Organisations shifted to more flexible and remote ways of working at a pace that could never have been imagined prior to the Covid pandemic. This rapid shift means that the way teams are connected, supported and led is more important than ever.
The pandemic has resulted in wide-ranging changes to the way we work, notably the seismic shift from office to home-based working. While this offers greater flexibility, it also poses several risks and challenges.
The move to working remotely has highlighted the fact that older and non-integrated collaboration platforms are not fit for purpose in the new norm. It is very clear that integrated collaboration platforms are necessary if teams are to successfully perform critical operations. The absence of joined up systems can lead to performance disruption and an inability to get the best from remote teams.
Organisations that moved to remote working without the right collaborative tools found their ability to deliver was compromised by end-to-end process breakdowns and gaps in communication leading to damaged customer outcomes.
Demotivated and anxious workforce working in isolation with limited collaboration opportunities also resulted in lower productivity and a breakdowns in effective decision-making.
1. Managing the physical and virtual work environment
With reduced travel and remote working, employee expectations are changing. People are less inclined to spend long hours commuting and expect greater flexibility in working to match personal circumstances
Designing an agile organisation requires a flexible workplace which is a combination of both physical and virtual/home spaces that supports all the different activities that employees and visitors perform. It should empower its employees to work anywhere, work better, work differently
“80% of organisations will redesign office layout and FM services”
EY Global Survey 2020
A modern employer needs to be connected and inherently more flexible in how they approach their internal and external environments. Its people need to be more team based and diverse, and collaborative in sharing, innovating, and in delivering to customers
2. Employing the right technologies
The rapid application of remote working at scale was tested like never before during the pandemic.
“55% of CHRO’s believe poor infrastructure hinders remote working”
EY Global Survey 2020
To enable transformation and prepare for the future of work, organisation need to look at how work is enabled through seamless integration with digital tools. Instead of implementing stand lone tools providing limited functionality, organisations should look at using unified collaborative platforms.
Providing a stable, secure and user-centric digital workplace, leveraging tools such as Microsoft Teams is key for successful remote working. This enables employees to chat, meet, create, collaborate and make decisions as a team regardless of time, place and setting.
3. Cultural change
People want to retain humanity in remote work. People need to be seen and heard as they navigate the new challenges of working from home. In uncertain times, leaders should not avoid tough conversations from behind a screen but visibly lead with authenticity.
Taking a high-empathy approach is essential. Even though there is a physical distance between leaders and their teams, the human connection must be sustained and in fact becomes more important.
“81% of all Of CEOs surveyed said a new style of leadership was needed”
EY Global Survey 2020
Building strong employee engagement and putting supports in place focused on employee wellbeing is key in building trust. If employees feel that their company and its leaders care about their wellbeing at work and at home, they will be more likely to trust the decisions the company makes.
When people are working remotely, it’s more important than ever to keep your staff connected and feeling supported during isolation. For many people, connection with colleagues can provide an important buffer to their feelings of social isolation and disconnection. Encourage employees to stay regularly connected with virtual video meetings. Ask people leaders to make themselves available to staff to talk about their fears, answer questions and reassure them about work and personal issues.
Culture that is built on trust encourages collaboration, transparency and self-leadership.
Summary
The pandemic brought a sudden change in the working environment. The acceleration of flexible and remote working created significant challenges across business functions resulting in disrupted performance, failure of delivery and a feeling of isolation for many employees. Leading change through constant disruption requires a new focus on the people and organisational dimensions of business transformation.
By using an integrated approach to the physical and virtual workplace, technology and behaviours, organisations can drive business transformation to ensure productivity remains high.
How can EY help?
To support clients in navigating this transformative opportunity in partnership with Microsoft Consulting Services, EY Modern Employer have created an innovation HUB that brings the very best of helps organisations achieve organisational agility, optimise processes and implement new ways of working at speed & scale.
EY Modern Employer HUB – Modern, Intelligent, Agile:
