Shaking hands with strangers

This morning I drove past the train station whilst on the school run and realised that it’s now more than one year since I last travelled by train. That event alone not hugely significant, but a memorable day for a few reasons which I’d like to share with you. Spurred on by a number of recent conversations with colleagues concerning when we might be meeting in offices, sustainability goals, corporate travel, events and how we best engage with customers……

Whether originating in 5th Century BC Greece or earlier from Yemen, a sign of welcoming, a gesture of peace or to ensure that the stranger's defence was down, whatever the origin and intention, I'll be honest - the practise of shaking hands has always struck me as a bit odd. I've never gone quite as far as Dr Mark Sklansky of UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, who characterises the handshake as 'a phenomenal vector for disease.', however his view might be more widely accepted in 2021.

Despite not being an avid hand-shaker, the last time I shook the hand of a stranger for the first time was 08:30 on Monday 9th March 2020 at the start of a business meeting. A poignant time as following the meeting, walking through the City of London and back on to the tube at Bank, I was struck by the post-apocalyptic feel of near-deserted streets and the eeriness of descending the Travolator to the Waterloo and City Line in almost total isolation, perhaps the universe providing a preview of what was to come.

Those accustomed to this route will attest to the fact that in peak times the 100m long tunnel easily accommodates 500 people, or more; bustling with an apparent shared purpose, all travelling in the same direction with a silent mutual acceptance that whilst all strangers, we were part of something bigger. Much the same experience as attending a large concert or sporting event we were all in it together - regardless of whether apprehensive about the day ahead, tired from a sleepless night, excited about the pitch to deliver, the deal to seal, the colleagues to meet or the satisfaction at the end of a good day looking forward to getting home. It was, one way or another a shared social experience which we could relate to.

But change was happening, the likes of which I'd not felt since the dramatic news footage from New York which cataclysmically changed an otherwise normal Tuesday back in September 2001.

The speed of this change was astounding. SAP being a global organisation with 100,000 employees embarked on a policy of remote working everywhere virtually over-night, in advance of government restrictions. In previous generations the big question would have been technology: how to create communication lines, VPN, application access, device provision, implement security protocols - the list goes on. However, in 2020 the technology was largely already there, what wasn't present was universal agreement for drastic change.

On looking back at photos from a year ago there's a screen shot I took which I'm sure many of you will have seen and even if not, could well relate to:

We as individuals, collectively, organisations, ecosystems, needed to rapidly learn to behave differently. As summarised perfectly in her recent blog post, SAP's Kerry Brown suggests:

'At a time when all the conditions were wrong, all the conditions were right, for learning. Why? Because the changes were sudden, immediate and universal. We were, unavoidably, all in it together. We supported and accommodated each other because, really, what other choice did we have? We found and experimented with new tools, figured out how to use them collaboratively, and learned and adapted as we went along. Teams became stronger and more focused. Everything was different, but we made it work.'

Thinking from an SAP standpoint, had one country, division, region, line of business or function decided to ‘go rogue’ with an experimental way of working, chances are that it would have failed. The gravity to revert to type would have been unavoidable. 

As we begin to emerge from the policy reaction to coronavirus, we're met with an array of questions. Blog posts are often a treasure trove of experience and answers, but on the subject of the potential future work we could experience we are still ideating the questions, let alone benefitting from a depth of experience to answer them. 

There are many experts from leading consultancies and institutions creating volumes of academic thought on the subject. Professionally for 20 years I've been focussed on Sales and Business development of technology which at heart is here for us to enable working differently, better. I'm a lay person with a vested interest, well experienced in the past & present of work with a clear plan to be in the future of it. This coupled with a young family I'm regularly asking, 'what does the future hold?'

Rewinding 25 years earlier a moment….. February 1995, walking through the rain onto the university campus - I remember thinking 'Why do we have to be here? Why don't we have the technology to attend remotely? Could I not be studying 'anywhere' for my degree?’ (Politics & International Relations doesn't require special facilities other than access to information). But naturally there are many benefits to the overall university experience (which the class of 2021 are sadly missing), but being inquisitive why wouldn’t such possibilities be considered?

