learning lessons from Covid–19

We couldn’t let Action Global Communication’s wellbeing month pass without tackling the elephant that continues to dominate the room and doesn’t respect personal space. Covid-19 is still impacting companies and individuals.

Over the past two and a half years it has affected us all, both personally and professionally, in numerous ways. From isolation to feeling overwhelmed at having to share space, that constant feeling of being on top of one another, with little room for escape or self-reflection.

Professionally, we’ve all dealt with the struggles. Whether that’s finding motivation or struggling to switch off when working from home, a space that was previously meant for your time away from the office, to juggling client needs and classroom requirements while home-schooling. Throw in the added stress of being ‘Zoom-ready’ and Covid-19 has severely blurred those work-life balance lines even further.

On the flip side, the pandemic has served as a pause and reset for a great many people. An opportunity to reassess so many life aspects – everything from shopping habits to personal priorities.

From a business perspective, in our industry, we’ve had to demonstrate great agility, suddenly scrambling to update strategies to support the transition, such as mapping out internal communications messaging for the new era and weaving around wholly online purchasing journeys in line with changing consumer trends as stores, hotels and hospitality services closed across the world.

So what have we learned from the pandemic and where do we stand?

The pandemic has accelerated a great shift in priorities. Perhaps people had loose plans in place, but there’s no denying Covid brought back-of-mind ideas to the forefront.

Dubbed the great resignation, every industry is seeing a number of employees leaving current roles to either join new companies or set out on their own. On a personal level, my story is typical of so many others who took the opportunity to reassess their lifestyle. After three years of juggling a rural home, periods of home schooling and a busy, full-time job on my own I’d reached a point where I needed a new sense of direction, which led me to Dubai to Action UAE.

One theme that has become more prominent as we’ve progressed beyond lockdowns and learning to live with Covid is the human connection. Never before has there been such overlap between the personal and professional with brands, employers and service providers, such as agencies, expected to bring ‘their human’ to the fore.

This blurring of personal and private is witnessed daily in the handshake, fist bump, conundrum we are all faced with now. But it has also taken hold in the digital space. I’m not just talking banana bread-making trends on TikTok, rather the evolution of LinkedIn from a networking platform to a space for sharing human interest stories and personal journeys.

LinkedIn and the likes are also littered with articles and ‘expert’ opinion on topics ranging from ‘tackling toxic work environments’ and ‘what makes a great leader’, to ‘finding the right work-life balance’ and an increasing share of voice has been passed to deeply personal tales of celebration and loss.

All very positive on one level, but also springing a whole new level of challenges for us to juggle as managers and, conversely, as employees. The constant self-questioning of ‘are we doing enough?’ ‘Am I asking enough of my employer?’ – all while continuing to try and dodge the Covid elephant in the room.

What lessons as an agency can we take from that?

• For starters, everyone, from prospects to our people, want to know who we are as an agency – what we do and where are we going?
  
  
• Future employees want to know what support they can expect. The age-old interviewee question of ‘what are your work hours?’ has been replaced by ‘How many days do you work in the office?
  
  
• Employees want to be part of the decision-making.

What did we learn?

• As employers, we need to be better communicators. Our communications, both internal and external can, and should be better. Our social pages need to bring our culture to life. In Action’s case, we are a Great Place to Work, and we need to be knowing that, both internally as well as externally.
  
  
• It is more important than ever to have a clear plan in place, one that encourages feedback and collaboration and provides support, yet remains adaptable to keep up with constantly changing times.
  
  
• We need to be empathetic to people’s needs. Promote and provide flexible working and encourage employee engagement and collaboration.

So how are we doing?

As a company, at Action we have taken various steps to adapt to the new normal and here at in the UAE office, we have incorporated a hybrid working mode – three days in the office, two days at home – designed to meet the desire for flexible working and address the necessity for in-office collaborative and creative thinking.

We’ve formalised teams – creating clear owners, meeting schedules and career progression routes.

Here in Dubai we have integrated our teams across PR, Digital and Studios to promote shared creativity, ownership and a more thoughtful use of office space.

We’re diversifying our thinking and challenging the existing ways of working, whether that’s to meet a client brief, respond to an RFP or provide more office-wide connectivity.

Wellness comes in many forms, and wellness at work has a great number of levels. Career development and defined pathways, mentoring, learning, knowledge and skill sharing are crucial components in fostering wellness.

The strive for wellness isn’t going to be achieved by a shot in the arm. But if the Covid era has taught us anything, it is that collaboration, communication and consideration – for yourself and for others – can keep us on the right path.

We’ll only achieve that by continuing the conversation, so please let us know your views by dropping us a note at [email protected].

---