The experience of work has changed

The Experience of Work – BRG Six point framework.

We know work has changed – but how will culture be affected. Many leaders are asking themselves – ‘Do we go back to the office’?

As some know, I’m all about making, maintaining and fostering connections. That’s what I love to do, and it’s the very foundation on which I’ve built RedBalloon, a business centred around connecting people and sharing experiences.

In recent months, we’ve all been challenged with how we still do this. How do we still engage, connect, collaborate and share when our daily lives have irrevocably changed? How do we reach and continue to grow relationships with our customers, suppliers, colleagues, employees, and most importantly, with friends and family?

During the first phase of the pandemic, we at the Big Red Group (BRG) were reactive like everyone else. We quickly adopted McKinsey’s five stage crisis framework, and moved as rapidly as possible to adapt to the ‘new’ normal. Like many businesses, we had to adopt a new style of workplace, decentralising the entire team (100+ people) to remote working. Implementing technology on the run to enable people, and finding ways to continue business, and maintain our connections.

We’ve learned a lot since March, and as history show us, it’s when things are at their very worst, that imagination, innovation and leadership come to the fore. Following natural disasters (and manmade disasters such as wars), people come together. We pool our resources, we leverage our strengths, we collaborate across industry, and collectively, we as communities pave a pathway forward. It is amid crisis, that opportunity avails. And that opportunity right now is change.

Covid-19 has been a catalyst to rethink the way we work. It has shown us that traditional workplaces, structures and routines are not always necessary – that many roles can be performed from, well, anywhere.

So, with our mission at BRG to ‘shift the way you experience life’, we as a leadership team felt compelled to be a thought leader in this discussion. As such, we have commissioned a piece of work to investigate what the ‘new’ experience of work might look like as we begin to emerge from this crisis. What opportunities are there for positive and sustainable change, and how can we do things better?

Our study takes in the latest trends, research and insights from industry leaders, and may help your business find its pathway beyond Covid. I know every business is different, at BRG, we have six of them – very different businesses with their own set of unique challenges. While there’s not a ‘one size fits all’ solution to this, each business needs to look at their own set of circumstances to shape the future that is right for them.

At BRG, we’re shaping our future around six capability pillars – leadership, development, collaboration,culture, innovation and connection. And over the next six weeks, I’m going to share with you industry best practice, articles and our own internal efforts centred around these core capabilities, which I hope will assist your business in planning its way forward.

Because we truly are all in this together.

Also published on Medium.