Grand Summary

For my grand summary of this blog assignment,  we have looked at five different articles for the effects covid-19 and the pandemic had on the workplace, employees, and workplace behavior's. We looked at a variety of research and what we have found are a few similarities between these articles and some differences in research topics.

Some Similarities I have found are a lot of research was directed towards the work from home topic. Alot of studies were trying to find if there were positive or negative effects of working from home. Most of the research styles were done by surveying people in the work force from around the world within the past three years. Surprisingly ( at least for me) there seemed to be quiet a bit of positive studies for working from home. Both from the employees of enjoy being at there homes more, but also companies continuing to effectively run their business with less people in their companies’ offices. Before Covid I would have thought this idea would have been impossible, but as a lot of these studies did discuss how technology advancement has had a lot to do with people being able to work from home effectively. I also noticed a lot of these studies were focused on employees well being and organizational support. This is great to see being brought out into the light of focus as it is important to have a sense of work, life-balance in your life and if there is organizational support that is even better. I have worked in jobs were there would be very little support from the company to the employers and it is not ideal. This does not effect everyone as some jobs did require people to come into the office or continue working in there fields. For example doctors, nurses and labor jobs did require people to continue working even through the pandemic. With out these essential workers, office job workers could not continue to work from home as there would be no one to continue with the labor portion of the economy. So for all those essential workers, we thank you!

Some of the differences I had come across in the studies was of the workplace behaviors. They were not necessarily conflicting differences with each study, but more what was chosen to be studied.  Some studies had focused on leadership styles and why they have changed during the Covid and what has caused them to change. Another study might of highlights inequalities within people during the pandemic and some of the struggles they had to endure. 

All these studies are very important at seeing how the world has changed in the workplace but also we can effectively manage and tackle these kinds of changes. How we can help and manage people during a crisis and adapt to these changes and continue to thrive. With a unpredictable future, we could very well go into another lockdown or pandemic, and we these key studies, we can build a roadmap for helping people and business's for future generations.  

6 important ways COVID-19 has changed the workplace for good UNSWBlog#5

For my last blog I have found an article written by Frederik Anseel. Frederik and Kevin Kniffin co-authored a new global study examining the wide-ranging effects of COVID-19. They brought together a large and diverse team of 29 researchers to explore some of the critical workplace changes that are currently unfolding. There paper breaks down two key themes, emerging changes in work practices and the economic and social psychological impacts.

This study sheds light on how workplaces are changing during Covid, and steps business leaders can take to ensure employees adapt effectively. 

First step is Reimagine the purpose and
meaning of work. There research suggests that once staff will come back to work, there is a good chance that they have different expectations. People will have thoughts about their lives, families and health and what sort of role work plays. They say meaningful ness is an important motivator at work and will help people again find sense in what they do. A way they can accomplish this is Reinventing the workplace. Getting away from the 9-5 mentality and get towards more of a workspace to bring people together to brainstorm, have social gatherings. Have a workplace that people come to share and exchange information, build a community and identity. Not just a place to sit in front of a computer all day.

Another thing they talk about that I find interesting is helping employees overcome social isolation. They discuss many people feel lonely working from home without colleagues Managers should formalize team processes, clarify team goals, and build structural solutions to foster psychologically safe discussions. 

 

These are very good idea's for helping people ease there way back into the working world post pandemic and offers meaningful way to manage the challenges ahead in a post covid nineteen world.

Source: 

Anseel, F. (2020, August 13). 6 important ways COVID-19 has changed the workplace for good. Www.businessthink.unsw.edu.au. https://www.businessthink.unsw.edu.au/articles/6-key-ways-covid-19-changing-workplace

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COVID-19 changed office work. Here’s what the “next normal” looks like as people return. CBC.Blog#2

 This CBC article was published in September 2022. It is posted by Geoff Nixon, and he uses a lot of credible sources to discuss how Covid-19 has changed office work and how more people are being encouraged to physically return to work, but it doesn't appear the work world will revert to its pre-pandemic state.

