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When the Philippine government imposed a community lockdown in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, we were anxious and excited about what this could mean for the work some of us do. At first I thought the community quarantines would only last a few weeks to a month, but another quarter had passed, then another. We are now in our eighth month, and for people like me, who had been working mostly from home, a lot of adjustments had to be made. After working in an office for over a decade, I had to adapt to this new work environment.
Like some of you, I have already established routines that incorporate activities that I longed to do. Activities that due to my three or four hours a day of travel are being deprioritized. Pre-pandemic, I leave the house at five thirty in the morning and return home at nine at night. Today, I can wake up at 6:30 am, do a 10-15 minute exercise with whoever is already awake at home, have breakfast with the family, do my daily Bible reading, and help one of my daughters with she. homework. Now I can do this before starting work at 8:30 am. At night, just before my kids are done for the day, we are doing our family Bible devotion, which I couldn’t do before because I usually get home long after bedtime. On weekends, our entire family is at home, spending time together. There are no extracurricular activities to attend. Our social calendars have also been bare. A couple of Saturdays ago, we were able to attend an online party for the seventh birthday of one of our friends’ son. My conclusion from that party was that it was very efficient as there was no need to travel. My wife and I started wondering, will these activities (eg, online parties, work from home) continue even after the pandemic? If not?
Like us, organizations will have to find new ways of doing things. As the economy begins to open up, organizations will also begin to transition to how they plan to do things in the months and years to come. Due to the significant uncertainties surrounding our current environment, it appears that there is no single way of doing things. Certain organizations may begin to require more people to report to the office, while there may be others that no longer renew their leases that expire because they plan to have most of their workforce work from home. Others may choose to have multiple locations on the subway. How are we currently conducting our meetings, trainings, and conferences? Will there be changes to the organization’s policies as to how they will be carried out? Will we have face-to-face training again? Until when will those reporting in the office be required to wear a mask? Will the design of the office be changed? Will the office serve more as a collaboration hub than individual workstations?
At this point, both employers and employees had plenty of time to adjust and readjust
adapt to their new ways of working. There are people like me who have already found their comfort zone while working from home. After seven months, people may already have a good understanding of what is good for them and what they are looking for in a work environment.
Given this scenario, it is to be expected that misalignments will appear between what an organization intends to do in the future and the preference of its people on how and where to work. Therefore, this can result in higher turnover than usual as organizations and their employees review their aptitude test with each other.
Organizations must include in their assessments how this pandemic had changed the way their people now prefer to work; not so much to give in to the preferences of his people, but rather as a means of ensuring that leadership is not taken by surprise by how his people would react and what kinds of people they should seek to move forward.
The race for talent had already been very competitive before the pandemic. During these times, and surely in the years to come, as more people experience working in a more flexible work environment, the race for talent is sure to become more competitive.
Anton Ng is a partner in the Audit and Assurance Division of P&A Grant Thornton. P&A Grant Thornton is one of the leading auditing, tax, advisory and outsourcing firms in the Philippines with 24 partners and more than 900 staff members. We would like to hear from you! Tweet us: @GrantThorntonPH, Like us on Facebook: P&A Grant Thornton, and email your comments to [email protected] or [email protected]. For more information, visit our website: www.grantthornton.com.ph
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