After months of unprecedented challenges and change imposed on workplaces from COVID-19, many employers are returning to a sense of normality as restrictions ease. The big talking point now is what will be the ‘new normal’ and how this global health pandemic can deliver legacy benefits in the way we work.
AREEA has sourced a handful of thought-provoking and informative articles to give an insight into what could play out in the future.
Returning to work in the future of work
As the COVID-19 pandemic drives profound societal and organisational shifts, leaders have the opportunity to return to work by designing the future of work and building on the lessons and practices their organisations executed during the crisis.
Deloitte Insights has published a special report about embracing purpose, potential, perspective, and possibility during COVID-19.
“COVID-19 has challenged business leaders to do three things at once: stage the return to work, understand and leverage the advancements they enacted during the crisis, and chart a new path forward,” the report states.
“Focusing on the return to work alone is not a viable option, as it will not allow organizations to capitalize on all that they have experienced and learned over the past few months.”
The main sections of the report include:
- Hope amid crisis during COVID-19
- Remaining human in a technology-driven world
- Embracing possibility: Returning to work in the future of work
- New possibilities arising from the COVID-19 crisis
Read the special report in full here.
Australia enters recession – what’s next?
Last week it was revealed Australia had slumped to its first recession in almost three decades. As the National Accounts data was released, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg conceded Australia will enter into a technical recession when the June quarter GDP data is released, breaking its record of 28 years without one.
In comparison, the nation’s economy is faring better than many advanced economies driven into decline as they attempted to fight a surge in coronavirus infections.
So how should Australian HR handle a recession?
The impact of COVID-19 has delivered an unstable time economically, and the below article from HRM Online has tips that should help HR professionals navigate it.
“During a downturn, a different type of leadership is required at all levels of business, said Tina Shah Paikeday, leader of Russell Reynolds Associates Global D&I Consulting Services in this article featured in HRM Online.
“Leaders need to be agile enough to navigate difficult and constantly changing circumstances by shifting strategy.
“At the same time, HR officers need to have tough conversations with their business leaders around talent within the workforce, and about ensuring great resilience.”
Read the HRM Online article here.
Australians worried about infection and jobs due to COVID-19
Two-thirds of Australians say they feel anxious or worried about their own and others’ safety and more than 600,000 have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, according to a new study from The Australian National University.
Almost four-in-10 people say they feel it is either very likely or likely that they will be infected with the coronavirus in the next six months.
Published last month, the study is the first longitudinal examination of the social, mental, economic and political impacts of the coronavirus. It assesses people’s attitudes and experiences of COVID-19 before and during the pandemic.
The researchers, Professor Nicholas Biddle and Professor Matthew Gray, say the findings paint a picture of “hardship and distress, but also resilience”.
Co-author Professor Nicholas Biddle said Australians were also feeling extremely anxious about job security.
“Australians’ perceived levels of job insecurity are very high. One-in-four employed Australians think it is probable they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months, which is almost twice as high as it has ever been over that period since 2001,” he said.
“And over one-in-four employed Australians assess the likelihood that they will lose their job over the next 12 months as being more than 50 per cent.”
