Companies need to invest in their employee’s mental wellbeing and learning development if they want to remain competitive in a post-coronavirus world where skilled employees are invaluable assets.
The pandemic last year accelerated the automation of some job categories while highlighting the importance of talent in the jobs that still needed human skills.
“I think this obsolete challenge will happen very fast in some places. If you were an essential worker in Covid-19, you’re a vulnerability to your firm after Covid-19 and when it makes sense to automate, they will. We need to be respectful of the people who have those jobs and figure out where else we can put them where we need talent,” said Nancy W Gleason, associate professor of Practice of Political Science NYU Abu Dhabi.
There is therefore an opportunity for companies to think “outside of the box”, and hire people from industries which are becoming obsolete, if they focus on the skills the employee can bring, instead of their job title, explained Gleason speaking at the AB Future of Work Forum on Wednesday.
“There is also a huge opportunity for those [firms] who are able to pivot. We still of course need humans so what are the skills that your organisation needs to meet its operational mission, vision and goals and then hire for that and retain for that,” said Gleason.
“We need firms to be more agile with how they treat their employees and to see them massively investing in the learning and development team within HR, and if you don’t have one, get one,” she continued.
Corporates need to invest in their employee’s mental health as well so that they are able to perform at their peak level and utilise their skillsets.
“Workplace stress impacts everything from our physical health to our ability to concentrate, focus, and innovate. So [workplace mental wellbeing] is crucial and during Covid-19, we were able to experience for ourselves how mental health is impacting our work and to recognise that it is a force that needs to be taken into account when looking at the future of work,” said Aamnah Husain, counselling psychologist, German Neuroscience Centre.
Nurturing employees’ pays off for the companies’ bottom lines as well, agreed the panellists.
Aamnah Husain, counselling psychologist, German Neuroscience Centre
“The return of investing in mental health is survival of the organisation. We live in a world where the speed of change is accelerating and so the impact of making a mistake is huge. If you have individuals within your organisation that aren’t functioning at their peak, you’re missing out on opportunities but likely someone else is not and the cost of that is enormous,” said Solveig Nicklos, an expert in organisational culture and performance managing and the director of X.0 Consulting.
“Organisations that ignore mental wellbeing or learning and development, do so at their peril because as we automate-out routine and repetitive jobs, we make skilled jobs that much more important. So you better have people with those skills focused on doing that correctly or as an organisation you’re missing the key component that will differentiate you,” she continued.
Solveig Nicklos, an expert in organisational culture and performance managing and the director of X.0 Consulting
Fostering workplace mental wellbeing has to start from the top, said the panellists.
“Money is not going to be enough to do your best work,_L and so I think when employers show that people matter, people really rise,” said Husain.
“Emotional intelligence makes a big difference and it starts from leaders looking at themselves. I think leaders need to invest a little bit in their own silos, and learn to manage their own stress, and then take that learning and sort of push it forward as an objective to the organisation,” she continued.
Follow us on
