Thank you for those who know me personally and who got back to me after the last two posts. I actually wrote the posts way back in 2017. I had wanted to go back to write on what I had promised to write but feel constrained to be more topical because truth be told, things may have changed forever. Only time will tell. I therefore did some research and have come back here to bring some of the research back home.
Remote work is real and it’s big: Besides those in the food industry everybody else is either working remotely or not at all. If you work in Lagos, you are o the fourth week and so it is almost the new normal. By now most organisations are meeting via zoom, WhatsApp and many are using Microsoft teams. This is just a few of the methods.
The challenge with this is that of a lack of good infrastructure like electricity. Some people don’t live in areas where data is easily accessible. The level of sophistication of workers to work remotely is low as many need the constant supervision remote working does not allow. The problem of making time at home, with children, family members, and pets competing for attention is a huge issue.
Some people have learned to adjust their work-hours based on home conditions. For example, now taking meetings in the evenings, because they’re tutoring or caring for kids during the day.
Personal safety and health are paramount. There is now an overwhelming agreement that the human, health, and safety issues are number one. HR managers must understand this priority. There are subtle questions to ask. Should people shake hands anymore? What are the new policies for vacation? When people come to the office for work where do they sit or stand? Should some employees receive hazard pay if they are interacting with the public a lot? Staff need to be taught to be good health role models. In order to do this, they themselves must be taught about what good health practises are.
Going digital is imperative. Doing a digital transformation is now urgent, and that means tools, norms, culture, and behaviours. For example, do people know how to appear on video without looking like you need a shave? (lighting) Do you know how to onboard people virtually? What tools should you buy?
Every system, tool, and enablement platform must work now. This is so this sort of disruption does not catch you unawares ever again. Automation is not a job killer but essential in dealing with a crisis. It is important to get your digital transformation going and not wait any more.
Caring, listening, and empathy are priority. In many cities all over the world, people go outside their houses and ring a bell or play a musical instrument or just clap at 7pm to recognise and thank the healthcare and frontline workers. Many people in Lagos are distributing both cooked and raw food to the people in and outside their neighbourhoods. People are offering a helping hand where ever the can. We seem far more “connected” now than we were before the crisis. Trainers are offering free work place training. This is priority at this time.
Distributed authority is key. Apparently in military strategy, there is a big topic of “distributed authority with central coordination” taught during battle. This is what is recommended now. Companies need the same here. In multinationals, local country managers, business partners, and HR administrators may have to deal with local country issues, store issues, or city issues that could never be coordinated in a central way. Every HR function must have a strategy for central coordination with local control, based on shared platforms, strategies, and values.
Do less with less. With all that is going on, especially with the lock down, most companies are budget-constrained to varying degrees. You may need to turn maybe your intranet (if you have one) to your communication and on-line training school. You don’t have to go and re-invent the wheel. Some people will lose their jobs because this system will show they are no longer needed. The budget constraints will make sure we all begin to think out of the box with our spending. There is also the prediction that money will be in short supply so do less with less is the mantra.
Move fast and come together What should have been part of your culture but that is now minimum requirement are courage, collaboration, and action. To a large extent, HR executives should be in the driving seat, building “priority teams” that meet every day, those that meet constantly, helping everyone shift from “project work” to “crisis work.” Having said this they must ensure that work is going on and companies are running and not everyone is dealing with the crisis. the company running. The message is “assign a team to work on the crisis” but “don’t have everyone working on the crisis.”
Real-time data really matters. Data is really important and you need to ensure that your company has real time data. This may not be so difficult to achieve in a small company, however the bigger your organisation is the more difficult but the more important. This is however achievable with great digital connections even more than when everyone was working in the office. It would be great if the CEO knows when there is a problem anywhere in minutes. Getting your data house in order may be tedious but in times like this it is most important.
Continuity planning is vital. We may be in a global crisis, but your individual companies may have a crisis at any time and as such the organisation must always be prepared for a crisis. Crises can be a fire, the sudden death of a key position holder, even an embezzlement. You have to plan for “things going wrong” as part of your everyday life. The companies that had crises plans, were ready to respond. Going forward, make sure all your programs, designs, and people are designed for resiliency.
Cloud platforms, focus on employee experience, understanding employee journeys and implementing people analytics are all very important with what is going to be a new focus on crisis response and resilience moving forward. We need all these programs in order to respond in a vigorous and local way to this crisis.
Leadership matters, more than ever
At a time like this, HR executives really earn their pay. Not only are each one of the employees worried about their health and personal safety, these HR executives are worried about revenue, executive and workplace safety, continuity, and offering sound and ethical policies to employees. In all of this HR are the heroes of most companies.
There will be many difficult decisions to make. There will be layoffs, restructuring, and many difficult financial and human decisions ahead. The above points will help in moving forward and help in navigating some of these difficult decisions.
LAMIDE BALOGUN
