COVID PANDEMIC’S PROFOUND IMPACT IS FELT IN THE OFFICE AND THE HOME

Uncertain job security, salary reductions, a shrinking job market and the challenges of remote working generated by the Covid-19 pandemic are among the biggest concerns revealed in a survey of 977 African professionals by Global Career Company, whose CEO Rupert Adcock discusses the results here with South African human capital expert Jonathan Muthige ( below).

Rupert Adcock: 71% of respondents are more concerned about job security than they were pre-pandemic, with 59% seeing a reduction in earnings and 68% noticing fewer jobs available to match their skills. It is clear that the pandemic is affecting jobs and the jobs market, but how long will the effects be with us?

Jonathan Muthige: It’s market dependent. Companies have so far been cautious because the full impact of Covid on financials is probably three to six months away from being clear. It will probably take us to the middle of next year. We’re hearing of companies using this as an opportunity to reduce salaries and restructure. I’m expecting the impact to be worse on smaller economies, as companies try to adjust in the fourth quarter.

RA: Is it all doom and gloom?

JM: For senior level roles, the opportunities will continue as companies look for strategies to adapt. There will also be consolidation, so the M&A space will be busy. That will benefit more experienced talent, too. But I worry about hiring at other levels, where the uncertainty is going to be greater.

RA: We looked at the way professionals are feeling about their jobs especially with regard to flexible or remote working. With lockdowns across the continent and throughout the world, it was interesting to see that the majority of professionals are now back in the office. Where the transition to remote working has been made, it has been received positively, with 63% of respondents suggesting their organisations have adapted well.

JM: There were issues around the readiness of certain companies in terms of creating a proper set-up for home working. The continued use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and poor network availability have been big issues. If we consider the immediate reaction to lockdown as phase one, we can anticipate a phase two where organisations begin to optimise remote working in the longer term. More work will be needed on infrastructure.

RA: While there’s a favourable view on the adaptation of employers, it appears that performance may be suffering. Less than half of respondents (46%) believe their teams are collaborating more effectively since they began to work remotely, versus 70% favourability on collaboration from non-remote workers. This aligns to the challenge identified by remote-working sceptics long before the pandemic impacted. With the move to remote working accelerated, when will companies close the gap on collaboration?

JM: Senior management levels will find remote working simple. They have per

sonal infrastructure, etc., so they can continue as normal. The Covid-19 impact happened rapidly, and companies were fighting on many fronts, so no effort went into responding to this. In phase two, human capital leaders can focus on things like addressing collaboration. It’s going to take time though.

RA: We’ve been aware of the move to remote working and its possibly detrimental impact on collaboration for some time. Has nobody addressed it?

JM: Look at the investment in large scale office blocks across the continent. People who have been investing in bricks in mortar are going to first try to get back and make use of it rather than addressing the challenges of working from home. Also, the job creation impact of bricks and mortar should be considered. Remote working isn’t likely to help with that, so that’s another reason for people to move in the opposite direction.

RA: We’re also seeing a gap in the quality of management for remote workers, with 42% of remote workers believing their managers get the best out of them, compared to 74% of on-premise workers. Do you buy into the detrimental impact we seem to be observing?

JM: Yes, absolutely. Lots of organisations still struggle to differentiate presence and productivity, so in those kinds of environments, distance management is not going to be easy. This is where human capital teams and leaders have got to get busy. You need to retrain managers on managing for productivity and outcomes, rather than presence and input. The opportunity to change the way managers manage is a gift. That has to become the single biggest challenge for leaders and human capital professionals if they are going to deliberately adopt work-from-home policies.

RA: Respondents working from home were significantly less likely to report a good separation between private and work life, at 48%, versus 64% of on-premise workers.

JM: I would expect problems on separation between work and home. Many colleagues seem to be concerned about the impact of this. That’s why when rules were relaxed many people couldn’t wait to get back to the office. In my view, the sustainability of working from home is a question mark. It will need work to create a strategy to make that sustainable.

RA: We also took a look at the impact of remoteness on the interview process. More than 40% of respondents had taken part in a remote interview, with 60% of those reporting a reduction in interview anxiety and 55% suggesting they would prefer to continue having more virtual interviews in future.

Lots of organisations still struggle to differentiate presence and productivity. The opportunity to change the way managers manage is a gift

JM: It’s worked better than I expected. There’s an efficiency gain for candidates. Maybe that factors into the positive view.

RA: But there are challenges too, with nearly 50% of respondents feeling that virtual interviews made it harder for them to engage in their interviews and articulate their value. How should companies address that?

JM: You lose some things during the virtual process. It’s harder to connect as humans, so training interviewers to understand that, and to help people open up, and also for candidates to present themselves in an effective way remotely, will need addressing. ■