3 Aug 2020

Leading in a changing
world
How can OD practitioners step up to the challenges of a post-pandemic future?

Tom Robinson, Managing Director, Talent Tomorrow

_____

When the COVID-19 pandemic eventually subsides, we will see that much has changed.
The crisis has resulted in tragic loss of life, escalating public health emergencies,
skyrocketing unemployment rates and the disruption of supply chains across the globe.
Despite government stimulus packages and interest rates dropping to near zero, the
pandemic is still affecting every industry – especially travel, tourism, leisure, retail and
hospitality. And we’ve not even touched upon the potentially catastrophic effect of a no-
deal Brexit.

There are more people working at distance, with less job security, rising national debt and
a looming economic downturn. The equality gap is also widening, with more ethnic
minorities, women, those who care for dependants and economically disadvantaged
groups being disproportionally affected by the impact of this accelerating change.

The post-pandemic world is a perfect breeding ground for unethical behaviour. The CIPD’s
report Rotten Apples, Bad Barrels and Sticky Situations highlights the way high-pressure,
high-stakes situations often result in poor ethics. We can see this play out today, as
organisations demand people return to work when they’re not ready, pressure supply
chains, provide insufficient protection, and treat people like units of production.

Organisational development (OD) practitioners should use this opportunity to help

organisations ditch some of the ‘bad’ behaviours (profit at the expense of people, a lack of
connection, long commutes) for good ones (supporting people, a clear purpose, overt
values, a renewed focus on wellbeing).

A light through the clouds?

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Although the outlook is bleak, this could be an extraordinary opportunity. OD
practitioners should take the time to reflect and think about how to change current
operating models. Change is inevitable and needs careful management.

Globally, employees are stepping back and asking themselves if they’re leading the kind of
lives that they really want to lead – whether the current model is working for them. The
nature of the relationship between employer and employee is being challenged. For the
OD community and people professionals, this is our chance to ask ourselves if there’s a
gap between stated organisational priorities and the priorities of the people working for
them. We have the rare opportunity to help reshape organisations so that they serve all
their stakeholders and their communities.

Leaders play the most crucial role in shaping the future, supporting people and achieving
organisational objectives. In order to support them to do this, a new set of OD and
leadership skills will be required.

The changes in organisational development

Those who work in the world of OD know the discipline is complex and varied. No OD role
I’ve ever seen has been the same. Some OD practitioners may ‘look after’ recruitment,
diversity and learning, whereas others may look after talent, reward and internal
communication. An OD practitioner should take a systems approach and consider all the
knock-on factors in their work to make the most impact. Each of the component parts of
OD will be affected in a range of ways.

In most workplaces, OD has seen a number of significant changes due to COVID-19. The
ways in which we attract, retain, develop and engage the workforce have shifted, with the
events of 2020 being the tipping point.

Transitioning to new ways of working will require careful management and the right
balance needs to be struck between using in-house, interim and contract labour. OD
practitioners with experience in culture and behaviour change will find themselves a
sought-after resource.

Change management

One of the fundamental parts of change management – planning – simply hasn’t been
possible. Most, if not all, of the pandemic-related change has been forced. Operating
processes have been thrown out of the window. Even those willing to embrace new ways
of working have been strapped to a rocket. The goal of cultural and behavioural change,
however, is managing the knock-on effects, such as lower morale, different leadership
styles, fragmented communication and lower productivity.

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It will be vital to understand where the workforce is on the Kubler-Ross change curve, as
timing and communicating the change will be as important as the change itself. Talking to
a network of stakeholders in finance, IT, marketing, and so on, will ensure nobody’s needs
are being neglected. Delaying or cancelling non-critical projects will ensure the right
resources are allocated to the right initiatives. Using the excitement of early adopters will
also help transition to new ways of working, as will partnering with stakeholders,
customers and your supply chain.

