by Nomazibulo Tshanga, Ziyana Business Consulting
As the world pandemic deepens and the human cost rises, we will see a lot of changes when it comes to the world of work post Covid19. We will see most organisations rethink their business strategies and relook at their approaches, particularly in terms of how it will change the careers of employees and how organisations will respond to that.
What started as a health pandemic will now have long lasting impact when it comes to organisations and how employees work. Organisations will start to realize that employees can actually work from home, and that the old method of managing employees’ time via clocking systems or finger print scanning is long gone. This working from home alternative is likely to last even beyond this health pandemic.
Organisations will also come to realize that business travel may actually be a waste of company money and start to scrutinize all business travel, as employees have proven that meetings can happen via video calls and teleconferencing. I foresee organisations looking at their travelling policies and only approving critical business travel or travel concerning retaining a customer and addressing customer needs.
Organisations will also be looking at optimizing their office space and will ask themselves critical questions around the necessity of having large office spaces accommodating employees that could work from home. However, this needs a total organizational culture shift. The office spaces might be utilized by critical office bound positions like Call Centers and customer facing employees.
Health and Safety is another issue that organisations will need to look at in light of the new regulations as published in Government Gazette no:43247 on the 29th April 2020 where critical health and safety measures need to be adhered to by organisations that would have employees working from their offices. Organisations will have to amend their Health and Safety policies with the stringent measures that have been put in place by Government.
The uncomfortable fact is that organisations are going to restructure and most are likely to retrench. We’ve seen the likes of South African Airways, Edcon and last year we’ve seen some banking institutions closing their branches because of digitalization (online banking). With the rise in automation, digitalization (online banking and online purchases) I also foresee most retail stores closing their doors, which will lead to people losing their jobs.
Most organisations are now forced to relook at their business strategies. Only a few organisations that have been ready will survive, the rest may die as we are moving to the new world of work. This is the new world of work we have been talking about for the past 15 years, however it took a health crisis to realize this is a reality. This is the world of automation, the world of digitalization, and the world of artificial intelligence. This new world of work requires a new type of leader.
There are key critical skills that are required to build organisations post this Covid19, skills such as creativity, innovation, critical thinking, digital and coding skills, people management, leadership development and emotional intelligence.
Organisations will then have to look at their organizational culture and assess whether they are ready for this new world of work, if not organisations will need to put plans in place to prepare accordingly.
Nomazibulo Tshanga is the Founder and Managing Director of Ziyana Business Consulting and Training. She’s passionate about gender transformation, accelerating the growth of women in leadership, mentorship and youth development. She holds a National Diploma and Baccalaureus Technologiae in Human Resources Management as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration. She also holds an Executive Development Programme from the Wits Business School. Before founding Ziyana Business Consulting and Training, Noma held HR positions at Coca- Cola, Schaeffler South Africa, Bidvest Facilities Management, CSIR and her last position in corporate was that of a HR Director at Bidvest Steiner. Noma is professionally registered as a member at the SABPP, APSO, BMF and is also a member of the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa.
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