You could say that for some organizations, the whole COVID situation has been COVID, literally.
However, on the other hand, it is also a unique opportunity, which many organizations can exploit,
that yesterday we had some gradual changes, while today there are some sudden changes that we have to deal with.
So it’s about using the change that we are all a part of one way or the other
as a kind of catalyst for why we need to do A, B,or C.
More specifically, a tool like working with an organization review,
where you give the organization a service check
and focus on what facts we can use right now about the organization,
how we are organized, what structure we are working under, what are the conditions of the employees when it comes to
performing the tasks that we want them to do – and do them in a way that ensures high engagement and motivation.
It may be that you actually have to design your organization entirely differently
tomorrow and the day after than the way you envisioned the leadership role right now.
A specific piece of advice could be to make sure that HR and leadership as a whole is organized
such that you have some people in the organization who are focused on running the business, including COVID,
and there are others who show up every day and try to implement some everyday things, but also more strategic and tactical tasks.
Try to work on achieving a dedicated focus.
This may sound a bit cheeky, but perhaps the whole COVID-19 situation has been a “wake-up call” for HR, leaders, and leadership in the companies
that there is this incredibly important lens,
and I’m not thinking something purely for the toolbox or something process-related or that there is something totally new about any of it,
but that we got this little extra “wake-up call” that gave us a reminder of
what is at stake when things are extreme.