Many employees are still reeling from the shock of events that occurred during 2020, which impacted both organisations and personal livelihoods. Effective workforce management planning is crucial as a result of the pandemic. It is likely that ‘business as usual’ will look quite different for a long time to come, as industries and organisations continue to settle into the new normal and adopt changed working practices.
The key lesson learned from 2020 is that organisations and individuals must be resilient and adaptable to change, whatever the change may be. It also demonstrated that change is a continuum, and the next big event could be just around the corner. Considering that high-performing employees are critical to business operations and survival, they need to be engaged and supported during times of transformation.
Here are three ways to help your employees change with your business no matter what happens:
Have a culture of communication
One essential learning from the past year is how vital good communication is to ensure business operations run smoothly. Executives must maintain open, honest communications with employees on a day-to-day basis, even if they aren’t communicating about global events like a pandemic. Making transparent, two-way communication part of the business culture can go a long way towards building a stronger workplace community and team. By using real-time business insights to support employee communications, workers will feel a more personal ownership of, and responsibility to, the business.
Conduct change management scenarios
Employees and managers have a symbiotic relationship, and both groups will likely need to adapt to accommodate changing business requirements in times of uncertainty. Employees must be able to adjust their working practices and, at times, rapidly upskill to remain relevant to the business and the team. Similarly, managers must be able to assess and respond to changing business drivers, reallocating employees as needed and ensuring that employees with relevant skillsets are deployed effectively.
By using workforce planning and scenario-based modelling tools to consider realistic scenarios, executives can show employees how their roles may change if an event occurs. This also provides opportunities to identify skills gaps for training and up-skilling employees.
Consider building a flat organisation
Organisations with strict, siloed functions that are locked into sustaining teams with specialist functions may find it much harder to adapt when the market takes a sharp turn. While there will always be a role for specialists within organisations, there needs to be a greater level of adaptability to survive in the new business environment.
This can be achieved by flattening the organisational structure and aligning employees to collaborative project teams using project planning tools, rather than keeping workers in silos. The project-based approach has added advantages of optimising workflows to avoid under- or over-working employees, helping reduce the employee skills gaps and providing a greater level of employee engagement over time.
Ensuring your employees understand the importance of being able to adapt to changing business drivers is critical. However, it’s also essential that organisations have the right tools in place to ensure managers can accurately assess current needs and help support employees as they adapt to changes.
Investing in workforce management solutions can help you to better optimise your workforce plans and achieve strategic goals in any scenario. We’ve identified seven key capabilities you should look for when investing in workforce management planning tools. For more information contact the Mero team today or download our latest checklist.