The pandemic has turned everything upside down, with the employees having to learn to work remotely immediately and the companies having to make arrangements to safely organise remote technology. Many worked round the clock getting things organised. This has been exhausting with new challenges every day. this pace is not sustainable and soon there is a serious risk of burnout.
This is becoming a serious threat to companies especially those who have laid-off employees. Many companies have become more efficient using digital technologies but now are facing the threat of losing their best employees to overwork and fatigue.
What is required now is to go easy on the gas pedal and examine ways of managing digital technology to ensure employees connect effectively for their work. It is also necessary to draw long term plans and the investments required for achieving the same.
It is necessary to think about how you can connect people to the goals you want to achieve with that technology. One should align every employee's most important personal aspirations with the company's strategic vision so that everyone is working with the same objectives.
Outside-in approach
Employees must first understand and embrace the company's vision(north star), and work towards the same objectives
- North Star - Company must have a crisp articulation of its vision and strategic objectives for transformation.
- Customer insights & megatrends - It is important to have a deep insight into the customer in every change you make.
Inside-out approach
Aligning every employee's purpose with those of the company -
- The transformation operating system - Companies must use a flat structure to enable sustainable change.
- Volunteer champions - A mechanism to recruit volunteers to join cross-functional teams to harness thought leaders from all over the organisation to drive transformation.
- Inside-out employee transformation - Deploy tools like a personal vision statement to identify strengths and discover what makes employees happy to make the transformation personal for employees. The final goal is to connect the personal goal with the company's strategic vision.
A call to action
These approaches are all the more relevant in the wake of the crisis, as it emphasises employees personal goals as critical for every successful transformation more than technology or business process.
For the post-crisis world, there is an urgent need to rethink two areas
Bring outside in - The present crisis has changed the landscape of many industries, leading to a total collapse of business models. It forces companies to go back to the roots, back to basics, back to the primary reason for its existence and move out of activities that are not part of its core business.
Align inside-out with outside-in Get the employees on board by helping them connect with the company's core philosophy and create a personal/ team vision statements that aligned with the greater goal - create human connections and enlist their feedback on how they can contribute to scale up and prosper again.
The present crisis has taught us that we are connected and integrated with each other and with communities in which we operate. One should get the employees to connect with the vision of the company and contribute to a meaningful cause. The more this is delayed the more the risk of losing human capital which is required for its growth.
Put Employees at the Center of Your Post-Pandemic Digital Strategy
by Behnam Tabrizi HBR 2020/10
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