What the pandemic has taught us
The COVID-19 pandemic has had the biggest impact on all aspects of our lives in living memory. It has not only restricted our personal freedoms but totally turned the workplace on its head. The daily commute was no more. Meetings become virtual. The back bedroom became an office, and people had to find ways to juggle homeschooling for their kids, working effectively from home and complying with new laws almost overnight.
So what are the key things we have learned as a business over the last 15 months?
And what should our focus be moving forward? Are our priorities the same, and how can we prepare our businesses for unknown disasters?
Of course, by their very nature, events like the pandemic are unexpected, and it is perhaps brave to try and speculate about the future. However, it’s clear that those organisations that use disruptive events as an opportunity to rethink their approach are those that survive.
There’s only one certainty
One thing is for sure; the pandemic has proved that old adage that the only thing that is certain is change. Nothing is forever. And to adapt to change, organisations need to be nimble in their operations, ready to embrace new technology and keep ahead of the curve. A survey of HR leaders by Gartner highlighted several trends; the growth of remote working, building resilience into the organisation and a focus on crisis response. But how do companies do that? Central to it is the ability of people to adapt, to reskill and take on changing roles, along with investment in the technology to support them. Training and mentoring will become hugely important.
Your most valuable asset
And talking of people, the one thing the pandemic has proved beyond doubt is that the single most valuable asset a company has is its employees. Yes, technology is crucial, and automation of processes will grow more important, but future workplaces will, we believe, be highly reliant on human qualities. Learning to truly trust our employees to do their best, even if they are not visible in the office environment, is so important. With the right tools to support them, our people are capable of doing just about everything from home that they would normally do in an office. They have had to prove it. And on the whole, they have risen to the challenge magnificently.
Giving the support needed
It’s also important to develop an ethos of health and wellbeing, both physical and mental. Organisations need to ask themselves how they can support their teams, how to help people to work flexibly, and deal with the issues that change might bring and with which their employees might be struggling.
There are many useful services that you can provide for your staff that will help. Ones that support physical health include online GP helplines, giving access to a GP when you need it, free eye care appointments or discounted gym memberships. Others focus on mental health, such as online counselling, or on financial health.
How to provide the support
A company such as Remus can make it a very easy process, offering a package of wellness benefits to your employees on your behalf. We take the subject seriously, providing a wide range of tools, available on our platform, that promote various areas of wellbeing.
Full details of all our wellness benefits can be found here.
Do get in touch to have a discussion about the range of services we have available and how we can build you a programme to support the wellness of your employees as they return to work.
Remus Rewards
Remus Rewards, a division of People Value Limited, is an REC, FCSA and APSCo Business Partner, a TEAM Service Provider and a market leading provider of reward and loyalty solutions. We specialise in providing solutions to the contractor and temporary labour market across the UK. By using our cloud based reward technology, businesses can improve their proposition, performance and increase engagement, morale and loyalty. Take advantage of savings on high street shopping, including 7 major supermarkets, eating out, special rate cinema tickets, discounted gym memberships and our Fuel Card which offers discounted fuel at over 35% of the UK motorway service stations.
