The COVID-19 pandemic has blurred the division between our work and family lives, and shifted what we value. It has also fundamentally reshaped our relationship with institutions including healthcare, the government and employers. This new reality requires a new approach from leaders. Increasingly, employees are challenging systems that have traditionally governed the workplace, such as presenteeism, hierarchical management and performance assessment.
Leaders need to work with ‘the individual as a whole’. An employees’ work persona is just one part of their wider life experience, embedded deeply within the community and wider society. Leaders must shift their mindset to acknowledge that employees’ experience goes beyond work. They must focus on designing holistic policies, structures and systems that are fluid and contextual.
It often takes a crisis to bring back focus on what truly matters, and frequently, it is the things we take for granted. Financial meltdowns, for example, shone a light on the lack of regulation and were followed by tighter controls and the ringfencing of future risk. Post-war rebuilding efforts brought a renewed focus on innovation, re-skilling and reimagining in general, whilst the climate crisis accelerated the narrative on sustainable growth and responsible consumption. More recently, episodes of injustice against individuals, race or a community have amplified the call for social equity, justice and reform.
Similarly, the pandemic has played its part. While devastating and disruptive, the pandemic has been a catalyst for change in areas such as digital transformation, healthcare and education amongst others. The notion of ‘experience’, or employee experience as we know it, and its implications for the post-pandemic workforce have undergone a significant shift. The reset being the focus on the individual as a whole and not just the part where they are an employee, a holistic systems thinking approach. To that extent, it makes sense to explore the concept of experience with a contextual lens including the role of leadership and technology in revitalizing future experiences.