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The Japanese art ofkintsugicelebrates flaws and lived experience. Using liquid gold to repair broken pottery, kintsugi ultimately aims to create something stronger and more beautiful than the original.

Last year broke traditional notions of work. COVID-19 didnt just invade bodies, it lit up the cracks in existing structures and, of necessity, became the preeminent strategy driving companies decisions. As a result, organisations are trying to remake themselves eagerly drawing up rightsizing plans, aggressively adopting flexible working, reimagining HR processes for greater efficiency, and trying to bridge cultural rifts exposed by different responses to the coronavirus. The upshot? Companies recognize that they can no longer undertake business transformation, workforce transformation, cultural transformation or HR transformation in turn or in isolation. In 2021, transformation is an interconnected imperative, regardless of whether an organisation suffered or was one of the fortunate few to thrive in COVID-19s cutthroat climate.

Stripped down to focus on whats truly important, companies around the globe have proven the resilience of pre-pandemic trends towards winning with empathy. At the start of 2020, Mercer identified four trends companies were pursuing to stay ahead. There was renewed focus on the futures of people and the planet, on active reskilling, on combining human intuition with workforce science, and on energising the employee experience (EX). Those companies that were already on this journey thrived during the pandemic. Those who had lagged need to decide what new practices to keep and what to retire. All need to identify and revive the trends that got neglected last year.

One of the challenges in 2021 will be driving an aggressive change agenda in the face of widespread stress and fatigue.HR leaders say the primary barriers to transformation arejuggling multiple priorities (47%)andemployee exhaustion (45%), according toMercers2021 Global Talent Trends Study. And this stress and fatigue isnt hitting all workers the same. Nearly half of parents (46%), for example, report stress levels between 8 and 10 on a 10-point (where 10 is a great deal of stress), according to a study by the American Psychological AssociationsStress in the Time of COVID-19. Compare this to childless adults for whom only 28% say the same.

And so, its clear there is less room for error in the next 12 months. In 2021, Mercers findings reveal the successful organisation

Takes care of collective futures.

With the explosion of diversity concerns globally we saw renewed impetus at the end of 2020 to make progress on environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.Two in three HR leaders say the pandemic has spurred their companies to continue or step up the pace toward a multi-stakeholder business approach. In 2021, Europe leads the way on focusing on this agenda (71%), followed by AsiaPac (67%) and North America (61%). Still, 2020 laid bare just how pernicious underlying inequities are. Consequently, in 2021,60% of HR leaders are seeking to improve pay equity analyticsto drive transparency and action.

COVID-19 certainly thrust companies treatment of employees forward. Responsible employers extended wellbeing provisions and were lauded publicly a practice to continue if organisations wish to remain magnets of talent. In fact, aSeptember 2020 Workforce Institute global surveyfound that33% of employees say they now trust their employermorebecause of how the employer reacted to the pandemic.

Thinking holistically about employee wealth and benefits, such as benefits for non-married partners or global paternity provisions, is one way in which companies can shine. For example, few firms are looking at benefits for gig or contract workers today; providing them with access to services could be an area for investment in 2021. Likewise,most companies (65%) dont offer or plan to offer phased retirement, a worrying finding given that the pandemic put many peoples retirement plans on ice.

Scales the skills agenda.

In the buy, build, borrow or bot paradigm, borrow is having its heyday.As COVID-19 proved, being able to rapidly redeploy resources (in other words, leaning on an internal talent marketplace) is not only possible it is critical to success:44% of organisations made it easier to loan talent internally in 2020 and a further 26% plan to do so in 2021. Make no mistake: proper acceleration in the borrow lane demands clear reskilling strategies and updating talent models so that skills are the basis for defining work, deploying talent, managing careers and valuing employees.

The good news is that the era of apathy around reskilling is over. Before the pandemic, just one in three HR leaders had investing in workforce reskilling as part of their future of work strategy. This year, they see theupskilling/reskilling of critical talent pools as the primary key to successful transformation.That said, just15% are targeting reskilling efforts at workers likely to be displaced. The risk is that this leads to a skills chasm in societies and learning becomes unhooked from real skills and jobs of the future.

