Our 4R Recovery Roadmap

Relating, reflecting, recalibrating and reconditioning

In Melbourne, as we have been emerging gradually from lockdown and business activity
picks up again, there is a need to have a think about what the COVID-19 situation has meant
for our own business and people and what that means for our people strategies going
forward.

In doing that, it is important not to take a “one size fits all approach” because there are so
many differences in the needs of our people, their respective experiences during the
pandemic and their preferred way of working.

Some had to work from home, some had to go to work and some had no work at all.

Some had to home school, some suffered from social disconnection and loneliness and
many had challenges with maintaining physical fitness and/or mental health.

For some, having tasted it, working from home will have its attractions and for others, the
opposite will be true and the social environment of the office will be the clear preference.

Many will want a bit of both and this hybrid model of working is one that will become very
common in the years ahead.

Some will decide that they want to do something different altogether from what they have
done professionally for many years while some will be happy just to be back doing what
they know and are comfortable with.

So how do you work all of that out and come up with a reasonable approach for your
business and your people? We suggest the following 4 steps.

Relating

Talk to your people and ask them where they are at.

What do they each (individually) want their personal future work situation to look like – the
job that they will do and when, where and how they will do it.

By all means, talk about what might be possible in the context of business needs but don’t
make promises that you can’t keep and don’t discard ideas without really giving them
proper consideration.

That is just really about having a genuine and respectful and open conversation.

Reflecting

Take some time to have a think about what each of your people has said about their
experiences and their preferences going forward.

There could be genuine opportunities that could present in honestly thinking about
different ways of doing things and providing flexible or remote working opportunities.

Are there things that have worked OK or perhaps even better during lockdown?

How can you structure things in ways that are going to work better for the business and
your people?

Recalibrating

The recalibration is about resetting the work experience for people based on what has been
learned from the pandemic situation in the context of the needs of your business and your
people.

The first part of that recalibration is getting your COVID-19 safe workplace plan in place and
ensuring that everyone understands it, is equipped to play their part and does so.

How do you embed the use of technology ongoing where that has reaped benefits during
lockdown and offers opportunities for the future?

Many businesses are reporting higher levels of employee satisfaction with the support they
received from their managers – probably because the need for timely communication
became a priority and more communication activity occurred as a result. Put simply, more
conversations occurred.

How can you maintain a culture of continuous conversations and coaching that will
engender greater employee wellbeing, engagement and higher performance.

Reconditioning

As with any process of change, people take time to adapt.

Many people who have been without work or working from home for months on end will
take time to adjust back to the routine of coming to work.

People need reconditioning – physically, socially, with their use of time and with personal
and family commitments. As noted above, some will want to make adjustments to their
working arrangements to get better balance in their lives.

There are also those who are still concerned about the COVID-19 threat and who therefore
may be reluctant to return to the normal workplace. Education on how you will keep people
safe at work (ie your COVID-19 safe workplace plan) will help this situation.

Then of course there is yourself. What are you doing to ensure your own wellbeing and the
optimal performance of your business for yourself, your family and your people?

If you need any help in answering that question, please feel free to give us a call for a free
consultation.