Moving Forwards
One of the resounding comments was that all businesses need to take stock of what is working well in this new environment and what is less effective. There is a key opportunity to take the learnings from this crisis; to remember the positives and carry those on into the new world.
In relation to employees, one guest commented "Once you have worked out the degree of flexibility, we will need to understand the people we have today and the people we plan to have tomorrow and work out how to retain the best. Potentially this means we will need to adjust the type of people we recruit to fit the new way of working."
As the taps get turned back on, there was a general consensus that one of the next big challenges will be the assessment and planning on how to bring the workforce back, whilst remaining compliant, safe and reassuring.
All the guests agreed that a 100% virtual world is not sustainable for the long term as it does not appeal to everyone, it was acknowledged that the most likely outcome will be to see a dispersed team mix with some working from home and others in the office which will require a different mindset for a business and create challenges for the future to treat everyone equally. What was highlighted is that this will ultimately create benefits for the future with less travel up and down the country for meetings and a more flexible way of working.
Leaders will need to continue to adapt their style – delegation and trust is another key area, with a remote workforce it is harder for leaders to have a handle on everything that happens within the business as they might have done previously.
There was a discussion around key behaviours that leaders will need to be aware of as we go into a new world and flexibility, delegation, empathy and continued growth in communication were all thought to be key. This was backed up by a recent Boyden survey which also included, the ability to adapt, ability to inspire, EQ, resilience, agility, and strategic perspective.
In conclusion, there will be many challenges along the way, but across the industry, there was overwhelming consensus that there is a tremendous opportunity for innovation. Finally, and perhaps the greatest consideration of all, the industry can play a vital role in stabilising the economy and to be a lead force in the recovery.