Over the course of last year, it became clear that skills-based talent models deliver the business flexibility that allows companies to meet new realities. Preserving this new practice, however, requires a shakeup ofmany talent processes: hiring algorithms still search for traditional qualifications and promotion still tends to be tenure- (rather than skillset-) based, for instance. Leading companies recognise the imperative to change anda leading14% have started their skills-based talent strategy journey, including pay-for-skills.Finally, as we enter 2021, the data and dashboards are there to enable innovative companies to add a skills dimension to their reward philosophies soworkers can see the link between skills, pay and promotion.

Stays ahead of the data wave.

COVID-19 drove a data explosion with companies collecting ever more highly personal information on employees location, health and remote working habits. Now big datais driving decisions, some for good, some as yet unknown:45% of HR leaders say they plan to improve their analytics capabilities to support strategic workforce planning in 2021.

The challenge is how to use the data, taking account of employees consent and the datas influence on other talent decisions. Companies face a trilogy of new data, old mindsets, and decision-making delegated to remote or distributed teams. Ethical decisions made at the top about data usage may get lost along the way. Achieving a human-tech blend demands reviving efforts related to workforce science in 2021 to rethink how HR builds its ability to understand patterns in a new way for a new era, and to set standards for new behaviours from the outset.

How can companies blend human sensing with science? Executives are demanding analytics around benefit costs, outputs and productivity. Consequently, HR leaders plan to improve insights aroundskill acquisition (48%)andremote working-related performance (42%). But key to maintaining the strides made in 2020 will be balancing these with metrics on energy, equity and engagement. And there is a way to go, with justone in three companies planning to improve analytics on physical wellbeing in 2021. Embedding the gains in new thinking born of COVID-19 demands a mix of economic and empathetic data such asthe impact of cost decisions on health and engagement somethingjust 24% of companies do today.

Energizes the exhausted.

The global flexible working experiment dominates todays EX conversations. But in 2020 we learned that a jobs degree of flexibility is only half the equation. Equally important is how much flexibility people want or can accommodate given the toll on their non-work lives.Half of companies (52%) have plans to reinvent flexibility in 2021and leading organisations will take into account what flexibility is possible, what is desirable, and the infrastructure and culture required to sustain it.

Leading the exhausted requires listening and reviving a broader view of the EX. What constitutes caring in the COVID-era? Addressing financial wellbeing and mental health will be a strong indicator. The bright spot is that HR leaders intend to make progress:almost half (47%) say they will add benefits to address emotional health this year. The EX also needs an inclusive overhaul as the needs of different persona groups outweigh the need for differential HR expertise. Few organisations are looking at younger, female or minority workers differently three groups disproportionately hit by the pandemic: just25% of companies plan to re-segment the workforce to better tailor benefits to new needs brought on by COVID-19. Turning the target operating model of old on its head will be vital to inclusivity.

Companies are also taking a long hard look at what is truly core to the future of HR, and how to provide the desired target interactions in line with todays digital lives (60% are using interactive processes to co-create new employee experiences). Progressive companies are leveraging technology to transform how they listen to employee segments, how they meet employee expectations on digital health, and how they automate HR processes.

Still winning with empathy

How will we remember 2021? Will a once-in-a-generation pandemic impel a genuine watershed moment, in which companies reset their focus to redesign their purpose? Will companies be at the forefront of repairing and driving a more equitable and inclusive society? Will we revert to the tried and tired processes of old as we abandon new ideals in the fight for survival? Only time will tell.

As this extraordinary year resets the agenda, preparing for tomorrow requires organizations and the HR function to transform quickly to redefine jobs and careers, to rearticulate what it means to retrain and retire, and to reignite what it means to be responsible. Success relies heavily on bringing employees along on this reset (consider thatonly 10% of employees strongly agree that they knowhowto contribute to digital transformation efforts, according toFuturum). Thus, by focusing on human-centred leadership, values and wellbeing, companies can build sustainable, bright futures for all.

Read more from the original source:
How A Once-In-A-Lifetime Pandemic Created Fertile Ground For Workplace And Organizational Transformation - Forbes