For some time, the Future of Work has focussed mostly on technology. Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning, the wondrous opportunity to make our working life easier whilst at the same time the ominous spectre to displace large swathes of our working population. Indeed, the Institute for the Future of Work has gone so far as to suggest that there’s a direct correlation between regions of England with the highest probability of workforce automation with leave votes from the 2016 EU referendum.

The Tom Fishburne ‘Covid19 wrecking ball’ has certainly impacted the technology debate in how we work. The Future of Work is multi-faceted (displaced jobs, new jobs, locations, offices, technology, training, etc), but it’s the central theme of how we interact and collaborate which strikes me hardest right now.

Various research shows perhaps unsurprisingly that technology investment in the acceleration of digitalisation for collaboration purposes has been highest. Is this:

1. a catch-up to where we should have been,
2. a short-term approach to get us through a challenging time, or
3. have we un-wittingly gone through a transformation without a full gap analysis?

“Suddenly, we’re starting to realize all of these touches that are missing,” says Juulia Suvilehto (handshaking and social touch), from Linköping University in Sweden who studies social bonds. “It feels like there’s this weird gap.”

This is a gap which technology can't replace. As social beings we're hard-wired to communicate with many visual and sensory cues; there's an element of trust, understanding, belief in the other individual sharing our experience and seeking common goals. We've all got the anecdote of the customer who'll not consider making an important decision until they've seen the potential supplier's 'whites of their eyes'.

Like the Travolator at Bank, are we missing that social touch, the shared experience, the feeling of being part of something larger in pursuit of common goals?

The least likely commentator on business behaviour, The Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols:

‘We’re losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person’s mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point. Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanises what is a very, very important part of community life and living together’.

Now it’s unlikely he’s considering how we operate in business environments, but the point is still valid. Industries have transitioned from a heavily transactional supplier-customer bias to a subscription basis where ongoing relationships are vital and emotional intelligence is key. What risks are we flirting with to try operating as creatures evolved for the 3D multi-sensory world, currently restricted to two dimensions (#You'reOnMute).

Have we replaced the metaphorical glass ceiling with the glass screen of our monitors?

For the past year SAP has closely listened to the voice of our employees, to understand how we’ve adapted, how we’re managing and how we’d like to operate when restrictions have gone. Like many colleagues, my preference is a hybrid approach of occasional office visits explicitly for interaction focussed purposes rather than needing a desk – but I’m mindful that everyone’s situation is different and many might not have a dedicated workspace at home.  

Are we nearing a shift to an all-digital, work from anywhere world?

As part of this shift we should consider that vital employee / employer relationship – one of the main barriers brought down by the Covid Wrecking-Ball was trust, however we're seeing that generally productivity has improved. Organisations now need to be more acutely aware than ever of employee engagement.

According to the Qualtrics 2021 Employee Experience Trends report, employee engagement and intent to stay have both increased from 2019 to 2020. Cynics might suggest this is simply a reaction to jobs market volatility, but are there other underlying factors at play? The report highlights that employee engagement is being driven primarily by Belonging and Corporate Social Responsibility:

Is employee engagement following in the footsteps of the consumer goods industry with brand allegiance forged on the basis of alignment with personal values? If so, what else could this mean if pay or price is no longer a primary influencer in making a decision?

Like employees, customers in the subscription economy are constantly evaluating the company or partners they’re aligned with, not just on price and functionality – but on the shared experience – asking if they feel a strong sense of belonging and shared values?

Are we better together?

This leads me to the main question, should the future of work be founded on a trifactor of sustainability, purpose and how we operate and interconnect as employees, colleagues, associates, partners, customers, suppliers etc – ecosystems?

Sustainability at its heart is a focus on ensuring that we can continue the activities and pursuits we want to, but in a way that it doesn’t detriment our long-term ability to operate; in order to achieve our….

Purpose, our motivation for what we’re doing, why we’re doing it.

Ecosystems bring together and align those who are like-minded, with common goals, principles and create value which is greater than the sum of the parts. Done well, mutualism could lead to symbiosis and ultimately achievement of our shared purpose.

Are Sustainability, Purpose and Ecosystems the lifeblood to the future of work?