Work from Home – the new normal in 2020. The pandemic has caused a significant change in the work culture. It is fair to say, a major reason for video conferencing sites like Zoom, go-to-meeting, Google Meet have thrived is due to the global crisis and have played a decisive role in the corporate culture. A time ago, we would video call someone when they were too far geographically. Now, video conferencing is the daily medium for work. According to Business Wire, an astounding 62 million downloads were completed for video conferencing apps in March 2020. While this came out of the blue for most, there are some things Work From Home (WFH) has taught me.
Adaptability:
Businesses that don’t adapt, fail. Same goes for us individuals. Those that complain about how WFH isn’t the great, need to understand it’s the best alternate solution at the moment. At least one that is feasible with current technology and available at mass. Employees and businesses need to diversify and be able to provide their content and value digitally. It’s time to wear the empathy hat and re-engineer our working style so the society prospers.
For example, photographers are going digital with the use of AR tools to capture photos. Some are fusing their photography passion with another passion to create a new platform to express themselves. Firms like Kodak who didn’t adapt to the touch screen technology failed in the long run.
I am someone who loves social outings with family/friends/colleagues over chat/video call. I am better with verbal communication over written. We all are facing inconvenience, but; to make the most of the situation, is crucial and determines one’s resilience.
Adaptability during COVID-19 is not just essential for financial stability but also for health. The underlying reason behind WFH, is to ensure the risk of getting infected reduces, because there is massive uncertainty when it comes to how the virus spreads. Also, majority individuals who are office employees are most likely breadwinners for their family.
Importance of online presence:
With everything digital now, a firm’s online presence matters even more. Let me give you an example. For my brother’s 24th birthday, we wanted to buy a cake but no shop was open near us. Hence, we decided to surf the net and found a bakery which we never heard of. Since, the website design was eye-catching, trustworthy (testimonials and reviews), UX was optimised and the whole process of placing an online order was effortless we decided to buy from there. A company with great digital marketing will reap better return-on-investment in this crisis because they are well equipped as commute isn’t an option.
Professional websites like LinkedIn are a great tool for networking and business development. Furthermore, with everyone glued to their screen, this presents a great opportunity to explore new trends and possibly new revenue streams like online stores, online classes with e-learning market booming, etc.
Money management:
Financial planning is crucial, and the right planning will help you survive this global crisis with minimum losses. With employees receiving a salary cut, businesses incurring minimum profit or even losses, this is a catastrophic time for the global economy. Work from home has made us realize the importance of having multiple revenue streams and not putting all your eggs in one basket. Diversification is importance to spread risk over the long term. There are plenty of tools available online, books, tutorials, blogs, videos to equip you with the financial literacy.
Another lesson I have learned is how much marketing impacts me daily subconsciously. For example, due to no commute, my expenses on food, traveling, entertainment and shopping has reduced significantly. Whenever, I use to walk past a Starbucks, I would feel a need to buy a cup of coffee with their attractive banner ads or just seeing 50% off on arcade games and so much more. According to various studies, we are presented with 4000+ ads daily.
It’s time to rethink how we spend our money!
Human capital vs Financial Capital:
We all face trade-offs on a daily basis. To go see a movie or to study for the test? Should the govt spend its money on education or on infrastructure? Should I order my pizza from Dominos or Pizza Hut? Should I go to college or should I start my business? The list goes on but little did we know COVID-19 will cause a clash between the firm’s human and financial capital.
Human capital is essentially the employees, the individuals who work at the firm. The skills, experience, qualifications, EQ, entrepreneurship are elements of human capital. Its human centred. On the other hand, financial capital refers to assets measured in monetary terms held by the firm which can be quantified and are used for generating revenue and existence of firm.
Employers are going ahead and making their employees redundant due to cash flow issues to balance their books. Meanwhile, some (not many but some) firms are doing everything in their power to ensure their employees are given job security, making their new work style convenient while taking a toll on their financial statements. Some are even doing a mix of both. They are cutting salary by a certain percentage and ensuring they are made to feel safe.
Honestly, I feel the organisations that empathize best with their employees' needs, and make them feel at home, will win in the long-run because once this is over, they have benefits aligned for them to reap. Just like how the business appreciates when employees do top-quality work, the employees also appreciate when a business has their back. Once this is over, firms that took good care of their staff will more likely have a motivated workforce. Businesses that take good care of their employees are more likely to successful for various reasons like greater productivity, low labour turnover (retained workforce), attracting new employees, encourages risk-taking, and more effective communication.
Family connection:
What is the normal routine for a working individual? Wake up, get ready fast, have breakfast and bath, leave for office. Work 9-5 or possibly more and come back home very tired at night. Spend a small portion of the time with family maybe during dinner. Then repeat the next day until its weekend. What we don’t realize is we spend more than 1/3 of our day working, another 1/3 of our day sleeping and only the remaining is left free. In some cases, it’s even less due to traveling time and other tasks at home.
WFH has allowed us to share family time whether it’s doing home workout, breaks in between work, lunch and dinner, watching movies, board games, maybe even collaborate with family member, help our loved ones with their task. Even the smallest of the things, like compromising when someone is on a video call, by keeping the volume down, matters. Most have certainly been able to share time with their loved ones due to lockdown which makes one realise that focusing only on career is an unhealthy practice. Mental health has also been a hot topic which wasn’t much voiced prior to COVID-19.
Furthermore, it also allows us to have ‘me’ time. WFH gives us the convenience, and comfort from our home, with more autonomy to take some time and self-reflect frequently.
We are all hoping this pandemic ends soon; but, until it doesn’t, let’s take these moments and make the most of them. We can’t change anything immediately; so, let’s make hay while the sun shines. Let’s see the positive and hope normalcy returns sooner than later.
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