We’re 6 months into the COVID 19 global pandemic. Wait and see has given way to wait and…wait some more. But business continues for many companies and some are adapting quickly to respond to the crisis. What’s next for your organization? Here are some thoughts:
Crisitunity abounds
Even the best processes utilized by the best companies in the best of times need to adapt to change. To continue using your previous talent acquisition/assessment process during COVID invites potential disaster. This is the best time to break down your process from initial talent engagement to on-boarding and look for areas to improve. Obviously, social distancing and safety concerns will be paramount in these new processes. What pre-COVID “routine” aspects of your talent acquisition process are no longer valid? What needs to replace them? What works now?
In the past, when considering executive talent some clients sought to conduct 8 to 10 in-person interviews with their key stakeholders. While we encouraged top loading the interviews (having multiple interviewers in each meeting) to make the process shorter and more efficient, the logistics of getting 8 to 10 conflicting schedules to align to allow for those in-person meetings was daunting and stretched the process out interminably (even when top loading) resulting in interview fatigue and paralysis by analysis.
But given Zoom, Skype, etc., virtual meetings between those key stakeholders is now relatively easy and scheduling multiple interviews can be done in a matter of minutes. And having multiple executive interviewers on a Zoom call with a potential executive hire can be an asset. Removed from a staid, formal office environment the conversation may take on a more relaxed and human tenor potentially resulting in closer camaraderie and communication between the interviewers and the talent.
What was “inefficient” yesterday could be innovative today. All talent processes need to be re-evaluated and must get shorter and smarter.
It’s Personal
Which also goes for individual skills. It’s time to recalibrate the essential toolbelt for each team/talent as viewed through the lens of remote teams and virtual collaboration. What was an important skill/asset pre-Covid may be useless right now. And what seemed trivial before may be a huge advantage.
The talent who did great work working with other team members in-person may be struggling without the structure of an office environment. And the talent who seemed quiet and content to work by themselves may be your biggest contributors right now. There are ways of ensuring that you get the best out of each talent if you step back and see how each individual works best and what they need to be successful. Once understood, it will help you assess what type of new talent needs to be brought in to maximize the work of your existing team.
Research and understand the success of others
There are many companies that were successfully harnessing the power of remote teams preCovid. Take a look at their management processes. What processes can your team emulate/adapt? Companies like Gitlab have been working with remote teams successfully long before this. Take a look at their remote manifesto. Much of what is espoused is a model of how companies can make remote teams productive and still feel a part of the team. Researching how other companies successfully integrated remote workers into the fabric of their teams can be valuable in framing how your company can do the same with its entire workforce.
Identify the Next Gen Leaders
Where are your next gen leaders? Adaptation is key to survival. Right now, your company has talent that are adapting successfully to the disorder and chaos surrounding the crisis. They’re probably on a video conference call right now producing results and helping their team be productive. Your company also has talent that are trying to impose the “way we’ve always done it” principles to an utterly unique situation.
Change is inevitable. And talent teams need to soberly assess where their next generation of leaders is coming from. If your current team isn’t adapting to the circumstances, it will require finding talent who can.
Prepare for a new duality
If COVID were cured tomorrow and everyone was immediately allowed to return to the old ways of conducting business, they wouldn’t. What does the postCovid organization look like? We can pretty much assure there will be a WFH component for all businesses that can allow it. “Social distancing” may be a lingering effect long after COVID is gone, resulting in new office layout and design. Staggered schedules, flex work, satellite offices. How will those effect team productivity and behavior? How can your organization be better than it was preCOVID?