‘The impact on the future of work is greater than any of us could have ever imagined’
Like many leaders, Rachele Focardi, founder at XYZ@Work believes 2020 has fast-tracked disruption.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has led to devastating global consequences on livelihoods, healthcare systems, and the economy, Focardi has chosen to take an optimistic view and believe it’s been a year full of opportunities — particularly for leadership growth.
The impact of the crisis may still be “unravelling”, she said during her opening keynote at yesterday’s (8 October) HR Leaders Asia Virtual Summit, but COVID-19 has accelerated plenty of positive changes.
She highlighted some of those critical changes during she speech.
Read more: L&D's fast-track transformation a highlight of 2020
Digital transformation
“The impact on the future of work is greater than any of us could have ever imagined,” she said. “Many industries…have sustained lasting damage and will have to reinvent themselves in order to survive.”
Referring specifically to jobs, she added that accelerated digitalisation will “permanently wipe out” many roles. But this will mostly affect jobs that were “already at risk of becoming obsolete”.
However, this has simply led to an industry-wide push for L&D, with millions of workers finding themselves with “no choice” but to upskill, reskill and possibly join new job sectors.
“[COVID-19] forced the widespread adoption of technology and digital tools,” she said. “Even the more resistant had to learn to embrace it. For organisations, as a way to ensure their survival, and for employees, their relevance in the workplace.”
Read more: Will COVID-19 drastically change the way we work?
Leadership transformation
Additionally, employees have also had the chance to “reinvent themselves”, having had time to “rethink their career narrative”, reflect on what is really important to them, and pursue opportunities that are more aligned with their own purpose.
This shift has equally forced employers to “rethink the definition of leadership”.
“As difficult as things may seem right now, organisations are given the opportunity to redefine their mission, embrace corporate citizenship, align purpose and profit through sustainable profitability,” she said.
What’s more, the crisis has led to the long-awaited shift to a more human-centred brand of leadership.
“Leaders had to manage employees undergoing entirely different sets of challenges, as each of us faced our own unique reality during the lockdown,” she said.
Some individuals found themselves “with a lot of time on our hands”, and threw themselves into their work in order to overcome the loneliness, she noted. Then there are the caretakers — those who take care of children or family members full time have struggled to cope and may be “doing the bare minimum”.
“And then of course everything in between,” she said. “Managers have had to quickly learn empathy, flexibility, understanding, tolerance, leniency, all the while of course, facing their own unique challenges.”
