How To Re-build Company Culture After COVID19 COVID-19 has hit every business in a unique way, meaning that we’re all having to look at rebuilding our company culture. For many, the lack of work has meant that they have had to let go of staff or place them on furlough so as to cut costs and for others they have been running the business on a remote basis. This means that in the coming months as we recover from the pandemic, there may be a lot of employees back at work who haven’t been working at all recently, or have been working from home in a very different way to their pre and post COVID work style. This is of course going to be a culture shock when things go back to ‘normal’, however, it presents us with a unique opportunity to create a new normal. As business leaders, we are being called to iron out any issues with the company culture and ‘reboard’ our employees in a way that will be more aligned with the company we want to build. Here’s our take on how rebuilding the office culture might look, post COVID-19.
What Will Work Be Like After Coronavirus? This is the question that everyone seems to be asking. There will definitely be some changes to how we work moving forward, and this change will likely come from both parties. Both the employer and the employee have had their eyes opened to new possibilities of working, which for the employee has meant more freedom and for the employer has meant they’ve seen the opportunity to cut costs by having people work remotely. It’s likely that when we rebuild our company culture, remote working will be a big part of it. Whether that is allowing flexible working or moving to an entirely remote model, now that the world has been forced to try the remote work style, many have realized that it does work. Employees have realized that they are enjoying not spending time in traffic, instead starting their day early and some even putting in more hours than they normally would if they were working from the office. Others have been missing interacting with their colleagues by the coffee machines or extended lunch hours. Meanwhile, generous unemployment benefits have discouraged some staff from returning to work. Those who are getting an additional $600 a week unemployment benefit have seen little or no motivation to work the last few months and this is causing cultural issues amongst those who are working. The furlough culture has often divided teams – with half of them working very hard to make up for those who are off and the other half being off work but still being paid. It’s a recipe for a company culture disaster.