The change management rulebook has effectively been thrown out. Previous industry
rivals are now collaborating, unexpected new products are being created and fresh
markets are being explored. The only way to successfully navigate this change is to have a
clear idea of the intended business goals, retain a people-first agenda and experiment
with agility.

Learning and development

In the field of learning and development (L&D), the boundaries have completely shifted.
There’s a need for significant upskilling and reskilling of the UK workforce, as the ‘old’ ways
of doing things aren’t stacking up. The use of digital learning solutions has been growing
for some time, and the pace of change will only increase.

However, in the drive for cost savings and efficiency, L&D needs to be wary of digital
overcorrection. Simply putting learning content online or facilitating on Zoom won’t cut it.
The focus should be on solving problems, not on delivering learning. The skill of
facilitators will also be tested. They must provide engaging, rich, textured experiences that
produce meaningful results. There is often more impact in moving away from formal
learning and towards informal systems, such as buddy programmes, mentoring, reverse
mentoring, coaching and skill-sharing schemes – paired with learning resources that can
be accessed in the flow of work.

Crucially, organisations must be skilled in new approaches to leading and communicating.

Forward-thinking leaders should invest in these intangible skills and resist the temptation
to cut L&D budgets. L&D should be ready and prepared for the changing landscape.

Competency and performance management

P ost-COVID,we may see changes in the way people professionals measure how well
people are doing against organisational goals. The first challenge will be identifying good
and poor performance, as people become more decentralised. We will be unable to
witness people shining in the same way, when we can’t see them doing their job across a
desk.

Measures of success need to be defined quite carefully – making sure there are a raft of
non-financial results woven in. Traits such as resilience, empathy, relationship skills, trust

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and innovation are increasingly desired competencies, but the empirical data needed to
quantify them is quite difficult to come by. That can be addressed by using more peer,
team and customer feedback, rather than through line managers alone. Another solution
is to rely less on traditional assessment methods like nine-box grids and appraisals – and
more on supporting managers to have regular, cyclical performance discussions.

Talent and succession planning

Organisations requiring exceptional leadership will need talent and succession planning
teams to step up, to quickly identify critical roles in regulatory, technical and
transformational positions (especially C-suite roles). Large-scale redundancies and the
resulting ‘brain drain’ can be mitigated by using interim replacements for key roles.

As the task of leadership becomes even more complex and nuanced, rigid hierarchies
become obstacles that slow down innovation and flexibility. If you operate a linear-style
hierarchy, talent teams should consider a more agile approach in the short term. If
certain leaders show themselves to be absolute superstars, consider seconding them to
other teams, experimenting with job-sharing, or temporarily increasing their
responsibilities. Bear in mind that more inexperienced (or emergency) successors should
be provided with double the usual support, as ‘survivor’s guilt’ and ‘imposter syndrome’
can equally affect the person who’s stepping up.

Communications

Internal communications content will be squeezed into half its usual channels, presenting
a major headache for communication professionals. The crowd of messages in email and
Zoom may see apathy set in. More creative channels will have to be sought, with many
businesses using short videos from senior leaders to share success stories. The glossy,
corporate style might now seem a bit artificial, being ditched in favour of a more raw,
personal feel. As our communities feel smaller, more effort will be required in
communicating between departments, helping people understand what different ‘silos’ in
the business are up to. Content-light, ultra-relevant communication (such as bulletins, top
tips, infographics, and so on) will help line managers to keep their own teams connected
and up to speed.

Reward and recognition

The pandemic has forced many people into uncomfortable situations, balancing home,
work and often childcare requirements. People’s individual situations have been thrown
into sharp focus, and the way people are rewarded and recognised should mirror the
level of their individual contribution. In the same way as ‘Clap for Carers’ rightly put a
shining spotlight on healthcare professionals, organisations should recognise the
contributions of front-line workers, those who can’t work from home, supply chain
workers and subcontractors.

