People People. Unfiltered

“Digital Transformation” has been a hot topic for the past few years but there has yet to be a handbook or step-by-step guide for companies who are chasing that change. More importantly, the key role our people play to drive this change has been lost in the discussion of the other aspects of change.

The spread of COVID-19 - and the associated global lockdowns - disrupted just about every facet of professional life for everyone, although no more was it felt than within the lives of working mothers. A recent McKinsey report on COVID-19 and gender equality found that women make up 39 percent of global employment but account for 54 percent of overall job losses.

On the most recent episode of People People. Unfiltered, I spoke with Mark Royal, an associate client partner at Korn Ferry with a focus on culture, employee engagement, and employee experience (not to mention two Gen Z children of his own). Mark had some great insights into what Gen Z will be expecting, how they should be engaged, and the lessons leaders should take from millennials’ integration into the workforce. [SH1]Link

Telecommuting is not new. Let’s not forget that the internet become widespread in the late 90s, Skype launched in 2003 and laptops eclipsed desktop computer sales around the time we ushered in the new millennium.So, for some 20 years, we’ve had the means for telecommuting to be the norm, however, it has taken a global pandemic for adoption of remote working to soar. Which begs the question – is Telecommuting the new Tinder?

From financial insecurity to strains on mental health, many of COVID-19’s impacts go beyond the immediate health crisis and have tragically converged into fertile ground for domestic and family violence.Wendy Hammonds, General Manager of People and Capability at Foodstuffs North Island in New Zealand, shared an incredible look into a forward-thinking organisation’s approach to domestic violence. It feeds directly into two of the most important questions people and culture leaders should be asking themselves: what is your organisation’s role in domestic violence and wellbeing more broadly, and what can you do to prepare people leaders for tough conversations right now?

If executives were unsure about the importance of their diversity and inclusion strategies before, then hopefully these past few weeks have put those misconceptions to bed.The organisations who will be most successful in the next few month or years of uncertainty will be those who successfully thread diversity into their DNA and channel that culture into tangible, creative outcomes.

So how do people and culture practitioners manage transformation amid fears toward technology and change? Sembcorp’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Wendy Foong, shares:Leading with courage and empathyEmbracing transparencyChecking in with our first principles

“Crises expose the characteristics of a great leader,” Eugene Chang, Partner at Korn Ferry, explained during our conversation. “They may not have foreseen the crisis per se but had already invested in their capabilities, their culture and their people long before the crisis– and continue to do so even through the crisis.”

For a long time, this has been an issue close to my heart. In fact, I fully believe that the organisations who will be most successful in the next few month or years of uncertainty will be those who successfully thread diversity into their DNA and channel and inclusive culture into tangible, creative outcomes.

To look at solutions for our People for both short-term and long-term challenges resulting from Covid-19, Aadesh Goyle, CHRO of Tata Communications, joined me on today's episode.Here's a snapshot of what we discussed...Short-term: how do we respond to crises, protect our people and build resilience?Long-term: how do we continue evolving in the face of crisis?