“Being a great workplace is the difference between being a good company and a great company.” – Brian Kristofek
The pandemic. Remember that? I don’t know about you, but the petering out of restrictions and the societal eagerness to get ‘back to normal’ doesn’t just make it feel like ancient history at times, but sometimes, based on how the world has returned to its old self, you’d have a job convincing me that out collective trauma ever happened at all.
This is, of course, an exaggeration. But it does beg the question, is our everyday world really the same as it used to be? Well, it can’t be, can it? There are many things that have changed. There are many practices and attitudes that have stuck. Some have been adopted so completely, that we can’t remember a time when it was not the status quo. For example, Zooms! Remember when video conferencing wasn’t really a thing for most of us? It certainly wasn’t for me. Had you ever heard of Zoom before 2020? I hadn’t! Now, Zooming, FaceTime, and remote meetings are completely accepted as a standard tool.
I also carry sanitiser and think twice about eating a birthday cake after the birthday 6-year-old has forcefully attempted to blow their candles out multiple times. Anyway, I digress. As this is a conscious workplace-based blog, perhaps it’s worth reminiscing on which positive workplace practices have stuck.
1. Home
Let’s start with the most obvious one, working from home. For years many companies argued that working from home was counterproductive or simply not possible. The advent of the pandemic proved that it was possible. Quite easily in many cases. And many subsequent surveys and research projects have measured increased productivity. This goes to show how effective giving workers flexibility, comfort and work-life balance can really impact their wellbeing and job satisfaction.
However, it’s not just a change in attitude due to productivity and quality of work. There seems to have been an increase in empathy. Workplaces are much more readily offering remote work options in order to make work itself more accessible. It’s also because, as a collective, quality employees are less likely to apply for roles if this is not an option… but credit where credit is due, eh!
2. The Rise of HR
During the pandemic, HR departments were tasked with a much bigger responsibility than they had previously been. Suddenly, HR workers weren’t just hiring, training and looking after staff, but aiding companies in solving huge logistical problems in order to keep businesses going. Since that time, the scope of HR has increased across the board and tends to be more prominent as a department and a tool in the minds of conscious leaders.
3. Wellbeing
As mentioned previously, wellbeing has managed to remain as much more of a priority. The pandemic forced all of us to empathise. We all went through something, from the top of society to the bottom, and as a result, companies are more conscious than ever of employee mental health and wellbeing. This is partially, one could argue in hope, because more leaders had, themselves, experienced the real-world impact of the pandemic. It may also be because HR policies that came in during those years, pertaining to employee wellbeing, have stuck and proven to be great for both employer and employee.
4. Work-Life Balance
This is somewhat an extension of all the previous points. We all learned especially many of us who have a habit of never stopping, that having space that is unoccupied by work, or social engagements, or whatever it may be, is valuable. Among all the traumatic elements of the pandemic, many of us (myself included) look back on that lockdown time in a positive light (which we may well not have imagined at the time). And if I, someone who became a parent and lost a parent during that time, can say that, then I fancy there are hoards of others who feel the same way. Companies simply seem to see leisure and rest as a higher priority now.
By Chris Thomson
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