The CEO Survey Panel SurveyPDF involved nearly 700 CEOs across countries to find out how their company's business model will change after the pandemic. The answers talk about how the future of work is likely to develop.
The findings showed that CEOs' plans focus on three key areas:
- become more digital and virtual
- adopt more flexibility
- focus more on employees
The first two priorities are reflected in further results of the survey. For example, 78% of directors surveyed said they believed the transition to remote collaboration would continue. At the same time, in this context, 61% stated they believe companies will reduce their demands on the physical space of offices.
These trends underline the importance of the third priority identified among respondents: being more employee-oriented. The plan is in particular to expand health, safety and/or various wellness programmes. More than 60% of respondents said they had already taken steps in this direction at the beginning of the pandemic.
However, when it comes to wellness initiatives, this does not mean any universal programmes being used so far by many companies. They will need to take a more personal approach to employee well-being.
A fundamental change in the way people work requires maintaining trust. If companies want to be more virtual and flexible, they will need to focus on the well-being of their employees in new and creative ways that will help relieve stress and prevent burnout.
In addition, workers fear increased automation, job insecurity, the need to improve skills and the possibility of reassignment to new roles. At the same time, they face significant challenges in their personal lives, whether they have children at home who are learning remotely, caring for relatives, or coping with isolation and working alone.
The first step to more effective programmes for promoting the well-being, health and safety of employees is to think of staff as individuals. One effective way for company leaders to do this is to create persona or sample profiles that include details of work and personal pressures, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of what employees need and how different scenarios are likely to affect them.
Company leaders need to consider what they want their organisation to be and how this vision can be tailored to employees. According to PwC experts, companies should start with the following five actions:
- Lead with the goal. Clarify the purpose of the organisation and align it with the needs and preferences of employees, which will have a significant impact on productivity and profitability. Work makes sense to people in different ways, but employees are increasingly looking for work that is truly rewarding and in line with their personal values. More generally, it is also important to reconcile initiatives such as sustainability, social responsibility, and justice and equality issues.
- Use personas to plan scenarios. Leaders should implement dynamic scenario planning that takes into account what their employees want in terms of how and where they work and an understanding of external factors. As part of this exercise, they should use defined people in order better to understand the individual needs, concerns and fears of their employees. The future challenge may not be a global pandemic, but something else that will force a company to turn one or more aspects of its operating model to respond effectively.
- Improve the qualifications of employees. Organisations have a responsibility to develop a skills development strategy - both for employees who will be transferred to different roles in their company and for those who decide or are forced to look for opportunities outside the company. Updated skills will be needed to meet people's evolving needs in their organisation, whether it means building their digital foresight or developing their leadership and interpersonal skills.
- Involve data and analytics. Leaders can better specify and personalise benefits based on a deeper understanding of employee needs. To find out what benefits to focus on, use advanced analytics to perform preference analysis, and then tailor your decisions to the data. You will also gain good control over how much your investment is in line with what employees want and need. This will prevent unnecessary waste of resources.
- Revise employee programmes and policies. In addition to revising benefit plans, leaders should also look at broader recruitment and performance strategies. For example, companies should review current training and development offers to meet better the individual needs of employees. Here, too, a universal approach will no longer be enough.
The core of all these realisations are people. True resilience to current and future crises can only be nurtured if managers understand the goals and challenges of their employees - what they need from their employer in order to live and work well.
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