Navigating the workplace of the future

WHETHER it is remote working or hybrid offices, businesses today are being forced to navigate a host of challenges brought on by the pandemic. Trends that might have played out over a period of years have been compressed into a matter of months.

For instance, work-from-anywhere is now entrenched in corporate life after Covid-19 safe management pushed employees to function from locations other than the traditional office; an arrangement that looks like it might be here to stay.

Surveys have shown that even after the dust from the pandemic settles, many employees will still prefer to work from home. As such, days spent in the office will be reserved for brainstorming, meeting and building camaraderie.

These changes will have wide implications for the way companies operate and, in particular, their approach to managing talent. For instance, with some employees no longer in their bosses' line of sight, the way workplace performance is defined and measured will change. These shifting norms have also spurred organisations to rethink their office space requirements and future investments to ensure safe and effective workplaces.

No longer clocking in

One clear trend emerging from the crisis is that all things related to "talent" is a rising priority for leaders across industries, as companies transform their workplace and workforce strategies to optimise every element of the talent experience.

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In the near term, the new hybrid work model that offers the best of both virtual and in-person environments will help provide employees with the flexibility they desire, while bringing them together in moments that matter most.

This model also allows organisations to hire talent from around the globe, providing more employment opportunities to people with specialised skills, while offering employers greater resilience in the event of future lockdowns.

In the longer term, experts believe that it will be essential to reimagine talent in a way that optimises human potential for thinking, ideation, collaboration, and productivity, while fostering purpose in the work that people do.

"While defining hybrid work models is an important first step, creating a worker-employer relationship that empowers an organisation to thrive depends first and foremost on a clear, compelling and differentiated strategy that is sustainable," said Cheung Pui Yuen, chief executive officer, Deloitte Singapore.

Optimising the mix

Darren Tan, group chief financial officer at OCBC, noted that the exact proportion of staff working from home versus working from office is still being debated, although time spent in the physical office is important to promote collaboration.

"Short of any sort of empirical evidence, we could apply the 80-20 rule, (80 per cent working from office and 20 per cent working from home). Because at the end of the day, coming together, having a common story, building this esprit de corps, could be a competitive advantage," he said.

"From a CFO perspective, the role is to be the balancing figure - in terms of not getting too excited in swinging from one extreme to the other, whether it's all coming back to the office, which is impossible at this point in time because of the pandemic, or on the other hand, to everybody working from everywhere, which is impractical because the reality is that certain roles require the high touch of people coming together."

One potential hybrid model is the "hub and spoke", where businesses would have a core office space at a single location, while the rest of their business services or other "spoke" offices will operate from other multiple locations.

"This empowers employees to choose a location that works best for them. So the challenge is how do we then create spaces like that and how does a real estate team work out a strategy that can work well to support the business, the hybrid arrangement, and workforce well-being," said Loke Huey Teng, chief financial officer at co-working space operator JustCo.

She added: "Remote and hybrid work arrangements can actually work hand in hand with the optimal planning of the real estate space. This will help the company achieve cost efficiency in terms of variable versus fixed cost, and long-term versus short-term commitments."

Looking beyond survival

For an organisation to succeed in the post-Covid world, experts say that it is important for leaders to shift from a "survive" to "thrive" mindset. Businesses that embrace a survival mindset will be able to tread water - leveraging near-term strategies to navigate the future, but these strategies do not give them the tools they need to chart a course for longer-term success.

"A thrive mindset requires a recognition that disruption is continuous rather than epi-sodic, and a willingness to use disruption as a catalyst to drive the organisation forward," said Mr Cheung.

According to the Deloitte 2021 Global Human Capital Trends research, organisations that have adopted a thrive mindset are three times more likely than their peers to bring human strengths to the fore - leveraging work adaptability and mobility to navigate disruption.

Indeed, Paulin Tay Straughan, professor of sociology (practice), Singapore Management University, noted that businesses should take advantage of changing paradigms to seek out new opportunities.

"For businesses to thrive in this new economy, we have to think about what we can do now that we couldn't do in the past when we were working from the office. You have to be alert to the new opportunities that businesses are accorded and how you leverage them," she said.

Leading workplace change

Resilient leadership is key to helping workers adapt and settle into the new realities of work. This requires them to exhibit empathy, and the ability to walk compassionately in the shoes of their employees.

Tone from the top with clear, constant communication is also important, as it will effect a mindset change among employees, and help shift their behaviour towards embracing and adapting to change. Most importantly, as the world recovers, reopens and rebuilds, business leaders must recognise the importance of earning the trust of their employees.

"All those who make the journey back to the office, be it sooner or later, are placing their trust in their organisation. Now is the time for organisations to commit to earn and build on trust, and meet the responsibility with competence and intent," said Mr Cheung.

"Well thought out policies and initiatives must go in tandem with the 'hardware' to build and strengthen an inclusive culture that lets workers feel safe at work. Ensuring the well-being of workers is paramount, and organisations that integrate well-being into the design of work at the individual, team, and organisational levels will build a sustainable future where workers can feel and perform at their best."

Leaders should also check in regularly with their team members to understand not only their work priorities, but also other areas in their lives that could affect their work attitude and performance.

On their part, employees must recognise the importance of face-to-face connections. "The other important aspect is for employees to continue to remember that human relationships are critical to any successful enterprise. You can't replace that hug, that handshake, that meal together when you are trying to build a business and you're trying to build a company," said Prof Straughan.

"So I think for employees moving forward, it's how do you balance these two. On one hand, leverage the opportunities that the pandemic has accorded us and take advantage of the remote working opportunities. On the other hand, this cannot be the new norm. It cannot replace how you run businesses."