The world has changed more in the last two years than ever before. The pre-pandemic me and the post-pandemic me are two different people. Well, almost. And that is true for everyone who started their career before 2020. 

Things that changed include digitization across a spectrum of the mundane and the important, be it purchases, payments, people interactions, work, or entertainment.  

It also gave a breather to people to reflect on life in general and purpose in particular. The pause had its influence on perspectives, behavior, priorities, and values.

The pandemic period was a ‘once in a lifetime’ challenge and hence its lessons, are precious. As we leave this phase behind, we can be cautious to not throw away the baby with the bathwater. 

Making the crucial choice 

Most organizations are in the process of transitioning their employees from “work from home (WFH)” to “work from office (WFO) “mode.  While some are going straight from a 100% WFH mode to a 100% WFO mode, some are moving in a phased manner, acclimatizing their employees to the old normal. And then there are organizations who are keen to combine the benefits of WFH & WFO and are planning to roll out a hybrid mode. 

The saying, “man is a social animal” is not going away. WFO gives people the window to meet in person, discuss, disagree, share, empathize, celebrate together in a real physical way and this feeds the soul and inspires people, both managers and their teams.  

Another empirical reality that got underpinned during the pandemic was that WFH works. Employees do deliver even when they are out of sight. This realization opens so many opportunities for both organizations and the talent pool. 

For professionals, it saves the time to commute to work, improves focus and attention to the task at hand, and allows for work life balance. A lot of personal cum professional success stories on wellness and work life balance shared during the pandemic give credit to WFH.  

For organizations, it has opened the gates to access talent from across the world leading to a diverse pool of talented people, out of the box ideas, interesting and enriching perspectives, higher benchmarks, increase in band strength, and the ability to be agile. 

Transformation is the way forward 

Whatever the mode of work, people must adapt to an ever-changing tech driven world. Upskilling the self, adapting to new needs of the role, agility on the job, and focus on performance excellence are important to persevere. Every month ask yourself ‘What is new and how do I keep up with that?’ Continuous improvement and alignment to the new needs is the mantra for growth. 

Organizations on the other hand have the arduous task of managing long term vision in a very VUCA world. To this effect, the burden of the balancing act lies squarely on the shoulders of its leaders. Much of the future will be shaped by the leaders of today. Effective Leadership in this new era is going to be a combination of many diverse qualities. The leader will no longer be just a person who is great at putting together an ambitious business plan and inspiring the team to achieve it. 

Leadersnow have an expansive role, thanks to the pandemic and the mindset of the new generation of millennials. Leading from the head and the heart has become necessary for every leader. Empathy is in. Being feared is out. Being effective in connecting people to a shared purpose, managing a diverse set of people spread across continents and different modes of working, bringing out the best in each of them, empowering and rewarding performance are all must-have qualities in a leader to keep people inspired, engaged and loyal in the new order. Leaders have to focus on upgrading their own skills, both technical as well as behavioral. Leading in chaos necessitates creation of mini- leaders, agility to respond to swift unprecedented and unexpected changes, and a sharp review process that allows nimble footed action.

The leader also has the task of contributing to a sustainable world through refreshed strategy, plan and action of the organization for a better future for the world and its people. A leader’s role, simply put, has expanded quickly from Profits, to include People and the Planet in equal measure (3 P’s). The Business Responsibility and Sustainability report has been made mandatory for top 1000 listed companies in India, effective this year. And this may just be the beginning. 

The hybrid work model

As organizations and its people embrace the return of near normalcy and enjoy the charm of the physical world while adapting to the digital world, it seems that employees do prefer a hybrid work model. Wellness, higher productivity, focus and work life balance makes this an obvious choice. But not all functions are suitable for a hybrid mode.

It is a golden opportunity for organizations to explore the hybrid mode and figure out how to differentiate and apply the same to functions and roles, without creating a feeling of discrimination. There will be a need for customization and crafting win-win HR policies to ensure that the hybrid mode leads to a net gain on the 3 P’s. 

Two studies in early 2022 validated the advantages of hybrid. Research from Owl Labs found that remote and hybrid employees were 22% happier than workers in onsite office environment and stayed longer in their jobs. 

Another study from Ergotron sampled 1000 full time workers. 88% of them agree that flexibility to work from home or the office increased their job satisfaction. It helped them reclaim their physical and mental health. 75% of them said their work- life balance improved with hybrid mode and although many of them are dedicating more time to their job, they are still being able to fit things around for an enhanced work-life balance.  

These are busier times now for talent, leaders and organizations as they create their intertwined future. And the future promises to be exciting as ever!