D.C. Pathak
Work from home, which Covid made mandatory for many businesses, was initially viewed as a disruptive outcome to the pandemic lockdown that had engulfed both the corporate body and the employees. The latter were forced to remain indoors and therefore they were required to prove their utility to their paymasters.
However, established organisations quickly realized the importance of a ‘give-and-take’ approach to stabilising the arrangements for working from home. This was for both the benefit of the employees and the organisation. The main challenge was for human resource development leaders, who had to suddenly get off their high horse to deal with the ‘hands-on’ business of adapting employees to the new work environment, maintaining productivity, and maintaining organisational loyalty in an environment of remote connectivity.
Their real test was to ensure that employee engagement remained on par. What was initially a reluctant acceptance of a “compulsion” by both sides quickly became a comfortable option for the employee and a more cost-effective alternative for the corporate body.
Since then, a balance has been achieved and a hybrid model was created to best serve both parties. The new arrangement has many other dimensions, and there are lessons that enrich the field of business management.
The greatest outcome of the Covid disruption is the fact that all organizations were prepared to change to a need-based adoption. This means that members can work from home while transacting business at corporate headquarters.
It is clear that the Hybrid Work Environment is an evolutionary result of the exposure of businesses and the pandemic restrictions. Since ‘evolution’ has always had a positive connotation it is not surprising that most organisations have a balance between work from home and duties in the corporate office’.
As we have already stated, the human resource development team is now faced with a new task: re-skilling, upgrading and multitasking are all necessary to increase efficiency and improve the use of available manpower. This was, by definition, a measure ‘productivity per unit time’.
It was necessary to create methods to’message’ it to all employees. They could bank on the organisation’s ‘nurtural’ response to any members working from home experiencing mental distress.
To adapt to the new environment, innovative human resource management programs were required. These programmes had to be more visible in order to make welfarism more prominent. However, care was taken to get maximum performance from the employees for the organisation.
While the corporate body always valued employees’ work experience, in this new environment, feedback from employees was even more important in order to make it practical for the application of that feedback for maximising productivity.
The lower half (or pyramid) of any organisation is comprised of those who implement the policies and decisions made from the top. These include the ‘team leaders’, who are responsible for ensuring that successful delivery occurs.
These were the top executives in different verticals, who had a clear understanding and contribution to the corporate strategies. They provided broad supervision to employees below and also offered solutions for any contingency at work that might arise from ‘labour problems’, staff problems or logistics questions.
The ‘owners of the business, which included the members of Board of Directors, occupied a smaller portion of the pyramid. They set the policies in mutual consulting after taking into account the ‘risk assessment’ and seeking the advice of any consultants hired for this purpose.
Before the Covid crisis all businesses had a certain back office’ component. In addition to assimilating largely computerisation in their operation, work from home became an expanded version of these methods, primarily for overcoming a temporary problem.
However, the Hybrid Work Environment has evolved over time to meet the needs of employees. It is a combination employee’s preference, assurance that output, and cost-effectiveness. This includes the elimination of the need to maintain an ostentatious corporate headquarters, where everyone wants to be accommodated, the stoppage of travel allowances, and a reduction in the hospitality budget.
The work from home divides the two broad industries — retail and manufacture. The latter draws heavily on IT-based delivery system, which was used before. Technology can improve production efficiency, but it will not replace human hands at the assembly lines beyond a certain extent of AI’s use in its processes.
AI can help expand both the manufacturing sector and the service sector, but it does not alter the work-from-home scenario differential that exists in both the businesses of ‘production’ or ‘delivery — the two main lines of economic activity.
It was not surprising that Amazon’s home delivery business led by Amazon was the biggest beneficiary of the Covid restrictions. They also happen to have one the largest IT networks supporting them at the global level.
The pandemic is giving us the gift of expanded retail and delivery. This will allow us to continue on a path towards competitive growth.
The IT industry is a classic example of a traditional industry that has experienced a natural growth. What the pandemic did to it was to give it a boost through the work at home dynamics. The Covid did not stop globalisation from taking place and IT drove it forward as before.
The sustainability of hybrid work environments is a hot topic of discussion. The existing logistical pattern in IT industries was that of large numbers of employees working under one roof. This allowed for cost-effectiveness and the benefit of ‘togetherness at work’.
TCS’s statement that only 25% of employees will be attending office in the future shows that the balance favors work from home.
TCS also projects that 50,000 partners will need to visit office at least three times per week. Many jobs could be done more efficiently in a relaxed environment, which allows for greater concentration and therefore higher output.
The Board Room is the best place for policy makers to share their thoughts and bring together multiple minds in order to make a strategic decision. Hybrid Work Environments would allow for flexibility in terms of the timing and number of employees required to be at work at any given time.
The arrangement will be sustained through the excitement of variables that are created for everyone and the pervasive knowledge of human resource management that would be used all the time.
Three other features of the new norm have been highlighted. First, the hybrid work environment emphasizes the individual worker’s merit and makes it difficult to hide mediocrity in the crowded workplace.
The ability to lead and be decisive makes it easier for senior echelons of management to conduct a proper performance evaluation. In a sense, the evolved situation further reinforces the principle of the individual being the center for all productivity.
Covid was a second factor that made it easier for businesses to compete, regardless of their size. All entities had the same human resource parameters. Those who cared more about employees and fostered loyalty in the organisation were at an advantage. It was important to understand the needs of a subordinate beyond the work relationship and to show compassion and accommodation.
The hybrid work environment has made it easier for organisational leaders to do this because there is more flexibility about the allocation of duties and suspicions of helping a favourite’, which was considered a commonplace phenomenon in normal times.
Seniors and juniors are now closer together and coworking spaces have become more harmonious. The bosses cannot afford not to be close to their men. They have to adjust to the new requirement of being available to give their guidance to subordinates at all levels.
The new normal offers many benefits that must be maintained.
Finally, the importance and value of information or business intelligence has increased because people are less mobile. A proper evaluation of the risks and potential opportunities is essential for planning a new venture, or making course corrections. This exercise was more difficult during Covid times.
An internal report on the enterprise’s performance would include an examination of the protocols to’secure’ sensitive transactions and processes against unwelcome disclosure. This will be done in order to determine the need for improvement.
It is crucial to ensure that security guidelines are being followed by the organisation. The pandemic forced equality on all sides, but it also made the business world more competitive. Early warnings about potential risks and opportunities can give businesses an edge over others.
In short, Hybrid Work Environments would have higher principles of management and more convergence between the legitimate commercial interests of the business and the employees’ interest.
(The writer is a former Director for Intelligence Bureau. These views are solely my own.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli works as a programmer. He is the editor for SocialNews.XYZ as well as President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys developing mobile applications, designing websites, and publishing news articles about current events sourced from reliable news sources.
He enjoys writing about current world politics and Indian movies. His future plans include transforming SocialNews.XYZ to a News website with no biases or judgments.
You can reach him at [email protected]