Colliers Canada manages more than sixty million square feet of commercial real estate across the country - with office space accounting for more than half of that footprint. Amy Vuong, VP of strategy of real estate management services for Colliers Canada says there was a slight increase in employee's coming back to the office. Mostly from companies rolling out their ( return to office) policies on a voluntary basis, but she is hearing that companies are potentially looking at removing that voluntary option. Royal Bank is another notable large employer in Canada that is pushing to bring more people back on-site. RBC has more than 60,000 employees based in Canada. CEO and President Dave McKay is making the case that people thrive from working together. Now it doesn't talk about this to much in the article, but there is a link to another article about Anxieties about microaggressions rise as in-person work returns and that is defiantly a factor for a rise in some people may not wanting to go back into the office. 

Greg Phillips, President of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees told CBC that the government has not made a clear enough case on why more time in the office is needed. Also, they haven’t indicated there's a problem with the work that public servants is doing from home. This I find to be interesting as it does seem that most people are able to continue to do their jobs from home without effecting company missions or goals. This would have to be nonphysical jobs or "essential" jobs, but I still find interesting. 

They also look to Stanford University's Bloom who has been part of a large effort to examines people's experiences working from home, and from more than 20,000 participants around the globe, fifteen percent would quit their jobs if they were forced to be back at work five days a week. An even high-proportion of Canadians-nearly 22 percent feeling that way!

I find this interesting as you can see how the world is adapting to the work from home norm. It is nice to be able to not have to commute to work and possibly to laundry while working. I do have to agree with the CEO of RBC and say people do thrive by working together, and I also do think it is good to get actual human interaction and not necessarily stuck at your home.. 

Source:

Nixon, G. (2022, September 6). COVID-19 changed office work. Here’s what the “next normal” looks like as people return. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-return-office-wfh-fall-pandemic-1.6570575

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The impact of COVID-19 on workplace practices: challenges, changes, and future directions FrontiersBlog#3

This is an editorial article on the impact of covid-19 on workplace practices: challenges, changes, and future directions. It was written by Diyako Rahmani and Cheng Zeng. They start of discussing the impact covid-19 pandemic had on workplace policies and practice's, including changes in leadership styles, work-life balance, and workplace communication. It's also stated the pandemic highlights inequalities among different groups of employees, including those from less advantaged backgrounds, women, and LGBTQ individuals. 

One thing this article discusses that I did not find in other articles is how the digital gap has amplified these inequalities with teleworking being a challenge for employees with special needs.

 Overall, these studies collectively focus on the effects of the pandemic on work-life balance, employee wellbeing, job demands and resources and organizational strategies. Other themes include the impact of the pandemic on job satisfaction and engagement, the role of attachment styles in workplace behaviors and finally the studies highlight the importance of organizational support, informational resources, and effective leadership in promoting employee wellbeing and reducing workplace deviant behaviors.   

 

This is one of the few articles I could find that was more focused on the well being of employees. Pandemic was hard on a lot of people, and it is good to see some studies focusing on helping people individually. I find it interesting how the pandemic also highlights inequalities among different groups of people. This article did not explain that statement to much, so I had to dig a little bit into that. In some countries like Panama, there was a transgender who found themselves between “a rock and hard place” when it came to "gender-based quarantines". They were forced to rely on courier services for supplies. Or another instance was LGBTQ people who were scapegoated by religious leaders for bringing the virus in the form of divine punishment. It is terrible that this kind of stuff still happens in this day in age, were it almost gives the vibe of Middle Ages and people thinking there were witch's because a disease has spread through.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1207987/full

COVID-19’s impact on work, workers, and the workplace of the future Cornell Blog#1

 A Paper co-authored by Kevin Kniffin along with 28 other researchers and scholars from around the world looked at what the world of work will look like, post covid-19. This study includes a preview of how covid-19 may change work practices in the long term and offers projections about the workplace of the future. How Kniffin and his co-authors conducted this research was to take a broad view of the pandemic's many impacts on the workplace. Some of the things they had concluded could be the new normal of working from home. The authors project that working from home will continue for many workers. They believe organizations recognize the health risks of open-plan offices. Organizations will also appreciate cost savings of replacing full-time employees with contractors who can stay connected digitally. One goal of there paper is to guide future research to examine whether and how the covid quarantines affected work productivity, creativity, and innovation. 

