Lindall West
Chief Human Resources Officer
First Sentier Investors
MODERATOR
Effie Fox
Director of HR and Communications
Samsung Electronics Australia
PANELIST
Helen Fraser
General Manager, Human Capital
Laing O'Rourke
PANELIST
Louise Tebbutt
Chief People Officer
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank
PANELIST
May 2020
CHROs representing some of Sydney and Melbourne’s largest organisations met virtually to discuss the role of human resources in creating a path to business renewal amidst the unprecedented economic impact of COVID-19.
At the time of the town hall on 6 May, Australians had been working remotely for two months, but with a relatively low number of new cases, government officials were discussing plans to ease restrictions.
In this virtual gathering, participants discussed what’s next for the workers in their organisations. To set the stage, CHROs in Australia responded to a survey prior to the town hall indicating the following:
39% report little disruption to standard business operations
31% expect standard business operations to return to normal in 3 to 6 months and 31% said 6 to 12 months
32% report an extremely high impact on their organisation’s 2020 revenue
23% predict an extremely high impact on their organisation’s 2020 budget
The discussion was led by Lindall West, CHRO at First Sentier Investors; Effie Fox, director of HR and communications at Samsung Electronics Australia; Helen Fraser, general manager of human capital at Laing O'Rourke; and Louise Tebbutt, chief people officer at Bendigo & Adelaide Bank. They represent different sectors and industries and shared their perspectives as leaders of global finance, banking, electronics, and construction companies.
Planning for the Return to Work
Like most businesses around the world, HR leaders in Australia have been supporting a remote workforce for about two months. Some said their C-level colleagues are surprised that employees were as productive at home as they were in the office. CHROs that advocate for more flexibility were pleased to have evidence that remote work can be successful and productive.
That effectiveness has challenged some norms and traditional ways of thinking. One CHRO noted that it challenged the view that call center workers couldn’t be remote now that they had been during the crisis. In another instance, the metrics around remote work led leaders to re-examine the need for “facetime” in the office.
To prepare for employees to return, some CHROs are scenario planning for all possible developments – some people remote, some in the office, 100% completely remote again, or furloughs and redeployments. Another noted that they were establishing guiding principles for what the return to work should look like.
Creating Short-Term Objectives
In the short term, CHROs remain concerned about the health of their employees. Several noted that there have been changes to their operating model, and they are trying to maintain productivity, balance workloads and reallocate staff.
CHROs reported that they could never have imagined the inroads they’ve made on flexible work, which is viewed as a silver lining. One said that the workforce has sent leaders a strong message: we don’t want to go back to the old way of doing things. CHROs now must figure out how to adjust and adapt to employees who may or may not want to be in the office.
They are also thinking about the medium-term effects on organizational culture. What is the impact if some people go back to the office and others don’t, or if some offices are open and others aren’t? And, what are the cultural traits that have remained in place despite the changes in work environments?
Changes to Keep
Another thing that CHROs learned during the pandemic was their employees can communicate effectively in ways other than face-to-face meetings, leading several to wonder about the future of work travel. It may continue, but they didn’t think it would continue at the level it did before.
Several companies were getting excellent use out of their collaboration tools, and HR leaders said they would continue to evaluate those tools and additional ones. One CHRO noted that some long, recurring meetings would likely be replaced – now that they can find other ways of collaborating and reporting.
An additional positive outcome of the new work environment was a shift to more relaxed and informal executive communications. Several HR leaders received great feedback from employees about it and wanted to keep that personal touch in communications going forward.
The tide has turned on flexibility and remote work, and leaders will have to go with it.
Thoughts from the Community
The community had a great discussion about everything from the fear of returning to work to what has inspired them during this time. On employees returning to the office, all agreed that they were taking a cautious and phased approach. Several said they will make it voluntary or have a “no questions asked” policy if employees do not want to be in the office.
They also plan to keep up frequent communications about the steps being taken for employee safety, social distancing and more. The CHROs feel inspired about playing a significant role in flattening the curve by supporting a remote workforce and by the general camaraderie and collaboration they have seen among their employees.
by CHROs, for CHROs
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