access, telecommunications, business processes and look to leverage more from them. The major investment in these platforms to get them installed has already occurred so the cost of adaptation is relatively low.
Whilst not everyone is enjoying the new working experience, there are many other positives that we should focus on and companies should continue to improve their platforms in supporting the diverse flexibility of the ‘twenty something’ workforce. 2020 was a period of major and critical upheaval so perhaps we should view 2021 not as a conclusion but more as a chance to continue a more orderly transition to the new way.
Toby Gilbertson, Customer Services Manager. January 2021