Virtual Teams. Virtual teams were already growing and importance pre covid. Now, many workers participate in remote teams using digital communication. Kniffin and his team thought it was important to recognize the challenges and adopt proper practices to help minimize conflicts. Some of the recommendations based on there research was formalize team processes, clarify team goals and build-in structural solutions to foster psychologically safe discussions. 

They also found that there could be a Greater appreciation for woman leaders. Kniffin point to high-profile woman leaders who have grappled with covid-19 effectively, including Angela Merkel( Chancellor of Germany) and Tsai Ing-wen( President of Taiwan). And they list several feminine values and traits that can be effective in crisis management including:

• A communal orientation in moral decision-making
• Higher sensitivity to risk, particularly about health issues
• Higher conscientiousness
• More attentive communication styles

 

And finally Creating roadmaps for new patterns of work. With the sudden shift in working from home, Kniffin touches on many different aspects the pandemic impacted workers and organizations. The point to economic, social, and psychological challenges such as risks of workers being deemed "essential" as well as laid off workers. They discuss the economic inequality, social distancing, loneliness, stress,  burnout and addiction. With there research, they hope their effort will help other researchers take steps to manage the negative effects of covid-19 and start designing evidence-based roadmaps for moving forward.

 I think this is a great study in looking at the different side effects covid has had on the workplace. Its good to recognize not only the economic effects the pandemic had but also the psychological aspect it had on people. I found this article helpful because it had discussed more than the digital side, but talked about traits that could be effective during crisis management.

Source:

Johnson, C. S. (2020, September 25). COVID-19’s impact on work, workers, and the workplace of the future | Dyson BusinessFeed. Cornell SC Johnson. https://business.cornell.edu/hub/2020/09/25/covid-19s-impact-work-workers-workplace-future/

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What are the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic? WEFORUM Blog#4

 World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international organization that holds annual meetings to discuss global commerce, economic development, political concerns, and important social issues. 

This article was written by Andrea Willige, senior writer for forum agenda on August 11,2011. 

Andrea covers a couple topics on what are some of the long-term effects of Covid-19 are going to have on the workplace but also how it had brought change to the digital world. 

To continue the digital work topic, she states that covid has brought an unprecedented digital acceleration. With this digital acceleration, companies, governments, and individuals have been forced to adapt rapidly. For millions of office-based workers, the technological workarounds adopted during the pandemic have potentially changed working lives forever.

 I find it interesting how much covid forced a technological advancement, a lot of it based on programs and technology that was already on its way and people were already using before the pandemic,  but very cool to see people adapt of all ages to it. With this technological advancement they believe there will be an ongoing division of labor in the next five years, which might displace 85 million jobs word wild between humans and machines. It will also create 97 million new roles that are more adapted to new tasks distributions. This is kind of a scary thought as lots of people will be potentially losing their jobs, but this is probably (I think) a lot like the industrial revolution when machines started replacing people’s jobs in the mid 1700's. They do talk about a collective benefit of these changes as they state studies over time have shown that the most valuable assets to any economy or company is its human capital. Companies around the world are already facing a shortage in relevant skills in future roles and are investing in reskilling and upskilling their workforce.

Some of these new skills companies are training their employees for the jobs of tomorrow are Dev ops engineers, AI Specialists, Digital marketing mangers, talent acquisition specialist and customer success specialists.

It is very interesting to see how the world adapts to these new changes, and how it will continue to grow with the uncertain future.

Source

Willige, A. (2021, August 11). What are the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic? These 5 trends give us a glimpse. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/covid19-long-term-effects-society-digital/

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