Work will never be the same

With companies, especially those in the IT sector, adopting WFH (Work From Home) strategy , a question of paramount is if the work culture will remain the same or not.

While the majority of Oman’s companies have adopted a mix of half of work in office and the rest at homes, experts advise that it is critical for organisations to learn from and incorporate the lessons from the pandemic.

“COVID-19 is an eye opener for many corporates on how to reshape their work culture and embrace the new normal,” says Abdul Razaq, a management expert.

“This present scenario is offering an unprecedented opportunity for organisations to recalibrate their work culture, benchmarking practices that serve as the pillars of better human relations resulting in corporate success.”

Dr Raaji Narayanankutty believes that work culture will certainly change in the long run with most of the employees opting for work from home.

A report prepared by Oliver Wyman and a team of leading behavioural science experts, titled ‘Shaping the New Normal: Changing Working Practices for Good’ says that at least five working practices have been either formed or altered in the past 6 months in response to COVID-19.

According to the report, five areas of working life that have been disrupted by COVID-19 that companies might want to maintain include:

1) Most of the communication will be virtual 2) Business meetings: less physical, more online 3) Better hygiene compliance 4) Better Focus on employee well-being, and 5) Spike in demand for e-cash transactions

“In order to maintain the new, positive organisational behaviours that have emerged as a response to the COVID-19 crisis, management needs to implement routine and rewards and ensure the repetition of activities are embedded over a sustained period of time, and continually updating their findings as their employees adapt over time,” the report further suggested.

These practices in the organisations may sustain or they may seek to preserve and promote even during the post COVID-19 era. However, it will be the new era that will decide the ‘Survival of the Fittest’, according to the experts.

With most of the workforce operating on a remote basis, meetings taking place on virtual platforms, transactions being carried out and deals signed online, the workspace will definitely be affected either for good or bad. Many physical shops remain temporarily closed while online sales and e-payments soar high. Newer online

sellers mushroomed capitalising on the trend. These indicate a new lifestyle which the human race was not very much used to resulting in a proportionate change in the work culture as well.