Coronavirus: How workplaces will reboot in the post-COVID-19 era

Redesigning of the organisational structure

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled businesses across the strata – from startups to enterprises – to rethink their organisational structure. Firms that are agile and responsive to changes will be able to survive.
The post-COVID-19 scenario will also witness the continuity in the trend of businesses deep diving and thinking out-of-the-box, to ensure survival and resilience to externalities. 

Designing a robust business continuity plan

Ensuring the physical and mental wellbeing of employees along with business outcomes will be the key focus for enterprises. Companies need to undertake measures to safeguard employees, as well as mitigate financial and operational exposure.
The scope of risk governance and risk mitigation is expected to be broadened. Risk managers will now be a key asset across all organisations. This will not only add a new dimension to the system but will also witness a generation of varied job roles and opportunities, especially for futuristic enterprises.
Firms are likely to be more mindful of immediate and medium-term goals, and the way forward to navigating through the crisis.  

Communicating with customers, employees, and business at large

The crisis has underscored the significance of the smooth flow of communication and collaboration. This stream is expected to grow manifold for both internal and external stakeholders. This implies that the role of marketing as a function along with corporate communications within the organisations, will evolve as the key functions for IT companies globally.
CXOs will spend more time in examining and assessing innovative communication strategies periodically for both internal and external stakeholders. 

​​Focus on employee engagement policies 

The post-COVID-19 scenario will witness a renewed focus on employee engagement, besides hygiene and wellness measures, that will prompt firms to lay detailed guidelines in this regard.
Emphasis will be on cleanliness, regular sanitisation of common touchpoints such as railings, desks, staircases, workstations, and contactless system of attendance, instead of biometric.

Work from home will become a norm rather than an exception, with firms putting comprehensive guidelines for the same. Access to information and resources, ensuring employee communication, and their overall wellbeing will be among the priority areas for firms.

The role of the CHRO and HR will evolve and become paramount in the wake of a renewed focus on employee engagement and employee productivity point of view.

Implementing contingent policies 

The COVID-19 scenario has reinforced the role of contingency plans for organisations. Going forward, they will need to brainstorm on the implications of their business outcomes and enact specific crisis management annexures. This will be crucial to ensure their survival, as well as maintaining continuity in business operations, along with communication with their stakeholders during such unprecedented times. 

Relooking at business productivity – focus on ‘outcomation’

Outcomation implies harnessing the power of automation and emerging technologies to drive tangible business outcomes. Businesses are likely to start looking at business productivity from a realistic angle, especially when remote working and work from home become the new normal. 
More than the daily timesheets, HR tech will play a vital role to manage, engage, and build employee productivity across all levels. Attendance management, zero-touch payroll, geo-fencing for attendance, and robotic interviews will come handy for balancing the productivity enigma across enterprises. This will be pertinent both for white-collar and blue-collar workers. Concerns over data privacy will present a massive opportunity for cybersecurity firms to devise novel solutions.
It can be assumed that COVID-19 has prompted to rethink workplace strategies on a massive scale, and can be considered as an inflection point for businesses.