The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has changed how organisations function. Core operations of most non-essential industries remain shut down, while essential industries are pushing their organisations to get the work done. Work-from-home numbers in the country have increased substantially, amid a forced move to newer ways of working.
Seeking to understand if the current experience has truly accelerated mindset shifts to the Future of Work, consulting major Deloitte has come out with a study on the subject titled 'Future of Work accelerated: Learnings from the COVID-19 Pandemic'. The methodology was a combination of a survey and virtual one-on-one conversations, with the audience comprising CXOs (chief executive officers) from 42 reputed Indian organisations.
From the study, seven key learnings were identified relevant to the acceleration of Future of Work in India as follows:
1. A collaborative effort is required to minimise disruption arising from attachment to physical assets, lack of IT infrastructure, and social structure.
> Large scale disruption in production: Many leading organisations have shut down operations proactively to mitigate risks to customers and employees.
> IT infrastructure remains a challenge: 55% CXOs agreed that their IT infrastructure fell short of facilitating a smooth transition to remote working. Most organisations rolled out new policies for broadband and data reimbursements to enable the workforce to remain connected.
> How the IT sector is mitigating risk: Firms in the IT/ITES sector have generally managed to mitigate this risk through large-scale collaborative efforts. A leading IT/ITES firm, for example, took about a week into the lockdown to deploy IT machines (not PCs) to employees’ houses, who could then resume work from home.
2. The key shift has been adoption of, rather than investment in, virtual tools for collaboration.
> 75% of CXOs said they already had tools for collaboration in the firm and did not have to make new investments during the crisis.
> 60% of CXOs said collaboration has significantly increased /increased during the crisis.
> Zoom, MS Teams, and WebEx remain the platforms of choice for virtual connect.
3. Leaders believe that individual employee productivity has, in part, increased as a result of remote working.
> Disruption to the workplace has placed greater demand on certain roles. For example, operations, IT, and HR teams had to undertake concerted efforts to facilitate remote working models.
> Roles that require cognitive and creative thinking, independent /project-based work and have low dependence on physical proximity have also seen maintained or even rising productivity levels as employees use their working hours more effectively (functions such as product design, customer service, finance, and content creation).
4. The crisis has pushed employee wellness and engagement to the forefront.
> 85% organisations have put in new mechanisms to track employee wellness.
> Over 70% of the organisations surveyed have set up dedicated helplines to counsel their workforce and their families through the crisis.
> Nearly all organisations have ramped up workforce communication, conducting regular town halls, pulse checks, and team catch-ups.
> CXOs reported a 3X increase in training efforts during the lockdown and have seen virtual learnings breaking down legacy barriers.
5. Workforce has rallied behind the organisation in their respective roles.
> 90% CXOs say workforce is putting in more hours and there has been significantly less absenteeism.
> 72% CXOs believe that the role of the team lead is going to be the most important in ensuring the mental well-being of workforce in the new way of working.
6. Enterprise agility has emerged as a strength for organisations, which have been successful in minimising work disruption.
> Around 60% leaders felt that due to absence of traditional constraints, teams were quickly able to re-organise based on outcomes and priorities.
> 85% leaders have stated that agility of their workforce to cope and adapt to the new ways of working is the one thing that surprised them the most.
> Organisations that started implementing remote working (before the national lockdown was announced) were better prepared to handle the situation, with only 10% of them reporting productivity drops.
7. Organisations are considering increasing the share of gig workers as others reduce dependence in favour of full-time workforce.
> India’s gig economy is projected to achieve a market size of $455 billion by 2023.
> A large majority of this is expected to be contributed by the unorganised sector of the economy, as India Inc.'s adoption of gig workers remains nascent at best.
> Nearly 80% of the organisations currently have less than 10% of their workforce based on alternative working models, largely limited to contractors.
The study concludes by noting that a COVID-adjusted Future of Work strategy for organisations to transition from ‘responding’ to ‘thriving’ in the new normal, should incorporate an augmented workforce integrated with robotics and cognitive automation and digital organisation.