2020 has brought a number of changes to the corporate world, and navigating those changes as well as making adjustments have been hard for businesses. Now that companies have had more time to implement long term solutions, there’s a great deal of value in understanding some key concepts behind these decisions. The focus will be to examine 3 main OB topics: communication, leadership, and satisfaction in the workplace. Discussed below are the major challenges companies face, their solutions, and the level of success they have seen moving forward.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic workers everywhere are now having to meet through virtual platforms. These virtual platforms do not adequately allow the face to face connection groups need in order to communicate most effectively. When groups meet via virtual platforms it is harder to read social cues on who’s talking which creates an unorganized discussion. When groups meet in person there is a sense of togetherness and creativity in the room which allows for better brainstorming and communication. In this way the employees develop a perception of their value that is recognized by their colleagues and employer. Without this face-to-face interaction, that feeling is hard to discern (Eisenberger et al., 2020). Since they can no longer meet in a room, it is harder to get things done when working in a group because of the lower creativity and satisfaction.
Being able to complete different projects as a group takes good communication and engagement from everyone involved. In the study “Team members’ perceptions of online teamwork learning experiences and building teamwork trust: A qualitative study” Hung Wei Tseng and Hsin-Te Yeh explore virtual teams and what troubles they had. According to the study lack of communication, and low individual accountability were the root cause of failure among virtual teams (2020). Team 4 received the lowest grades of 85.9% with one of their team members stating they were being left out of most communications. Issues with communication like this lead teams to not all have the same goals and objectives, which could be a major issue in companies.
The virtual platform that workers are now engulfed in arises a variety of HR and legal issues for a company and its employees. Companies are having a hard time keeping track of the work that is being done by each employee while also having to trust that their employees are keeping themselves accountable for their work. This says that as businesses shift, people are also having to shift the way they execute their everyday actions.
In looking at a research article that studied how different businesses were affected by COVID, we found that the manufacturing industry incurred the most negative effect during the pandemic (Gu et al., 2020). This was found not only in the company’s financials, but also their employee mental health. With the growing concern of not being able to come to work, employees were more worried than ever about making their personal payments on time. Due to the nature of the on the job work employees must do, remote work is not an option. This topic of anxiety is something that has spiked significantly among employees in this sector.
By examining an article written by Steve Lawson (2020) from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, we found that when the right manager is put in place, a transition to a new system is much easier. Steve covered a story about DFAS manager Mr. Witter. Mr. Witter was the director of the first site to develop a large-scale telework program using VPN. In having this expertise and experience, he was able to put all of his employees’ minds at ease as well. Due to his experience in this field, employees were less likely to experience stress, anxiety, and fear of the future. This created a more calm and stress-free environment that aided in their adjustment to remote working.
An article by Seetharaman titled ‘Business models shifts: Impact of Covid-19’ analyzes the potential impact and steps that businesses can take to aid in the adaptation to the digitized format that has become commonplace (2020). The article notes in particular that when things are very volatile companies will adopt temporary solutions to help them quickly adapt to changes so that they don’t fall behind. Many businesses had to quickly adopt temporary models in order to try to stay afloat in the chaos. This is beneficial, but can lead to issues down the line when a greater internal change is required for their business model. The article notes that ‘specialists’ are highly recommended during these times of change to help businesses adhere to a better business model. The quickest and most efficient manner of adaptation is by recruiting specialists who can aid in the formatting and composition of online formats.
While there have been difficulties, adjustments have been made and businesses have overcome having to work from home. For example, in the financial field most of the work is data driven. There is a good deal of communication that occurs in a team setting. Using tools like zoom and teams has helped companies get over that hurdle, and continue work. The fact remains that the majority of finance work can be done remotely and is, in some cases, preferred over returning to a physical building. Companies that fit the mold of remote friendly work have seen continued success through the pandemic.The success can partly be attributed to employees wanting to work from home. Research of current remote employees has shown that almost half of all full time workers in America would want to continue to work remotely even if the economy re-opens (Banham 2020). The employees who gave feedback have said that the remote experience has positively impacted their lives for the most part. Commute time has become a thing of the past that people do not want to re introduce to their lives. A survey of over 5000 people revealed that almost half the employees who commuted to work now spend that time with their families and pursuing things they enjoy. While working remotely employees are happier and living more flexible lives, which in turn has fostered success within the company.
As seen above, experience and the plan put in place by businesses matters. If a company has already implemented similar plans in the past, this new age will prove to be no difficulty. Companies that successfully applied remote work tactics to their businesses also continued with little difficulty. This is true for the company itself as well for all of its employees. Employees that know they are working for someone with experience and their best interest at heart will be more likely to have less anxiety, stress, and fear of losing work. Although there are some major difficulties in making employees feel connected when working remotely, there are some major advantages as well. We have discussed that many employees actually prefer working remotely and have adjusted well. For all of these reasons and many more not discussed, it is truly apparent that managerial decisions make for a huge impact.
By: Blake Gibson, Ethan Hulbert, Andrew Johnson, Kasia-Elizabeth Lizama, Cooper Schelbert
References
Banham, R. (2020). Virtual CFOs Have Their Day: The pandemic forced a grand work-from-home experiment on finance. But is an all-remote team really the future? CFO, 36(4), 28–33.
Eisenberger, R., Rhoades Shanock, L., & Wen, X. (2020). Perceived Organizational Support: Why Caring About Employees Counts. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 7(1), 101–124. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012119-044917
Gu, X., Ying, S., Zhang, W., & Tao, Y. (2020). How Do Firms Respond to COVID-19? First Evidence from Suzhou, China. Emerging Markets Finance & Trade, 56(10), 2181–2197. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/10.1080/1540496X.2020.1789455
Hung Wei Tseng, Hsin-Te Yeh, Team members’ perceptions of online teamwork learning experiences and building teamwork trust: A qualitative study, Computers & Education, Volume 63, 2013, Pages 1-9, ISSN 0360-1315,
Lawson, S. (2020). DFAS Meets COVID-19 Challenges. Ar.med Forces Comptroller, 65(3), 30–33.
MORRIS, D. (2020). Teleworking as the “New Normal” Presents Challenges for Employers. Insurance Advocate, 131(6), 18.
Semuels, A. (2020). Does Remote Work Actually Work? TIME Magazine, 195(12/13), 42–47.
Seetharaman, P. (2020). Business models shifts: Impact of Covid-19. International Journal of InformSeetharaman, P. (2020). Business models shifts: Impact of Covid-19. International Journal of Information Management, 54, 102173.
Sinclair, R. R., Allen, T., Barber, L., Bergman, M., Britt, T., Butler, A., Ford, M., Hammer, L., Kath, L., Probst, T., & Yuan, Z. (2020). Occupational Health Science in the Time of COVID-19: Now more than Ever. Occupational health science, 1–22. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-020-00064-3