Thank you to Naleena Gururani for leading our brunch discussion on “Business as Usual?”
At today’s brunch, Naleena lead an insightful discussion about the concept of ‘Business As Usual’ through the current health crisis, and the many factors that have had to change in the way we do business.
Although many organisations had planned a number of initiatives previously, the question was raised as to whether the planned transformations that were already in place had the same relevance and potential impact as the necessary adjustments and in some cases, total overhauls brought about by the current context. Has the current crisis given employers the opportunity to make crucial changes to their management that may never have happened without it?
As we get used to the changes caused by the pandemic, and develop a functional management strategy, we must begin to reassess projects and programs which were previously put on hold. We must consider business today as the normal, starting to once again focus on work, and stop thinking of our current strategies as temporary.
For an organisation to continue be successful, a shift in mindset and culture must happen, from the language we use, to the way in which we induct new staff. The use of the word ‘employees’ has been questioned, and ‘colleagues’ used in its place, as workers in fields such as engineering are suddenly risking their health, continuing to carry out the work that many other sectors are not as they work from home. As we can no longer spend time face to face to introduce the newly recruited to the culture of a company, we must find new ways to embed this remotely. We are missing the ‘water fountain talks’ that we once had in a work environment, and must find a meaningful way to fill that gap. Should we continue attempting to adapt old models, or begin developing new ones entirely?
The way we conduct business has changed, but it is no longer the New Normal, but just the normal and may never entirely go back. Therefore, we must adjust our thinking, and our definition of Business As Usual, to something that works right now.
