Brussels (Brussels Morning) The future of work is being rewritten in the context of the pandemic. Unexpected disruption causes massive problems, but also mobilizes considerable energies.
This effect is also evident in the structures we live in our working world. It is now up to companies to switch from crisis management to a new phase of growth. Continuous adaptation to new circumstances is likely to become normal. The change affects the future dimensions of work, workforce and workplace.
How can companies learn the right lessons from the pandemic crisis and make the most of the momentum of the current situation for a reshaped future of work after the pandemic?
1. The remodeling of work
In the technologically oriented transformations of the last decade, the dimension of work was often perceived through a narrow view of efficiency criteria. Now it is important to shape the future of work after the pandemic as a fluid process, no longer just along rigid protocol.
The inspiring, meaningful potential of work must now be activated more strongly. For such efforts to lead to the goal, the focus is now primarily on the specifically human way of working.
Attention should be directed towards a horizon beyond mere process optimization, towards a results-oriented perspective, which at the same time enables work that is better geared to the needs of employees. The “social organization” of tomorrow has an authentic corporate purpose, promotes the possibilities of the employees and has a strategic future perspective.
2. Activation of the workforce
The future of work after the pandemic will largely be shaped by the dimension of the workforce. A fundamental change is currently taking place in the relationship between companies and employees. More and more hybrid or free roles are emerging. Employees increasingly want flexibility and work in new forms of the gig economy.
But these trends still hold considerable development potential. Full participation of all employees in the company’s ecosystem releases new energies and helps to implement the strategic mission.
Strategies of empowerment in the ecosystem, technological enablers, such as an internal labor market platform, and the establishment of an individual workforce experience – these factors are prerequisites for realizing the potential of the workforce in the future.
3. The adaptation of the workplace
The pandemic crisis has made it unmistakably clear in companies that reinventing the workplace of the future must be about much more than just a physical redesign. In a world of remote work and home offices, work expands to include the everyday environment. But now the organizational structure of the work should also adapt to the new circumstances to help the future-oriented forms of cooperation to be successful.
For this, it is important to take into account not only the structural but also the social dimension of the organization. A hybrid network of physical and digital interaction in the world of work creates a conducive framework for the free development of employees’ skills.
