CULTURE BUILDING IN THE ‘NEW NORMAL’

Thankfully, and due to the swift and concerted action by governments and citizens, the COVID-19 transmission curve is flattening in Singapore and other cities across the region. For many, that means contemplating a return to a workplace that will have dramatically changed, featuring important and necessary social-distancing measures to ensure personal safety and collective resilience.  

The cautious and gradual opening up of our economy and its workplaces is important to preventing a second wave of community transmission, and it’s critical we stay the course. As we do so, it’s time to contemplate the impact of these new measures on the way we work and the impact it will have on our people and organisational cultures as we look to define what a ‘new normal’ looks like in practice.   

Over the past two-decades, workplace design has been a core element of company culture and a critical ingredient in building high performing teams. It’s something we’ve embraced at Mundipharma: providing people with a work environment that supports personal and collective endeavour and a strong performance-oriented culture.  

Practically, and for good reason, social distancing measures mean that our workspaces need to be adjusted to allow people more space to work. For many, this also means integrating or balancing between home and office workspaces, where working from home remains the preferred or required option.  

This urgent need overrides practical cultural considerations for good reason. But as we learn to function in a post-pandemic world and in an economic climate that will require businesses to be best-performing, how do we blend the need to create workspaces that are healthy and safe, while also enabling people and teams to thrive?  

Technologies come of age at unpredictable times. Video conferencing technology is not new, but it has mainstreamed out of necessity in recent months. The speed with which people have become comfortable with their cameras on has prompted discussion about the future of work in a new normal environment where there is less need for expensive office space and international travel to meet in person.  

We can function from home at much less cost and with arguably more efficiency and environmental impact. But is this a reflection of short-term commitment? Is it a viable model in the long term?  

The new normal will have a flow-on effect on budget lines, reducing the need for office space as we move towards more collaborative, open safe spaces where people work further apart. Technology and mobility costs will also rise, off-set by a reduction in travel.  

On the other side of the equation, there will be a re-working of living spaces where professional couples compete for home office space and quiet, often alongside children in the study. Many will revel in the balance they can now achieve, free from the daily commute, and invest that time in personal development or family time.   

I don’t have the answers yet, but we are as committed to our people’s safety as we are to creating a thriving working culture, so there is much to consider.  

We are a company that has been recognised as a leader in workplace design, and we use it to define our company culture. Well-designed workspaces facilitate easy communication, enabling people to informally coach and mentor each other, fostering the growth of a collaborative culture. These attributes are particularly important for younger team members who look to soak up every experience and lesson from more experienced peers as part of their career development.  

Open offices and clear glass create a sense of transparency, openness, and willingness to work as a team. And as a multi-cultural community, interpersonal communication is vital for growing cross-cultural understanding and establishing bonds between people who see the world through different lenses.  

This all contributes to a strong high-performance culture. How then do we blend the need to come together with the safety and well-being of our people? What do hybrid models and phased approaches look like and what are some of the practical comprises that we can make?

The safe office has never been more important, where culture and personal health can thrive and be protected. There is still a lot we can take from the years of research into work and culture and its relationship with space, but we will now need to find ways to apply these principles to a new normal scenario.