A Silver Lining...

In the last two years, if there are two things that have helped us as a society to move forward and stand out are, our capacity to adapt to the ‘change’, and our indomitable will to hold on to hope and endurance. It made us question the old ways of working, unsustainable, and stringent arrangements. It paved the way for the change that was long due. It was a daunting, uncertain period but at the same time it was also courageous and optimistic.

I was working from Netherlands when lockdown was announced and being in Sales for the longest period, I started feeling a different kind of ‘homesickness’ – the one that stems from not being able to go to office, meeting clients and networking in general. Operating from home for 8 months was difficult, being dressed in formals and not being able to have face to face conversation with clients (beyond video conferencing) was boring but amidst all these it created an environment for knowing my clients better. Everyone was operating from home, and it helped me to have a little different kind of banter with them. The nature of our conversation changed from office to home environment – now instead of saying nice cabin or nice workspace, it began with knowing what books they had in their library and what’s the motivation behind the wallpaper of their study. I believe it’s the same for healthcare professionals, especially doctors utilizing telemedicine as a medium to reach their patients. It takes them to their intimate surroundings instead of the walls of the hospital. Suddenly the nature of things shifted from formal to personal. Overlapping personal and professional lives, the rise of zoom meetings and remote working in a way gave us a glimpse of the personal space which wasn’t known earlier.

As the world was navigating the Pandemic and first wave, I had to shift to India, and I took the opportunity of working for MOTHERSON Group and strengthening the Digital & Analytics services in our Technology and Software Services division – MIND. 98% of my team operates from different locations, it’s been a year and I still haven’t got the chance to meet my entire team in person. We are a growing team of 600 people, operating from different locations. While I am not able to meet all of them in person, what I am able to do is to have ‘No-work’ meetings with them. This is my way of knowing them better, the purpose of these meetings is to boost their morale, understand and help them navigate changes they are dealing with in their personal life. All of us have experienced some or the other kind of loss and the last two years have blurred the lines between office and home. ‘No-work’ meetings is my new mantra that has helped me to bridge the gap and make up for the loss of in-person meetings and it’s a great way of boosting team spirit as well.

We all know how the concept of workplace and the way we operate has changed forever, and although we are in the process of figuring out what all has changed and will be changing, pandemic has presented us with a golden opportunity to reimagine the workplace and welcome a better future of work. A future that’s flexible, adaptive, accommodative, fast, and moving forward. It’s an opportunity to create a supportive culture where motivation and engagement plays a key factor. It’s not surprising to know the findings of most of the workplace surveys carried out in last two years. A future forum research finding states more than 4700 knowledge workforce in US (72%) want a hybrid remote-office work model going forward. According to LinkedIn's "Future of Work" Study 2021, nearly 9 in 10 (86 per cent) of Indian professionals believe that the hybrid work model is essential for fostering work life balance.

A lot has changed and will change and it’s up to us on how we as the leaders create a conducive environment for our teams in uncertain times. What employees are looking forward to is ‘Beingful work’ - a concept of work that enables holistic wellbeing.?

Mental well-being and a holistic approach for wellbeing of the employees are a must for a better future. Do let me know what are the things that you have done differently for your teams and what you will be doing differently in 2022. Here’s looking forward to a better 2022.?