Workplace culture has changed forever post-pandemic - Claire McLean

Covid-19 has truly transformed the country’s workplace culture forever. What people want and need is now irreversibly different and business leaders will need to start incorporating this insight into their company in order to emerge from the pandemic in the strongest position possible.

Claire McLean, founder of the HR consultancy firm Realise

Recent data from a People Management survey found that 64 per cent of people are feeling anxious about returning to the workplace whilst 76 per cent of employees believe their company should be doing more to support their mental health.

Additionally, 70 percent of people who are looking for a new job are only interested in working for firms that invest in wellbeing, more people are demanding flexible working options and also consider inclusion and diversity high on their priorities when choosing an employer.

The question that businesses should therefore be asking themselves at this crucial point in the country’s unlocking is ‘what should we be taking away from this?’.

These numbers highlight that truly listening to your entire workforce is going to be absolutely critical for companies of all sizes as we continue to follow the roadmap out of the Pandemic.

Only with a fully engaged workforce are you able to make sure that a business will be able to recruit and retain the best people. However, being able to prove that you are really committed to listening and being able to show the subsequent changes that are, or will be, put in place is also going to be crucial for continued and long-term success.

What do we mean by that?

After gaining this invaluable employee insight, it will be vital for businesses, both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as corporates, to create a clear and thoughtful strategy.

This strategy should allow them to identify what, and where, the opportunities are to make positive changes to their business, improve workplace culture, and consequently boost company performance by getting the best out of their people.

My advice to company leaders would be to make sure they also have a corresponding framework and an in-depth action plan put in place that managers can present back to their employees. This will not only help businesses achieve their goals but it will also show their people that they are holding themselves accountable. It will confirm that they are 100 per cent committed to driving meaningful engagement, and completely focused on putting their people and wellbeing first, in order to make their business a better place to work post-Pandemic.

Realise recently launched a new service, which includes an employee engagement survey, that will help companies listen to their entire workforce and create strategies to improve workplace culture, boost company performance and continually monitor how engaged their workforce is as we emerge from the Pandemic. The Realise team boasts over 100 years of combined experience across the public and private sector and a diverse range of industries and business sectors. For more information, visit https://realisehr.co.uk/

Claire McLean, founder of the HR consultancy firm Realise