Reviewing WFH - the good and the bad and actions for post lockdown
I blogged early on in lockdown about working from home (WFH). It was part practical advice and guidance, part help with wellbeing.
WFH already emerged as a part of the bigger picture that is remote and flexible (R and F) working policies and practice in the past few years. Indeed, I faciliated sessions and workshops for teams in recent times to develop their R and F approach as they moved to these ways of working before Covid-19 was ever heard of.
General thinking was an acknowledgement that flexible working approaches, better wellbeing and life/work balance worked with the right digitalisation and appropriate technology alongside leadership and management direction and support with performance managing to outcomes. There were upsides and downsides to work on in each team I facilitated, but the aim was always to leverage the benefits and deal with the challenges collaboratively.
What has been the good and bad?
Three months on since I blogged, these are part personal observations and part what I have read as early research emerges alongside release from lockdown. I include some initial proposals for what should happen next.
Technology. The virus and ensuing lockdown accelerated the move to using technology - we were heading there already but the pandemic ‘zoomed’ it forwards (pardon the pun). Using technology here embraces online communication tools, virtual working and a different approach to learning and development as well. This is a ‘keeper’.
Kinder society with different values. Social media had its share of storms, but there were some great pieces of thought leadership on how we need to come out of the pandemic as a kinder society. I think generally there are some different behavioural values to cultivate at work as well as in society to reflect this.
Building on the R and F working opportunity and the value of the HR profession. There is a general undeniable theme of to ‘not go back to how things were before’.
What that means has not been unravelled specifically enough and I doubt it is completely true (I don’t see a Goverment yet announcing this or leading on this).
This ‘not going back’ includes the world of work, however. Commuting, presenteeism, working in an office at a set location, meetings (cost, time wasting), life/work balance, organisational values and ways of working have all come under scrutiny and won’t necessarily return, or hopefully not automatically as was.
These work issues are examples of what has been ‘thrown up in the air’. Everyone will have those they will add personally, such as working whilst caring for relatives or teaching children at home, for example, or sharing a household with a key worker, or being a key worker! And not to forget the furloughed workers. How all these pieces ‘fall back down’ can be different and better. People will want to hold on to the benefits and be part of the dialogue of ‘return to work’.
Leaders, with the professional support of HR and OD, can do great work here. The value of my profession, which has been a central support in organisational endurance and change, has been evident and amazing. They have redesigned team structures and reporting lines, helped managers get their teams motivated and organised as their business models have been turned upside down, and advised leaders how to inspire and inform from a distance. Partnering and collaboration have been where they’ve been effective particularly. This continues as we come out of lockdown and cope with more change emotionally and professionally, particularly as there are a raft of additional issues to address. These include, for example, grieving over the loss of colleagues and family, loss of jobs/redundancies, new ways of working, crises from the fall out that inevitably comes next and everyone’s general mental health.
Research and using evidence. Some initial research about the positives and negatives of WFH has thrown up (unsurprising for me) themes:
negatives - less chances for spontaneous interactions and ideas exchange, some less equipped to manage themselves and their time, lack of boundaries, working more hours (presenteeism), trust issues, poor broadband/technology issues, missing face to face time with colleagues.
positives - generally more productive, flexibility, improved focus and time management, more time with family and work/life balance, not missing time wasted travelling/commuting, less noise and distractions, less interruptions.
Call to action - there’s more change to manage
Here are five inital actions as we all consider what next for WFH, R and F and a ‘return’:
1. Listening and collaboration. Effective practice is to listen and identify with staff the lessons learned from WFH and R and F working and discuss and agree how working will work going forwards.
2.Remaining flexible and adaptable, two resilient thinking skills. This affects policy, practice, ways of working through to the personal ability to adapt and flex.
3.Wellbeing and personal resilience must be supported, promoted and developed. This is a priority for peoples’ development as well as for managers of teams and organisations as employers.
4.Values and behaviours need to be aired and aligned. Some may be strong and embedded, new values may have emerged, others may have drifted. Carrying these into performance management development and 1-2-1s is probably more important than tasks and targets.
5.Helping people through this transition as part of the need to deal with more change. As Burns says: “Organisations change. People go through transition”. The next ‘job’ for HR!
And finally, here’s some points for L and D practitioners and strategists that need some working on, that I didn’t want to leave out
Revise learning and development at work:
Introduce L and D and OD business partnering built on an internal consultancy approach; know what you mean by ‘consultancy’ and ‘business partnering’ and your ‘theory in use’.
Revise how L and D is framed so it does not reside with a deficit model.
Evaluate outcomes and learning that is helping performance at work.
Design learning and development around doing the work, behavioural values and business needs (hello business partners).
70-20-10. The whole 100 is the important principle. Learning at work and peer and social learning are foundation stones, not nice to have add-ons. Classroom based learning still has a place and needs to return re-imagined (what and how will be a subject of a future blog). Coaching and mentoring are key skills needed.