As we get closer to the “next normal” – in our daily lives and in the workplace – people will need a new frame of mind for both. They will need encouragement, inspiration, and all the new insights gained over the past year to bounce back from the crisis. It goes without saying that this process of introducing the new world of work falls to leaders.
It will not be an easy task, yet leaders have the unique opportunity to do much more than simply return to business as usual. Instead, they can choose to reimagine the world of work and build on the agility and open-mindedness that many organisations had to embrace.
United under the big theme “Leading and Collaborating in the New World”, the MERITS Summit & Awards Vol 1. in June will explore these concepts and trends in more detail. Industry leaders from the HR and L&D world and executive education insiders will share their first-hand perspectives on the future of leadership, people, and organisational development.
Shaping the future rather than reacting to it
While responding and adapting to a crisis is necessary, these are just the first stages of facing a complex situation. Reinvention and change, on the other hand, help propel not only individual organisations forward, but entire industries and workplace communities. “Those who are already reinventing themselves raise expectations on innovations that will define the ‘next normal’ and set a new benchmark for other players in the market,” it said in a Deloitte report about the leadership styles of the future.
As the world is slowly starting to recover, it is up to leaders to reshape their markets and help their organisations emerge stronger. Whether it is through developing innovative business models, reconsidering long-term goals, or investing in novel team-focused and employee-focused workforce structures, leadership in the new world is proactive.
Collaborating in 2021 and beyond
Work practices that were far from standard before Covid-19 are now widespread globally. Remote working is certainly not a new topic anymore, but it has brought up interesting cases and challenges that are worth exploring.
What will the office of the future look like, for example? Named by McKinsey “the traditional centre for creating culture and a sense of belonging”, the office embodies more than a physical space. It also impacts the way people interact within organisations, how they learn and grow professionally. It will be up to leaders and their teams to determine their new modes of collaboration.
Interactions between employees and technology will be just as interesting and important to observe in the future. Automation and digitisation are already becoming an inseparable part of business, even beyond tech-driven industries and remote roles. Where does human collaboration meet technological disruption? And what is a healthy reskilling and upskilling timeline to face the future?
By Zornitsa Licheva
www.adventgroup.net