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OD doesn’t stop there…

There are other disciplines, not limited to those listed above, that OD practitioners will
need to consider (as changes to one business area will have a knock-on effect on
another):

People who work in recruitment will need to adapt quickly to digital means when
attracting, interviewing, selecting and onboarding talent. Video interviews and AI
screening will become more commonplace. Great efforts will need to be taken to
ensure this doesn’t create a terrible candidate experience.

Organisational design practitioners will face challenges around structures, agile

decision-making processes and changing to different organisational models.

Colleagues working in values and ethics, diversity and inclusion, or corporate social
responsibility will see a huge (and rightly renewed) focus on wellbeing and equity
within their teams and will need to help their supply chain to do better. They’ll need
to approach this from two different directions: overt policy and communications
from the top down, paired with encouraging grassroots conversations and action
from the teams.

Those working in outplacement will need to think carefully about the way the
organisations treat those with whom they part company, doing so with respect,
decency and support.

The future skills required

OD practitioners must bear in mind three fundamental objectives, wherever they work
within the organisation:

1. Support exceptional leadership

As the very foundations of organisational change, the previous ‘norms’ of hierarchy,
stability and power structures will be challenged. As organisations fight for their
lives, the natural tendency for leaders is to be more controlling and less open. To
avoid this, OD teams must help managers to develop skills around setting
expectations, managing performance, communicating with impact, setting goals and
having effective feedback conversations. The notion of trust and control will also be
challenged when teams become less visible. Organisations will have to trust workers
or use other control levers.

Managers will also be expected to be expert facilitators, creating direction,

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 connection and cohesion. They’ll have to run meetings, coach and develop others,
and manage and communicate change. For this, they’ll need deeper skills in
empathy, relationship-building, listening, delegation and empowerment. OD
practitioners play a key role in supporting these skills.

2. Focus on wellbeing as a default

The world of work has been turned upside down and employee wellbeing is suffering
as a result. People are concerned about job security and money; a recent CIPD
survey of employees found that 22% of workers think it’s likely they’ll lose their job in
the next 12 months. Key workers have struggled with the challenges of working on
the front line throughout the crisis. Those employees who have been working from
home are concerned about returning to the workplace and travelling on public
transport. Many of those on furlough are struggling with the psychological impact of
not working and are worried about the future. And there are those who are
desperate to get back to the gravity of an office, finding working from home a major
challenge. Many others are struggling to maintain work–life balance.

OD teams can help to provide critical wellbeing support. This could involve helping
organisations to get to know their teams on a deeper level, ensuring employees are
provided with necessary resources, enabling people to refrain from returning to the
workplace if they’re not ready, or instigating flexible working and childcare provision.

3. Help build relationships

At distance, serendipitous face-to-face chats will happen less often, with fewer water-
cooler moments. Periphery figures in the organisation will become invisible, as
regular collaborators become closer. What we may see is the organisation shifting
from meta-societies to stronger, smaller communities. OD practitioners can create
the systems that support this new model – for example, curating digital
communities, cross-functional teams and social events. As ‘quiet’ work is conducted
more at home, collaborative, ‘noisy’ work could take place in the office, when it is
safe to do so. OD can help create the communication, training and support for this
to happen.

Where to next

COVID-19 has accelerated and forced changes we hadn’t planned for (and, in many cases,
didn’t want). But it also gives us the opportunity to reflect on how things can be done
better in our practice in the future.

Organisations have huge power over local policy – arguably even more so than
governments. They are the anchor for morals, the catalyst for values and they can even
make decisions against the stronger will of society. Organisations haven’t had this much

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influence since the end of the Second World War. Through interacting with the economy,
they have the power to affect huge social change – and OD professionals are central to
this. They’re the engineers of change, the influencers of behaviour, the architects of
systems and the shapers of policy.

This once-in-a-generation crisis is a genuine once-in-a-generation opportunity… an

opportunity to build back better.

The CIPD’s series on the state of play in organisation development can be found here.

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