Well, we are right in the middle of this pandemic and the hope is that we have reached the peak and will return to some level of normalcy soon. I stress some level of normalcy, because we all know that we will not be returning to the “normal” we knew before this health crisis and truth be told, we may never get back there. The million-dollar question is, where do we go from here?

Here are some of the areas that we believe will change

Working from home will increase. This is going to happen to obviously stop the spread of the pandemic. However, we feel like the main reason that will drive this is that many companies that were resistant to this model, will see that productivity does not fall off when employees are working from home. Here is a CNBC article that reinforces that there can be more productivity when working from home CNBC Working from Home.

Companies are going to need to redesign their workspaces. Over the years we have transitioned to more of an open workspace model and in my opinion this update has mixed reviews. People like the open concept premise because it creates team unity, however there is a loss of privacy which many of us still value. With this pandemic companies will need to rethink open concept designs and come up with creative ways to create unity while respecting distance.

Breakroom meetings, team building events and social gatherings outside of the workplace may be a thing of the past, for now at least. This is going to be a continued challenge as we are for the most part social creatures. We feed off of each other’s energy and part of what motivates us to work for certain organizations is the team-oriented culture.

Human Resources will have a more prominent role in organizations. As we plan a return to work and shape how that looks. HR teams will be at the forefront of working on this with leadership teams. The focus will be on creating employee engagement and recognition programs that meet the new normal. Identifying ways to build more robust virtual training and working with leaders to provide feedback to employees that are dispersed.

Overall work will change for most of us. It is making sure that we understand what will change and the impact on us, that will have us prepared for it.

We are always here as a resource for you if you need help navigating this new frontier, as we do the same on our end.

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