Preparing for the future of work post-COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an enormous amount of change with the introduction of furlough, an increase in home working and a huge shift in how we operate throughout our day-to-day.

Due to these unprecedented levels of change, HR professionals now need to start thinking about how they can reshape their organisation.

To help support you through these turbulent times, we ran a panel discussion during our virtual HR event to gather insights from HR leaders regarding the future of the work.

Below are a few of the highlights you can look to implement in your HR strategy.

Maintaining Learning & Development outside the office

Learning and development have changed significantly due to the pandemic but it’s incredibly important for your organisation’s agility that you continue to upskill employees even when working remotely.

The circumstances require you to embrace technology and virtual learning by running webinars, creating digital guides and hosting live virtual sessions.

“It’s really important to not purely repurpose your face-to-face learning into an online platform, we need to adapt our content and approach, thinking about what is actually beneficial for staff.” – Adrienne Sanders, Head of Learning & Development, Mind

Rather than looking to convert everything into an online course, instead, place the focus on ensuring your people can learn essential and timely skills by curating your training to be in line with your business’ current needs.

Supporting good mental health

“The main issues we’re coming across recently are feelings of isolation, stress and anxiety.” –  Marie Walsh, Employment Lawyer, Consilia Legal

The pandemic has taken a huge mental toll on people as they may have been living alone for the past few months, others could have sadly lost a loved one and for some, mental health may be an existing challenge.

We often hear that professionals are worried they’re communicating too much but during these times of uncertainty, keeping everyone in the loop is vital to preserving mental health.

Consider sending regular newsletters that include not only information regarding the business but also positive local news and team accomplishments.

Ensuring productivity from home

“There is a common assumption that remote workers are less productive than those who work from traditional offices and it’s this mindset that is one of the fundamental shifts around productivity that we’ll need to alter.” – Hazel Lowndes, Founder, Ginger Dog

During the lockdown, we’ve seen first-hand that employees can be just as, if not more, productive when working from home.

However, to ensure continuous productivity for long periods of home working and to avoid burnouts, you must support people with the freedom to self-control their day-to-day.

This includes not only dropping any micromanaging but also helping people to set up a dedicated workspace at home so they can have some psychological detachment at the end of the day.

Looking for help?

Hopefully, the above has provided some guidance into how you can prepare and adapt for the future of work.

If you’re looking for an employee engagement platform to support with your interactions, take a look at IRIS Engage which is designed to make communication with your team easier, less expensive, faster and more effective.

Additionally, our modular HR software, IRIS Cascade can also support you when preparing for the future of work.

Click here for more information on how IRIS Cascade can offer a flexible and tailorable solution that adapts to your ever-changing needs.