Features Consulting Matters
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Our new remote and agile workforce. How do we embed and effectively support this shift?
Our new remote and agile workforce. How do we embed and effectively support this shift? When we hear ‘new construct’, we often think of the opportunities to improve assets through smart technologies, modular design and innovative construction methods to name a few popular terms. However, in light of ongoing COVID-19 impacts on all workplaces, we should also be thinking of the environment that people in our industry are working in to deliver these innovative projects.
While some may have a sense that things will return back to normal in a post-pandemic world, a common view is the experience has, and will, accelerate the shift towards a remote and agile operating environment. Even purely from a talent management perspective, this makes sense – how can a business attract and retain talent if they too are not following this broader shift to an operating environment that features and effectively supports remote work options? What we have learnt over recent months is that a shift to an operating model that fully
While some may have a sense that things will return back to normal in a post-pandemic world, a common view is the experience has, and will, accelerate the shift towards a remote and agile operating environment.
integrates and effectively supports remote working, or ‘location agnostic’ arrangements,1 is challenging. The job design, working procedures, internal policies and other influences on how we work are not directly transferable from a face-to-face office environment to remote working. This also extends to the leadership and management approach, and the company’s culture. While many employees have enjoyed the benefits of remote working, many challenges have also been experienced – particularly as businesses were on the backfoot when sudden arrangements were implemented, and from the added strain of a pandemic. Social isolation has been a common concern about remote working, with employees missing the informal interaction of an office. Others have noted concerns about reduced access to managerial support and communication, and the lack of direct access to information.2
