Future of Workplace In The Aftermath Of Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted labour markets globally during 2020. The short-term consequences were sudden and often severe: Millions of people were furloughed or lost jobs, and others rapidly adjusted to working from home as offices closed. Many other workers were deemed essential and continued to work in hospitals and grocery stores, on garbage trucks and in warehouses, yet under new protocols to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. As the future workplace connects platforms and integrates new digital products and services, it will require new personas, systems, processes and roles to support the digital landscape.

The panel on Future of Workplace was chaired by Rahul Sharma, Country Head of Slack India, and found participation from Jitendra Chouksey, Founder of CEO of Fittr, Sreevathsa Prabhakar, Founder & CEO of Servify as well as Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Co-founder & COO of Zetwerk.

When asked about the evolving engagement systems of physical workstations, Prabhakar remarked that Town Halls, sessions on mental wellness and physical fitness in the form of football, badminton and cricket have been included by Servify.

During the infamous second wave of the global pandemic, almost every individual underwent a crisis. In such a time, Ramakkrushnan’s team at Zetwerk invested in on-demand mental counsellors. Anyone who required help could speak to professionals through the given helpline, said Ramakkrushnan. To further add to physical strength, his company often implements physical challenges. He also added that, due to the lack of time constraints created by virtual workspaces, people find it difficult to manage time. It is also important to understand the pertinence of work hours given by employees to the company.

Country Head of Slack, Rahul Sharma jocantly added that the benefit of virtual workspaces was employees could be learning how to bake a cake, spend time with family, or take a trip to Goa while they continue to work. He strongly held the opinion that the physical idea of a headquarter is fast evolving into a digital space.

Prabhakar supported the idea of digital space by saying, “Even prior to the pandemic, our Global Group CEO was in Dubai, we have extended teams in Ireland, Mumbai and Gurgaon”. The thought of physical spaces evolved from days of manufacturing before technology had set forth in economies. It was technology that catapulted the growing bandwagon of people who worked from home. “The concept of a physical headquarter is very antiquated”, he added.

Chouksey contended that people required acceptance, the right resources as well as skills of monitoring employee progress to sustain the success of work from culture. The new norm of work from home brought in by the pandemic has been a fundamental transformation of this century. “We have to find tools which enable swift communication between the employees working from home,” he said. Moreover, the induction of KPIs and OKRs to improve accountability and transparency of employee record systems. Earlier everything that required employee engagement was in the office. But today offices are going to play a supporting role, enablers of collaboration.