Lessons learnt from a Pandemic

COVID-19 has taught businesses worldwide invaluable lessons to consider in life beyond the pandemic.

We have learnt an agile workplace is key in this current climate, businesses around the globe have turned to full time remote working in a bid to keep their staff safe and aid the stabilisation of COVID cases. However, this was not a smooth operation for all businesses with large numbers failing to have the correct IT infrastructure in place to make this sudden switch resulting in a short-term decline in productivity for their staff.

This has highlighted the importance of being agile and ensuring businesses and employees regardless of sector can continue to operate and be productive in any location at any time.

We have also learnt organisations must invest in technology which allows for their business to allow employees continue to carry out their duties successfully. Investments in communication technologies such as MS Teams, Zoom and Skype have been key in enabling employees to continue to work collaboratively and complete tasks as they would in an office environment. Such technologies have also been pivotal in enabling companies to maintain their culture and reduce the feeling of isolation amongst employees.

Another key lesson learnt during this time is being open to new ideas and thinking outside of the box. I am sure 8 months ago a very small number of organisations would have considered onboarding and training new recruits remotely. However, for those businesses who have continued to hire during this time this has been crucial. Adapting to the new norm has meant businesses have had to think of ways to induct, engage, manage, and train new employees in ways they have never done before.

Within any business environment, communication is key however during a pandemic this is even more vital! This is an uncertain time for everyone and ensuring your employees are up to date is essential to ensure staff morale is kept at a high. For companies who made use of the Governments furlough scheme, ensuring those on furlough were contacted regularly with updates was incredibly important during such an uncertain time.

Now we will be entering a world where remote working is the norm it is important we increase our levels of communication with our employees, to ensure they do not feel siloed and feel connected to the business they are employed by.

For many, the biggest key lesson to take away from this pandemic is the upmost importance of putting employees and their physical and mental health at the forefront of everything we do.

Companies have and must continue to invest time into ensuring all their employees remain physically and mentally healthy. Working in a remote manner can often be lonely and overwhelming, so companies have found the need to identify alternative ways to support their employees through this time.

We at Xpertise most recently organised a charity walk called “London to Munich (and back again!)” This involved separating everyone into teams of 6 who then compete to finish the 1684 miles first, over a period of 8 weeks. How they choose to do this is up to them cycle, walk, run, swim!. The activity ensured all our employees got away from their desks daily in the fresh air and we also raised a whopping ￡2,750 for charity!!!

The team spirit can collaboration was great, and the friendly competition is always fun!

It is important to also learn that everyone is an individual, some people will perform and deal with the current working arrangements better than others. Business leaders must approach everyone individually and not expect one initiative or process to be relevant to the entire workforce, check in with your staff and see what you can do to help, do not guess or assume! Afterall, we are all in this together.