Another fantastic session with Liz Nottingham, where she shared valuable insights for an eventual return to the office – or is this a myth?
As an intimate group of HR leaders from entertainment, tech, brands and creative it was brilliant to bring our network together and share wisdom.
Without getting too existential about it, what is the purpose of an office and where and how can work now be done?
Liz broke down this big topic with a simple framework based on the work of John Adair and guided us through considerations for “The Task”, “The Team” and “The Individual”.
Kicking off with ‘task’ – we discussed preparations around first aiders, employee assistance programmes, cleaning contracts and revising policies to accommodate for COVID-19.
How well equipped are your people at home currently. Is there a case for shipping out the office chairs and conducting individual home risk assessments?
The people piece requires additional thought, empathy and dialogue. We are now at a stage where we need to be creating people centric cultures by paying attention to; what do people need, what do they want, what do they value and how do they want to be together as a team? It was suggested that we will be moving to hybrid team structures which will require new skills and support for our line managers.
This crisis presents a case for a much needed leadership pause. As something is ending, something new is wanting to emerge. We need to allow this to emerge. As individual leaders there is a case for reflection as a leadership team; what do we want to be known for, how can we create the greatest organisation possible, what myths have we broken and how do we want to be as a leader in the future.
In the words of Peter Drucker “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence, it is to act with yesterday’s logic”.
We brought our event to a close with a Nancy Kline thinking council, collective wisdom session as we addressed a current challenge.
A huge thank you to Liz for partnering with Impact on our series of Virtual Events. It’s been a pleasure collaborating with an incredible and progressive HR leader, and our network has been delighted and grateful for you sharing with us your wisdom, key models and inspiration.