How will the coronavirus RNA transform your organizational DNA?

COVID-19 has been a catalyst for innovation.

The coronavirus time machine has accelerated our path to the future of work. Historic inhibitors to change have been broken down, and whole industries have experienced years of transformation in a matter of months. Business paradigms have had to evolve rapidly.

And now, the coronavirus is set to fundamentally alter the DNA strands of our organizations: WORK, WORKER, and WORKPLACE. While the future remains uncertain, the need to transform is evident. And for leaders, the time to act is now.

The world of WORK will be radically reordered: reimagine your business models

Over the last six-eight months it has become apparent that coming out of this crisis will be slow, hard work. In fact, 86% of Fortune 500 CEOs believe economic activity will not return to pre-pandemic levels before the first quarter of 2022. The eco-system impacts for companies are already significant. In fact, the Board of Innovation reports that 85% of 700-odd companies surveyed have seen negative impacts over the last several months.

Only 15% of companies have seen positive results; these companies have positioned themselves to succeed in a highly virtualized low-touch economy.

This evolution was already underway pre-pandemic, but virtualization was restricted to transaction-driven business models such as those of Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Uber. Business models that included elements of human connection had not experienced the full impact of virtualization. But COVID-19 has changed that, and accelerated us towards a low-touch virtual economy.

Starbucks announced recently that it will speed up the expansion of drive-thru and pickup formats to upto 80% of the company’s new stores, these features are seen as safer by customers today. Large airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, United and American Airlines, among others, have pivoted to cargo-only flights. Whole Foods, Kroger and Giant Eagle converted many locations to dark stores that allow for safer and faster pickup and delivery of orders as an alternative to their fulfillment centers.

To be sure, these are complex multi-faceted decisions. And, there are significant costs attached to any course of action. But, it is also clear that there are equally significant costs of inaction — the loss of market share and competitive position. The technology bust of 2000-2002 holds some concrete lessons. According to a McKinsey & Co. study, 47% of the tech companies that went into the downturn as leaders emerged as laggards, while 13% of those that went in as laggards came out as leaders — a radical reordering of an industry in just two years.

Leaders must therefore act now, not just to survive the immediate impacts of the pandemic, but to thrive and flourish in the future.

The WORKER will be pivotal to success: reimagine your employee experience

The pandemic has illustrated the inextricable link between human health and organizational success. In fact, companies with well-established human capital governance frameworks are considered better investments.

A study of company performance from the 2008 financial crisis indicates that companies that committed to more than just profitability and included human, social and environmental considerations were 63% more likely to survive than similar-sized businesses.

Further, a recent survey by The Economic Times notes that top-performing companies prioritized human health. Deloitte, EY, KPMG, Panasonic, Microsoft, Siemens, Schneider, and Accenture have all noted that saving human capital and enhancing employee well-being were the top priorities. But, health and well-being programs are only a starting point. Companies will need to support much more. Amenities that focused on physical space will need to be elevated to the virtual world.

Why? Because, as work becomes location agnostic, employees will have greater choice. Location may no longer be the prime differentiator, but employee experience will be. For example, almost two-thirds of 4,400 technologists surveyed by Blind recently said they would choose to relocate from the top tech hubs including San Francisco, New York and Seattle. It is therefore not surprising that 50% of HR leaders surveyed rate greater focus on employee experiences as their #1 priority. Companies that truly and flexibly support their workers will shoot up in employee survey ratings.

Learning, growth, re-skilling, physical + mental health, and the human experience will become key themes for success. And, the time is now to reset experience you provide your employees, create meaningful and lasting emotional connection.

As the war for talent goes global, employee experience will become a critical long-term differentiator in the talent marketplace.

The WORKPLACE will become Hybrid: reimagine your workplace strategies

The pandemic has forced us to experiment. Almost overnight organizations, teams, and individuals have had to learn how to work-from-home at scale. Initially, leaders were apprehensive about the effectiveness of remote work. But as time has passed and lockdowns have continued, many businesses have found that productivity has not dropped.

Instead, companies found that they can benefit from productivity gains, organizational profitability, and the operational cost-benefit that remote work presents. And, many individuals in the workforce have benefited from choice. Over the past several weeks, some have found the ability to balance the personal with the professional refreshing.

These productivity benefits have meant some companies such as Fujitsu, Twitter, Shopify, and Facebook have announced permanent shifts to work from home. This is not restricted just to technology companies. Financial Services and Insurance companies, such as Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and National Insurance, are also critically evaluating the move to greater, permanent remote work.

However, long-term remote working may also present its own challenges: isolation, fatigue, and impacts to mental health. Therefore, right now the call is for choice. For individuals to choose what works best for them and for organizations to adapt workflows, talent strategies, and experience paradigms to meet this new normal.

Hybrid solutions that balance individual choice and business agility could hold the answer. Google, Microsoft and others are already making changes to physical spaces to better support employees through hybrid models of work that include the physical, the remote, the virtual and more.

The NEXT NORMAL Opportunity: Transform Organizational DNA

Organizational DNA is often used as an analogy for a company's culture and strategy — a metaphor for what makes the company unique. Aspects such as human health, well-being, sustainability, employee engagement, and choice have always been on the long-list of aspects for businesses consider.

The pandemic will influence the organizational DNA strands of work, worker, and workplace. Make no mistake, the current catalytic event presents an opportunity. Companies that seize the moment, reimagine the future, and transform their organizational DNA will set themselves up for success.

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About the author: Ram Srinivasan has worked with Fortune 500 companies, real estate developers, and the public sector across the Americas and emerging markets in Asia Pacific. He was previously a Vice President with Deloitte Canada’s Real Estate and Infrastructure Advisory Practice and is currently Managing Director with JLL’s Consulting practice.

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