The dressing down of corporate walls

What interesting times we are living through. Unlike Bill Gates, who has been citing this for some time, never did I envisage we’d live through a pandemic of this scale, particularly in the modern world.

Whilst the devastation is widespread around the globe, there aren’t too many individuals, or businesses here in Australia, that aren’t feeling the effects. With this, many of us have seen challenges compound, and for most in the corporate world, home and business lives are starting to blend, and in instances collide.

It’s not surprising people are feeling very uncertain about what the ‘new normal’ might look like in the context of work and personal life. Working from home, home schooling, isolation, virtual socialising, stock piling of staple consumer product, domestic internet that shows fractures with the growing household and business demands and not to mention the huge number of people that have been displaced in their jobs, during these times. And then there’s the very sad and lonely death that so many have endured around the world.

On a lighter note, I know in our household, never before has so much thought been put into the evening meal, home baking has reached new heights and those jobs around the house are finally being attended to - the garage, garden and shed has never been so organised and not to mention Netflix and SBS on Demand are being fleeced for.

With this rapidly changing world, that we’re now seeing supercharged by COVID-19, there may just be a silver lining in all of this. What will the new work environment look like? What will be the ‘new normal’? How will your personal and business life continue to blend? Are we ready?

Well, when we come out the other side, the notion of working from home is sure to become a regular part of the working week. With technology such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, email, texts, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram - never have we been so connected. And with this, are we seeing the walls of personal and corporate life starting to blend and come down. I know at Ampersand International, our daily connectivity via Zoom is powering our teams across the three eastern seaboard states, in some ways, better than ever. Daily collaboration, has seen a sharper planned and purposeful approach to each activity and we have distinct nimbleness to adjust our direction on a daily, if not hourly basis. We’ve seen productivity and efficiency levels lift and across corporate Australia we have witnessed a heart-warming element of heightened care for others. In many cases, people have gained in excess of one to two hours per day in the absence of commuting to and from work, travelling to and from meetings and generally being more purposeful in their activity.

Conversations are becoming increasingly more real, more personal and more grounded. Could this be a by-product of people conducting business whilst in their personal space, in their homes? Have we seen the business suit get a dressing down? Is the future set for a more intimate and personal experience, without the corporate window dressing?    

What we’ve witnessed in the past weeks is businesses and individuals in a state of survival, putting in place measures to get through this pandemic. What we’re seeing now, is strategic planning and modelling to best equip organisations on the other side, when the market/economy returns and this pandemic is put to rest. Our prediction is organisations will build their core structure, a stripped back version of what we once knew, and this will be coupled with the ‘gig economy’ as we know it. This will bring in experts, bench strength and project delivery on a ‘as required’ basis, so that cost centres can remain fluid and flexible. Like the emergence from the GFC, when contracting workforces were utilised to rebuild whilst mitigating risk. It’s coming.   

But as we all embrace the now, look after one another, stay positive and look to the future. We will all fatigue at times, we will all doubt ourselves – remember that this is a moment in time only and it will pass. Remain together, collaborate, communicate and isolate but don’t put yourself into isolation. Exercise, eat well and do something different each day, no matter how big or small.

At Ampersand International, our role has never been greater or more important, to support our client and candidate network and continue our journey to match the very best talent with opportunity.