‘...we’re all in the same storm, but we’re not in the same boat.'

Leena Nair.  Chief human resources officer and member of the Unilever Leadership Executive 

The future will be different for every organisation

In any crisis, we all want to make sure we’re not going to miss the big play that’ll see us through.

So we look around at what everybody else is doing. It’s natural. Especially if it’s an organisation that we admire (either before or during the crisis), or that seems to have ridden the storm.

And some businesses rode the current storm very well. One of our advisory board doubled their turnover during lockdown. Everyone knows a similar story.

So we look at what they did. We read the book their COO wrote.

And so we do what they did, hoping it’ll do for us what it did for them.

But here’s the rub. It won’t. 

Simply because we’re not them. We’re different, and our experiences of business before, during and after the pandemic were and will be different.

There is no magic bullet. No one size fits all solution.

We all have to find our own way out.

Reimagining your business for the future

The great news is that over the past 18 months, we’ve all learned how to adapt. To move fast without breaking things.

Stuff that organisations had been talking about doing your years, got done in weeks.

Digitization, agility, flexibility, sustainability and resilience quickly moved from nice to have to need to have right now.

And as we start to see what we hope are the green shoots of recovery, what has become clear to leaders everywhere is that things don’t have to be how they were.

Reimagining and reinventing their organisation for the future; building back stronger, better, more resilient and delivering greater satisfaction for their people is now top of the to do list.

Developing honest, genuine and authentic business strategies and practices

Whatever the pandemic held for you, the future is going to require a laser sharp focus on internal culture and operations. Yours.

At the risk of repeating, there is no point in copying what others have done, you’re not them. 

This is going to be your recovery and your growth, not theirs.

So don’t look at others, look at yourselves. Look really hard.

What the really exciting bit is, this is a real chance not to go back to how things were, but to find a better way forward.

So, first steps.

• Put together a working group of bright, innovative, creative people. Strong opinions are welcome but no showboaters or egos allowed. Architects not assassins. Keep it small, cross functional and chosen from throughout the organisation. Remember that the team in despatch often has a clearer view of what works and what doesn’t than the board.
• Remove all barriers to honesty.  This is a biggie. There is no point in going through this process if people are frightened of speaking up, either because there is senior management present or worse still an overly vocal bully. (We’re going to talk at a later date of the importance of cultures of honesty and openness, but for now, it should be pretty obvious why it’s needed if you’re going to get to the right answers.)

Next, harness all those wonderful IQ points on the why, the where, and the how.

• Why you work. 

Right now you cannot stress your shared purpose enough. Helping your people understand the importance of what they do (not just financially but socially, culturally or even environmentally) is going to be the biggest factor in getting everyone pulling together. Make sure you have purpose nailed and clearly articulated internally in a way that people believe and can get behind. Any business BS will be spotted a mile away.

• Where you work

You won’t have missed all the conversations recently about returning to the office. Everyone’s experience of lockdown has been different. Some people have loved WFH. It didn’t work for others. Add to that the pandemic has disproportionately affected various groups.  Work closely with HR and create more agile solutions that will fit individuals needs, wants and lifestyles. If it works for them to work from home, let them, but make sure that they have everything that they need to succeed. If people are in the office, make sure that they feel safe. Both in the building and on their commute.

• How you work. 

For the last 18 months we’ve all been forced to work differently. But what if moving forward we actively chose to work differently? Better? Now is the time to end old bad practices and start creating some good new ones. Design your culture, operations and workplace to be more collaborative. Make it easier for people to connect and engage each other. Scrap hierarchies and functional silos; looser, more fluid working teams is the smart answer. Capitalize on the benefits of the digital workspace, it’s ability to connect experts from all around the globe. Innovation and agility is going to key to the coming months, so plan to make it happen.

The wellbeing of your people is the most important element to your future success

Your talent will save you. Put their health (both mental and physical), their wellbeing and their safety at the heart of everything you do. Make their work and workplace fulfilling and satisfying and things will go through the roof.

But most important of all. Be true to yourselves. 

It’s your future and you must find your own path there.           

At UNIT_ we have a proven track record of helping organisations find original, authentic strategies to supercharge their internal culture and operations

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