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    The Future of Work: How to Manage the Post-pandemic Workforce

    Synopsis

    Post-pandemic, concerned about their personal life, employees wants hybrid work model which can deliver the best of both worlds.

    UntitledET Spotlight
    The current model of work came into existence during the first industrial revolution in the early 1900s, when offices and commercial business districts started popping up across industrialised nations. Technology and production methods have changed significantly since the early industrial years, but the way we perceive work has largely remained the same.

    In the 2010s, profound ideas about work started to surface. As part of the digital revolution, use of artificial intelligence increased. The boundary between gig and traditional employment blurred, and corporations started answering to a broader set of stakeholders—not only shareholders. The future of work was taking shape before the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the relationship between employees and firms is changing radically.

    The pandemic caused nearly 60% of workers to rethink the balance between their work and personal lives, according to a Bain & Company survey across 10 major economies conducted by Dynata. The majority of today’s workforce wants a hybrid work model, where employees can alternate between remote and on-site work.

    The future of work is hybrid because hybrid delivers the best of both worlds. So far, location has dominated the discussion about hybrid work, but the emphasis of those debates is misplaced. Instead, the discussion should be less about place and more about potential. We must evolve into a model that satisfies the needs of all workers all the time.

    Workers need to be productive and healthy—wherever they are. Organisations need to provide people with the right resources, both on-site and remotely. Those resources include:
    • Digital maturity and fluency. It’s imperative to have a strong digital vision that is clearly communicated and endorsed through training and upskilling. Digital tools will drive employee innovation, collaboration, and mobility, so the workforce must be upskilled in emerging digital technologies.
    • A higher degree of autonomy. The success of a hybrid working future depends on the degree of autonomy workers are given. Don’t fall into the trap of equating “face time” with productivity. Asynchrony is a key feature of hybrid, distributed working models, so policies and expectations must support it. Work scoping and methodologies must evolve, in order to drive greater autonomy, and potentially productivity, in a hybrid world. Firms will need significant creativity to harness the power of hybrid work effectively, and radically redesign feedback mechanisms, which help re-enforce autonomy, via continuously learning.
    • Progressive health policies that include mental health. The pandemic highlighted a need for progressive policies on employee health and well-being. Positive culture and flexible policies for sick and caregiver leaves would boost morale.
    • Supportive leadership. Leaders must actively and continuously listen to employees to better support their well-being, productivity, and personal development. They must recognise workers’ needs and expectations and keep them in mind when designing a vision of the future.

    The pandemic brought another reality into focus: The war for talent is going to intensify. Surging attrition rates suggest that workers are using pandemic-induced job disruption as an opportunity to re-evaluate what they want. Much of the prevailing thinking about workforce management stems from an era where workers were viewed as factors of production in the machine of enterprise. To win in the future, firms must adopt new models of thinking. Three shifts need to occur:
    • From talent taker to talent maker. A “Great Reskilling” is on the horizon. Talent needs are more dynamic than ever as a result of rapid technological change and the accelerated cut and thrust of this new era. Firms must scale investments in learning, think laterally about career journeys, and cultivate a continuous “talent creation” mindset, in order to expand the pie of talent meaningfully, and gain a disproportionate share of it in quality and quantity
    • Workers ≠ machines. Leaders must stop managing workers as if they were machines. They must help employees build personal capacity and create careers that match their individual ideas of a meaningful life.
    • From output to purpose and belonging. Winning firms will offer workers a sense of belonging and purpose, which help define a distinctive business character, and act as a foundational unifying force. Organisations must create an environment where connections and culture are built on purpose, rather than physical proximity alone

    The future of work is evolving rapidly. A lot is not known as yet. It’s a large blank canvas for creative new approaches. Experimentation around talent is going to define who wins and who doesn’t. And one thing is clear: Firms that cling to old ways will struggle to stay relevant.

    Shuvabrata Nandi and Megha Chawla are partners in Bain & Company’s New Delhi office and members of the Technology, Cloud Computing, and Telecommunications practices.
    (This article is generated and published by ET Spotlight team. You can get in touch with them on etspotlight@timesinternet.in)
    The Economic Times

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