KPMG details the lessons businesses can take from the current global pandemic, particularly focused on the long-term impact on how we work.
COVID-19 has created a global shift in ways of working, impacting the entire workforce. Most firms, at the start of the pandemic, rightly prioritised the health and safety of their employees and managed risk in the short-term by switching rapidly to a remote working model.
For some, this happened nearly overnight; changing the ways colleagues interact with each other, putting a heavy reliance on technology and interpersonal skills operating via virtual platforms. In turn, this significantly impacted employee-employer relationships. Many firms have had to reframe ‘social contracts’ – when, where and how employees work – on a personalised level, to make sure they can work safely and in a sustainable fashion around their own lives, as their dining tables replace their office desks.
What is becoming clear is that the changes made by employers during this time, which in March 2020 were short-term changes driven by necessity, are now having a profound long-term impact on how we work. Some changes will undoubtedly become permanent shifts in working practices, but we need to think carefully about how we structure work in the future. Retaining some of the practices that are now commonplace, whilst rethinking the role of office-based work and face-to-face interactions will be important.