Corporate Distancing – The New Office Dynamic

What the heck is the office landscape going to be when a majority of Americans head back to work? Will they head back to work?

These questions are on the top of everyone’s minds, and the jury is still out on what the best path forward is.

My company had a digital town-hall over Zoom today, where one of our leaders discussed his take on remote working.

His tone was very positive overall. Lower overhead, innovative use of technology, and an opportunity/necessity for teammates to share some of their personal lives were all benefits that he touted.

For the most part, I agree with this interpretation of the working from home experience.

Unfortunately, working from home is not feasible or easy to do in industries like tourism, food and beverage, or other service-based positions. However, necessity is the mother of invention, and entrepreneurial bartenders have started hosting online workshops, barbers are cutting hair in driveways, and myriad other innovations are popping up on my news feed.

What is going on?

Office life as we know it has changed permanently.

Even as states begin opening for business and non-essential companies open back up, there has yet to be a deluge of customers heading to storefronts.

There is still a pandemic, there are still millions of unemployed workers, and there are not efficient systems in place for social distancing post-quarantine.

These factors are causing office workers to be cautious of heading back to their cubicles. Will the new cleaning measures be enough? Are staggered schedules worth the risk?

According to Harvard Business Review, this is the time for companies to make or break their future.

Workers and their employers are at the beginning of a new frontier. Leadership must adapt to the changing workplace culture, or risk alienating their already stressed team.

What is being done about culture?

The quarantine climate can be an excellent opportunity for executive leadership to take a step back and chart out a course that will set them up for success.

The corporate landscape has shifted from relentless competition to a hybrid of collaborative survival.

Many manufacturers are working with competitors to share resources and produce ventilators and other lifesaving equipment while still trying to provide their products. With these factors in mind, leadership is learning to focus on empathy and a holistic evaluation of overall health.

One of our leaders put it well this morning when he said that some of our members are enjoying time with their families, others have lost family members, and others still have been isolated alone for almost two months.

There isn’t an HR packet that will make them better. There isn’t a silver bullet that will cheer on all of the spirits. A real and impactful plan of action is required for the COVID workplace to function effectively.

The new workday

Another enormous shift in the workplace has been the workday itself. Babysitters are mostly unavailable. Schools are closed. Parents must attend to the needs of their families while still working full-time.

The extra strain on parents has led to the workday going into the evening, the weekends, and even earlier mornings.

It’s mot impossible to succeed like this, but employers who give grace to their employees will win retention and admiration from their team. Even though layoffs are at an all-time high, employers don’t want to lose more of their employees. The average employee costs an average of $15,000 to replace in recruiter fees, job posting fees, and lost production of the vacated role.

Here are some of my predictions for the new “office” environment:

Location independence will be the norm:

Before the pandemic, working remotely from home seemed to be for startups and freelancers.

Now, everyone is embracing their home office out of necessity.

Many companies feared their employees working remotely due to inherent laziness and lack of productivity.

This crisis taught us that while there is a learning curve to working from home, productivity does not need to suffer.

Childcare benefits from employers will increase and carry a heavier incentive:

As the workforce acclimates to working from home, employers must find new ways to recruit and retain talent.

Childcare will become a top incentive for many workers because as economies open, and school resumes, parents will need someone to help care for their children.

These incentives may be in the form of scholarships, daycare stipends, or an allowance for babysitters.

Providing competitive childcare incentives will enable companies to attract top talent to work for them while allowing the employee to work at home with the confidence that his or her child is okay.

Leadership will get much better:

Middle-management is notoriously stereotyped for a reason.

It’s the position where aspiring leaders with excellent management styles must spend some time before taking on even more significant responsibility.

It is also the place where many good employees find themselves after a specified tenure, even if they were not looking for a leadership role.

Forced promotion can lead to weak or distant management styles, which are not necessarily their fault, but still harms their team.

COVID is changing that.

True leaders will shine very brightly because they will bring order to the chaos of managing a spread-out team, while ineffective leaders must perform at a higher level, or move to a position that fits them better.

Parting Thoughts

These are just a few impacts of the coronavirus’s effect on the way we work.

In some ways, it leveled the playing field because small businesses to the top of the S&P 500 must respond to the demands of a fragmented workforce.

Rigid companies that do not respond to change will inevitably fall behind. Companies that embrace velocity and push forward will retain their highly productive and loyal employees.

This pandemic is a proving ground or litmus test for corporate cultures. Those enterprises that were already proactively developing their culture will adapt quickly, while those with antiquated practices will lose talent and revenue.