COVID-19 AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
Roel Van Der Poort
passionate, strategic, proven & international oriented HR professional
The birth of the ‘co-creation employee’!
Some say the COVID-19 pandemic is the most severe crises Europe is facing since the end of World War II! Let scientists decide if that is true, but it is for sure a phase with an unprecedented impact on our daily life, both private and professionally. It is intriguing to reflect on the question if the current covid-19 phase is a ‘crises’ or a transformation?
If you would see it as a crises it would likely mean that you expect that our lives from around October, November 2019 would return once we have beaten the covid-19 pandemic. I don’t think that is a realistic perspective as the current covid-19 phase has changed Europe, has changed the world in a fundamental way. In my eyes it is not logical to expect that we can return to our old lives. Once we have beaten covid-19 (I am convinced we will do so), once we taken back the ownership of our public life we will find a changed world and reality. We will feel like emigrants that return after 20 years to our country of origin, but we will not find it anymore, there will be little that reminds us of the past!
Think it makes more sense to see it as a phase of transformation. We will transform to a new reality. A new phase will be more than ever an ‘internet of things’ reality. Covid-19 did for sure speed-up the digital transformation in many companies. If something became clear in the past period it is for sure how substantial our economic life can continue even if our public life is too a high level in lock down.
I saw with my own eyes inside my company (Advantech Europe) and it made me proud that meetings with fellow workers, customer’s etc. can continue largely with Microsoft Teams and zoom. Inside Advantech we were lucky enough that our production and logistics sites could continue (in a safe way), but still 90% of our employee population worked from the ‘home office’.
Once covid-19 is beaten we will see a changed work reality. There will be a different balance. We have seen we can be efficient and productive even if teams work largely from home and away from each other. We have seen that we can stay in touch with each other very effectively. It is logical to expect that people want a different way to organize their professional work life! For sure a lot of moments to be in a psychical way together and work together @ the office, but likely also more than ever in a ‘home office’ set-up.
If you read European newspapers you see also a growing political coalition to organize our professional life different. We have challenging environmental objectives as well: an environmental footprint that consists of less travel could be a big advantage. Also companies will assess employees more and more on objective measured output instead of physical presence in the offices.
Transformation after covid-19 will likely take place and it will develop our professional societies to a different balance in how we conduct our work. What is required from most employees and leaders will change as well. You could call it the birth of the ‘co-creation employee’. This co-creation employee needs to have qualities in the field of collaboration, communication and critical thinking. This all to cooperate easy with partners external or fellow workers internal. Cooperation skills will be more important than organizational structures. Most of all the new born co-creation employee needs to be curious. Curious how to improve service and quality to customers and fellow workers, but most of all curious to find better ways!
The co-creation leader that is needed in the next era will be the one that is known for sharp questions, not the answers. This new born co-creation leader will be strong in demand with a lot of companies.
Every transformation has its price. Are you ready for the future of work after covid-19? Did you plan your re-birth as a co-creation employee or co-creation leader? Better start preparing now, but likely you did already!
Roel van der Poort
(this article is written on personal title)
Spreker | Transformatie coach | Bestsellerauteur over Werkgeluk, Leiderschap en Teamcoaching | Bedenker Feel-Fly-Flourish-model. De creatieve kracht van teams naar boven halen | Positieve gedragsverandering verankeren.
4 年I love the "‘co-creation employee’.! "This co-creation employee needs to have qualities in the field of collaboration, communication and critical thinking" is great. And i also agree we will enter a new era. Thinking to go back to the old will result in a re-entry culture shock, as i refer to in my "corona culture shock"-article. And by the way: i consider you as a co-creation employee: collaboration with bright and critical thinking and very much aware of what is going on around you.
Senior Technical Sales Manager for Spain and Portugal
4 年Thanks Roel, really nice article - (habit 1: be proactive :) )
Results driven program manager for the aviation and aerospace industries
4 年Roel, You are correct that the world of work will change after we have beaten the COVID-19 pandemic. More people will work from home where their jobs are not dependent upon being in a place where physical presence is required. For companies, having more people work from home can have great savings in reducing overhead expenses such as office leases, utilities, office supplies and coffee. Workers will not be stressed out or late due to commuting. Productivity should increase. Traffic congestion should decrease. Since the “Stay at Home” order went into effect, a drive from Los Angeles International Airport to Burbank that took 90 minutes is now 30 minutes. A positive outcome of less car traffic is cleaner air. One thing that will never change is the need for people to see each other person. So many times in my career, I have always felt that the business relationship improved after I met my counterpart in person. This is true for customers in the US and international. The question is- will we go back to shaking hands or adopt other customs such as bowing in Japan? Employers will need to be careful in evaluating home based employees. They may become less sensitive to fire someone who is not in the office.
Marketing Expert | Brand Development | Communications Strategy | H2H Marketing
4 年Very nice article Roel !
IoT | Embedded Systems
4 年Very interesting. I am curious about the changes. More flexibility and maybe new "home office" jobs.